Quick and Impressive….

 

I  don’t know to many people who don’t like the combination of  chocolate and peanut butter. There are tons of food items that can be bought in the store with the mixture of the two, and the amounts of recipes are endless. My mom made peanut butter balls every year for Christmas when I was growing up and it was such an amazing treat! At the time it never crossed anyone’s mind how much sugar, and in the case of her recipe wax, was in the candy. Like everything else, I try to find those old familiar flavors without all the… well… ew. 🙂

A while back I made peanut butter cups that were just about as close to Reeses as you  could get without buying them in a package. Then I found 5 minute peanut butter fudge in the masses across countless food blogs, and of course decided that I had to rework it to fit my own personal tastes, as well as my families, not to mention doing that magic that we love so much… making them healthier. Now, I want to give you a fair WARNING about these guys. Just because they are healthy, and natural, doesn’t mean that they won’t go straight to your waist line and butt if you eat batch after batch. Just thought I would be courteous and throw that out there.

Honestly though, you can’t get much healthier than these little babies. They are creamy, and dreamy, but you have to keep them in the freezer or they will melt before your eyes. Thanks to one of our main ingredients, and one of the most beloved oils among the healthy community, coconut oil, these candies don’t have the stability of the ones packed with additives and fillers. So, don’t plan on sending these in a care package to anyone because they won’t make it. Encourage that person to come visit you, it will be worth it. 🙂

Generally when I make these little bites of yum I just make them with peanut butter and a bit of mini chocolate chips. But I wanted to show the diversity of the basic form of this candy, plus my husband is quite the chocolate lover, so I made some with cocoa powder, some are layered, and then you have the ones with the mini chocolate chips. Most of the time I just make one batch, pour it in a dish, let it harden, and break it up. This time I used candy molds, but if you are in a hurry, just pour it in a dish, it will be in the freezer in less than 5 minutes, and ready to eat in less than 20. If you want to take extra time, you can layer chocolate and peanut butter just like you were making peanut butter cups. The creativity is up to you!

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

By Angie Gouchenour

(Photo by Angie Gouchenour)

Makes 32 candies

Ingredients

½ cup of coconut oil, melted

2 Tablespoons of Stevia in the Raw

1 teaspoon of vanilla

½ cup of chunky peanut butter

½ cup of smooth peanut butter

Instructions

Melt the coconut oil in a microwave safe dish

Add Stevia, vanilla, and peanut butter until it is combined (It will be runny)

If you choose add – ins now is the time to stir them in

Pour the fudge mixture into a container of your choice and pop it in the freezer

The shallower the dish, the quicker it will set up

If you choose to layer you should freeze one layer at a time

Keep the fudge in the freezer, it is not counter stable

NOTE: You can use almond or cashew butter if you would like. If you have nut allergies feel free to experiment with sunbutter!

Add – ins

Make them chocolate

Add 2 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

Chocolate chip

Add 2 teaspoons of mini chocolate chips

73 calories per candy