Bonus- Keto Fudge Recipe
My older sister makes some amazing fudge. So did my Grandma Nellie- in the form of “Stained Glass Window” cookies. They weren’t cookies at all, but rather, a log of chocolate and colored marshmallows that she cut into slices. It was a Christmas staple annually, and I can literally still taste it if I think about it hard enough. However, I view those treats in a very different light these days- because I’m aware that a single small slice of that chocolatey goodness is packed with more sugar than I now eat in six months. And yet it was normal to mainline several pieces of it in a row back in the day.
When I started my keto journey- I truly believed that meant I’d never eat anything that tasted good ever again. Boy, am I glad I was wrong, and one of the things I invented was a recipe for keto-ish fudge. I say “keto-ish” because the jury’s still out on the usage of coconut sugar and dried dates. I’m not as strict as most keto eaters, but the little I do let myself have is still better than what I used to inhale while depressed- which means it’s perfect for people just starting out on this journey to health.
If you have a food processor, you can whip up a batch of these bad boys in a matter of 20 minutes, and they keep in the fridge for a month (if they last that long). I recently went two weeks without any chocolate at all as a challenge, knowing I had a bag of these fudge squares in the fridge. They kept good for weeks, and promptly disappeared after my challenge was over. I am human, after all.
Ingredients:
22 Medjool dates with pits, preferably organic (pre-pitted ones tend to be drier- whole ones work far better for this recipe)
3/4 cup of any nut butter you prefer (I like almond or cashew butter)
3/4 cup dried raw coconut shreds or chips, unsweetened (Bob’s Red Mill makes the best bag of coconut)
1 cup of Guittard’s Coconut Sugar Chocolate chips, divided in half (Yes they are expensive. Yes they are worth it.)
3 heavy tablespoons of coconut oil (eyeball it is fine)
1 cup of any nuts you like (I prefer walnuts and pecans)
1 tbsp each of flax seeds and chia seeds (this is optional, but the seeds add a great, healthy crunch)
Prepare a bread loaf pan by cutting a piece of parchment paper so that it goes cleanly down the two long sides of your pan and up over the outsides, hanging over the outside. Handy trick I learned for freeing the chilled fudge.
Put your dates into a large glass bowl and cover them in hot water- not quite boiling, but almost. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Come back to the dates once the water is cooled enough to plunge your fingers into, and then kind of smush the date with one hand and remove the pits with the other hand, then place the meat in your food processor. *Mind that some of them have end caps as well- you don’t want that in your fudge.
When you’ve got all your date meat in the processor bowl, add your nut butter and coconut, then process until just combined, then stop.
Next- either use a small double boiler, or a glass Pyrex cup in a small pot of boiling water, and add 1/2 your chocolate chips and the coconut oil. Melt them together in the cup or double boiler pot over low simmered water until mixed together and liquid, stirring frequently. Turn heat off burner and carefully prepare to pour chocolate contents into the food processor.
Return to your food processor and add the rest of the chocolate chips, the nuts, and the seeds if using. Process, then as it’s running, pour in the chocolate and coconut oil mixture until it’s all combined and looks like it’s very wet and a little greasy. Carefully remove the processor blade and then scoop the contents into the prepared loaf pan. Press the mixture hard into the pan, pushing it firmly into each corner and making sure it’s level- you can use a spatula for this, but what I do is take the two ends of the parchment that hang over the sides and fold them back over the top, and press on it over the parchment. It helps really get it pressed firmly and evenly. If the parchment is stuck into the mix, remove it carefully and leave the paper loosely folded over the top of the pan, then stick the pan in your fridge for appx 2 hours. *It WILL look greasy. I promise, that’s just the melted coconut oil, and it will set perfectly. Trust me.
When you return to it, take a butter knife and slide it along the sides that aren’t covered in parchment to loosen it, then take the two ends of the parchment paper and lift the whole brick out of the pan, then set it on a cutting board. From there, you can cut it into squares (I do half longwise, and then 2x1 inch rectangles, but you make it last longer if you cut it into 1x1 squares), stack your chunks onto a fresh piece of parchment, wrap, shove the package in a gallon Ziploc bag, and hide it in the fruit drawer where your significant other won’t raid it (I’m just kidding, I make my husband his own batches- he likes oats and peanuts in his).
Then grab a chunk and enjoy. I am telling you, this stuff is better than any of the chemical garbage you can buy at the store, and it’s full of powerhouse nutrients while scratching that chocolate itch.
You are quite welcome, y’all.
And yes, I DID write out a post detailing my fudge recipe while on an extended fast and having only eaten 500 calories on Sunday. I told you that you can do hard things. I’m feeling fantastic and I’m sure I still will come Friday.
