Want healthy meals your kids will love?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

40 Comments

This no-bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge combines creamy peanut butter, pure maple syrup, and the rich, chocolate flavor of cocoa powder to make the most decadent, smooth and delicious homemade fudge. You only need one square to satisfy your sweet tooth!

healthy peanut butter fudge stacked on a white plate

Why We Love this Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Our whole family loves fudge.. especially around the holidays! The creamy texture and decadent flavor is the perfect way to satisfy any sweet tooth. I wanted a recipe that offered that same decadence with healthier ingredients. And after much trial and error.. I finally found a winner! It’s made without any heavy cream, corn syrup or refined sugar, but it tastes just as rich and indulgent as its less healthy friends. I never want to feel like I’m missing out, especially where dessert is involved! And I’m happy to say, this fudge totally delivers on every front. It makes the perfect addition to any goodie plate. And I may or may not have hid some in the back of my fridge for whenever the craving hits. #noregrets

chocolate peanut butter fudge squares on a sheet of parchment paper

Ingredients for Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge:

  • peanut butter– we used creamy peanut butter, but you can use crunchy depending on what texture you want your fudge to have!
  • chocolate chips– Lily’s chocolate is great if you want a dairy-free fudge.
  • coconut oil– you can’t taste the coconut flavor at all, but because it solidifies when cold, you need it to give you the fudgy texture you’re looking for.
  • cocoa powder– we used regular cocoa powder, but Dutch-Processed will give you an even more intense chocolate flavor.
  • maple syrup– we found this to be the perfect sweetener because the mild flavor really complimented the chocolate and peanut butter flavors of the fudge!
ingredients for chocolate peanut butter fudge

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge:

  1. Line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper and lightly grease.
  2. Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in a saucepan over low heat until completely melted.
  3. Whisk in peanut butter, cocoa powder and maple syrup until smooth.
  4. Pour into prepared pan.
  5. Chill until firm.
process shots of how to make chocolate peanut butter fudge

How to Make the Peanut Butter Swirl Topping:

The peanut butter swirl looks so pretty, and it couldn’t be easier. It also lets everyone know what kind of fudge of it is! While you can *technically* leave it off… don’t. 😉

  1. Melt the peanut butter and coconut oil together in a small bowl in the microwave. Whisk until smooth.
  2. Drizzle back and forth over the fudge, creating thick lines.
  3. Using the tip of the knife, drag it back and forth through the fudge in the opposite direction of the peanut butter drizzle.
how to create a peanut butter swirl on top of fudge

Tips:

  • Store in the fridge. They are fine at room temperature, but will soften as they warm.
  • When you’re ready to cut into squares, let rest on the counter for 5-10 minutes for easier cutting.
  • Cut into small squares. These are decadent, and a small piece is all you will need.
  • You can skip the peanut butter drizzle and top them with sprinkles for a festive touch!
peanut butter swirled chocolate fudge stacked on a small plate

More Chocolate Recipes You’ll Love:

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
3.5 from 177 votes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

This no-bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge combines creamy peanut butter, pure maple syrup, and the rich, deep, chocolate flavor of cocoa powder to make the most decadent, smooth and delicious homemade fudge. You will only need one square to satisfy your sweet tooth!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time0 minutes
Chilling2 hours
Total Time2 hours 15 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 20 squares
Calories: 168kcal

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Swirl

Instructions

  • Line a 8×8 baking dish (for thinner fudge) or a 9×5 loaf pan (for thicker fudge) with parchment paper. Light spray the parchment with cooking spray.
  • In a medium saucepan, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together over medium/low heat. Whisk in peanut butter, cocoa powder and maple syrup until smooth. Remove from heat.
  • Pour into your prepared pan.

Peanut Butter Swirl

  • Melt together 2 Tbsp peanut butter and 1 Tbsp coconut oil in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Drizzle in a back and forth motion on top of the fudge in the pan. Use the tip of a knife or toothpick in a back and forth motion the opposite of how you drizzled it to swirl it in.
  • Place in fridge for about 2 hours, or until firm. Remove from the fridge and lift the parchment out of the pan.  Cut into 20 small squares.  (you can cut them into bigger pieces if you want) Enjoy!
  • Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Notes

This is the original recipe for:
Healthy Coconut and Banana Christmas Fudge
  • 3 cups coconut flakes
  • 1 medium banana
  • 2 ounces sprinkles

Nutrition

Serving: 1square | Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 50mg | Potassium: 128mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword : chocolate peanut butter fudge

www.superhealthykids.com

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie

Leave a Comment:
Did you make this recipe? Leave a review!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




40 Comments

Is there something else I can use besides the coconut oil? I was hoping to make this fudge this weekend but don’t have any coconut oil and wanted to hopefully use something I have at home already!

Hi Heather! Unfortunately, unrefined coconut oil is so unique, it is hard to substitute (maybe coconut butter or a little avocado?). You could try it without. I’m guessing the texture would be less fudgy, but the flavor would be the same. I hope that helps!

Should I melt the coconut oil before mixing all the ingredients together? Or leave it be?

Rice Malt Syrup would be a healthier choice than Maple Syrup as is has 40% fructose, Rice Malt has 0% that is what you need to avoid in all sugars is the *fructose* especially High Fructose Corn Syrup which is different to standard Corn Syrup (standard sugar is 50% fructose)

Fructose is fruit sugar. It’s not bad for you. What’s unhealthy is too much sugar, period. Brown rice syrup is primarily maltose. I doubt that maltose is any better for you than glucose or fructose, but the syrup has a higher glycemic index than table sugar (98 vs 65). Also apparently it can contain a lot of arsenic (!). I found that on Wikipedia when I went looking for what the sugar is in brown rice syrup, but it’s from an NIH study. The bottom line is that excess simple sugars, especially if they crowd out healthful foods, is bad for you, but specific sugars themselves are not. Honey and maple syrup are lovely, but aren’t necessarily any better for you than high fructose corn syrup or sugar. A sweetener that isn’t as sweet might be better for you if is has less simple sugars and if you don’t just increase the amount to compensate.

Hey Mikah! I’m not sure if butter would work, but I’m guessing corn oil wouldn’t. Coconut oil works well in this recipe because it is firm when cooled.

Is the banana taste come through strong? I like bananas and banana bread but have made other chocolate treats that call for banana and it was so overpowering.

I’m making thes right now but instead of a banana (I like them too but I don’t want the flavor in these) I’m using 6 medjool dates. I’m thinking they are a similar consistency to bananas…just going to keep trying them as I’m blending to adjust the sweetness. I’ll update when they are finished ?

I’ve made this about 20 times as my kids (and I!) Love it…. I’ve only just noticed it say’s to store in the fridge. I’ve always kept it in the freezer! Having done a compare I much prefer it frozen. Like little ice cream bites & doesn’t take long to thaw to a more fudge texture. I find it too squidgy in the fridge.

Is it really only a tablespoon of cocoa powder? It’s not chocolatey at all. Doesn’t taste very good.

4 stars
Had a little taste of it tonight. Seems good. A great sweet craving type of snack. Mine doesn’t seem to as dark. And the squares seem a little hard to get out of the pan. Thinking I should have maybe put some parchment paper or something in the pan so I could get them out easier. Hoping my family will enjoy them, especially my husband who has a constant sweet craving.

4 stars
I didn’t add the sugar/syrup and doubled the cocoa powder. Very yummy, plenty sweet. I agree that in the freezer is best, in the refrigerator it is just squishy.

Used a small banana, scant 1/2 cup coconut oil and extra cocoa powder. I made a similar recipe before, and equal amounts of peanut butter and coconut oil made it set up perfect in the fridge! Love the addition of banana!!

What is the benefit of the banana in this recipe. I’ve tried it twice now using some of the comments to “tweek” it. I used less banana the second time and also added dark chocolate chips melted with the coconut oil. My bananas weren’t very ripe and that could have affected it. But overall, I liked it!

I’ll definitely be making these! I was wondering with the maple syrup, could I use a sweetener like liquid/powdered stevia instead?

We haven’t tried any substitutes for the bananas- you can try applesauce? I can’t guarantee your outcome since we haven’t tried it. Good luck!