A few of my favorite things? Coaching baseball. Growing vegetables. Walking on a sunny day. Hanging with my husband late at night after the boys have gone to bed. Cooking with children –of any age.
Recently I have had the opportunity to teach cooking to my son’s third grade class. This has been great fun. I get a real glimpse of each child and his or her temperament when we cook together –in the classroom mixing things up, working away.
I break the children into groups of 4, hand them a recipe, then pass out cooking equipment and ingredients. It is so much fun to watch, help and see what cute and adorable comments they make as they cook, “Elana, are these nuts chopped well enough?” That was a regular comment during our Charoset project in April. They are so careful and caring in their handling and preparation of food. It is quite awe inspiring.
Now, as the end of school approaches, the ice cream truck screams through our neighborhood, announcing the arrival of overpriced individually packaged treats. In direct competition, I respond with my own homemade goodies.
For this school year’s final venture into the classroom: chocolate from scratch. I taught my favorite 3rd graders to make the raw dessert that follows.
We made a big mess. We had lots of fun.
Raw Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cacao powder
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup coconut butter
- ½ cup macadamia nut butter
- 1 cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine cacao, coconut oil, coconut butter and macadamia nut butter
- Stir in agave, vanilla, salt and cinnamon
- Mix well, mashing lumps against side of bowl with a fork to smooth out batter
- Pour mixture into a 7 x 11 inch baking dish
- Place in freezer for 1-2 hours, until firm
- Cut into squares and serve
- Store in refrigerator or freezer to maintain proper texture and consistency
This recipe is based on one that I found at Circle of Healers. Many thanks to them for coming up with a fabulous superfood dessert rich in anti-oxidants and good fats.
To make a more exotic fudge add your favorite nuts, dried fruit and spices. The children and I added raisins, macadamia nuts and various spices to their fudge –it was fun to see them get creative. My personal favorite was Cutter and Elijah’s addition of toasted coconut, which resulted in little “Mounds Bars” treats.
What would you like to add when you make this delicious dessert? Don’t be shy! Go ahead, let us know; share your great ideas below…
Heather says
Best fudge ever, thank you for sharing. I made it with honey, almond butter and added almonds and chia seeds and put them in Mimi cupcake parchment wraps, perfect cure for sweet tooth craving
Britt says
This is a great recipe! i couldn’t find macadamia nut butter, so I used cashew butter instead. D love macadamias, so I chopped some up to sprinkle on top. Love to chill the fudge in my mini muffin tin. It comes out great and is the perfect size. Thank you for the recipe I really love it!
There is a major problem with the recipe in that I have a really hard time limiting how much I eat. Yum!
Bronwyn says
I haven’t read all of the comments but this is a yummy reciipe. I had not seen it here on this site before nor did I see the use of coconut butter, I love this idea. I have made it several times using raw cocoa butter instead of coconut butter. I put raw pumpkin seeds, coconut, gogi berries and raw cacoa nibs as add ins. Instead of making it in a pan I put it in small paper cups (like chocolates come in) and keep it in the fridge.
Tanya Winter says
hi does anyone have a great Sticky Date Pudding recipe – grain and dairy free, either from almond or coconut flour?
Esther Anders says
Hi. We love this fudge, but wondering how to substitute the chocolate for peanut butter fudge instead? I’ve been looking around and see no one’s tried it with this recipe. We don’t do allot with peanut butter, but I know not everyone likes or can eat chocolate, and would love to try peanut butter. Has anyone tried it? Thanks. And we LOVE your recipes!
Tim Anders says
Elana, I was wondering if you know what we could use to substitute all of the coconut with? (Coconut oil and butter)
Thanks.
Would love to have you come by if you can for our Grand Opening of our new bakery in Springfield VT. It will be March 15th.
Kristin says
Hi,
I have made a fudge recipe on the back of ghiradelli’s baking chocolate bar in the past. It’s super easy and few ingredients. I’m wondering if you have ever tried using coconut milk instead of sweetened condensed milk? I’m dairy free now ( besides gluten, soy, egg, etc) and thought tv
His might be a good substitue.
The recipe:
In double boiler combine 2 cups semi sweet choc chips, 1/2 unsweetened choc bar, 14oz sweetened condensed milk until melted. Add vanilla and walnuts. Chill.
Tana says
All I can say is WOW! I’m a big-time chocoholic and have been looking for something without all the other sugars. This fudge is fantastic. I didn’t have the macadamia nut butter so I substituted crunchy almond butter — it was great. I plan on making it again and using it as a fruit chocolate dipping sauce (I won’t freeze it and might cut down on the agave). THANK YOU, ELANA! Love your website. It’s inspiring.
Lynn says
I wish I didn’t try this recipe because it’s so good it’s hard for me to stop eating it :)! I did subsitute raw creamy almond butter for the macadamia nut and coconut butters because I didn’t have either. I also decreased the agave just a bit. I find that it’s best right out of the freezer – I’ll have to hide it in the back somewhere so I don’t see it everytime I open freezer door. It’s creamy chocolately goodness!
Elyse says
I am never disappointed. This came out great! I am going to try less agave and subbing stevia next time. I’m so grateful to have sugar free chocolate that is sooo decadent!