Throughout my childhood, my grandma always drove across town to our house at 6 am on Christmas morning with the same three round tins with festive snowflakes and Santa Clauses printed around their outsides. We impatiently waited to peek under their lids until partway through unwrapping presents, mainly because Mom knew exactly what hid inside and didn’t want us on an excitement and sugar high before the sun even rose.
Grandma packed those tins full of homemade goodies she mixed up the day or two before Christmas. She baked crunchy butterscotch cookies for Dad; painstakingly rolled and dipped buckeyes for Mom; and whipped up the softest, thickest sugar cookies I’ve ever eaten, appropriately topped with coarse red and green sugar crystals, for my brother and me.
She knew our sweet teeth well! Although we each preferred the exact treats in our tin, we still exchanged a few with our other family members and sampled their desserts too. Because those tins held nearly six dozen cookies and three dozen buckeyes, we also shared with other family and friends who stopped by during the next few weeks of the holiday season. No need to gain five pounds in one sitting!
But when I grew older, I started to sneak a few more of Mom’s buckeyes. Those sweet peanut butter balls dipped in rich melted chocolate… Well, they tasted almost exactly like round Reese’s peanut butter cups, my favorite candy at the time! And it somewhat helped that Mom found out about her peanut allergy around then too… More for me!
Because I don’t want to wait until Christmas for more buckeyes, I created this 10 Minute Buckeye Fudge to get my fix! Even better, it’s ready so much sooner than the traditional candy (no hours of rolling and dipping and waiting for the chocolate to set!) and it’s much healthier too. A dream come true!
Wait a second, Amy! I can hear you thinking now. How exactly did you make buckeye fudge healthier??
That definitely sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Buckeyes, fudge, healthy?
To start, this easy recipe contains NO butter or powdered sugar like in traditional recipes. (Have you ever made buckeyes before? I just about had a heart attack when I looked at the ingredients list for a few recipes just now… So much sugar!) Instead, this fudge is naturally sweetened with agave and Truvia. Truvia is made from stevia, which is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener. It’s one of the least expensive stevia-based sweeteners and easiest to find in grocery stores too!
Note: If you prefer, honey or maple syrup may be substituted for the agave. I prefer agave because it has a purer sweet taste without any strong flavors of its own like in honey or maple syrup.
To reduce the fat and calories in the peanut butter layer without sacrificing the flavor, I turned to peanut flour. Peanut flour is similar to almond flour, and it’s made by grinding peanuts and removing most of their oil. When mixed with liquid, it has a similar texture and the same taste as traditional peanut butter.
Note: I used this brand because the only ingredient is peanuts. Some other brands include a little sugar or other ingredients, so check the labels before you buy.
Both the chocolate and peanut butter layers are made the same way: mix the ingredients together in a bowl, press them into the bottom of the loaf pan with a spatula, and chill. No candy thermometers necessary! I suppose this means our dessert isn’t true fudge… More of a “cheater’s” fudge. But if it means my candy is ready that much sooner, I’m definitely okay with that!
Remember to line your pan with parchment paper first! This helps remove the fudge from the pan and also somewhat prevents chocolate and peanut butter from sticking to the sides. A little will still stick, so I generally use a knife or spatula to loosen the fudge squares from the paper.
Then serve (or hoard—I won’t judge) and enjoy!
| 10 Minute Buckeye Fudge | | Print |
- for the chocolate layer
- 1 cup (80g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 tbsp (75mL) unsweetened cashew milk
- 2 tbsp (30mL) agave
- 2 tbsp (25g) Truvia
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- for the peanut butter layer
- 1 cup (120g) peanut flour (I used this brand)
- 6 tbsp (90mL) unsweetened cashew milk
- 2 tbsp (30mL) agave
- 2 tbsp (25g) Truvia
- Line an 8x4” loaf pan with parchment paper. (See the photos in the blog post above.)
- To prepare the chocolate layer, mix together all of the ingredients in a small bowl until thoroughly. Gently press into the prepared pan with a spatula.
- To prepare the peanut butter layer, mix together all of the ingredients in a separate small bowl until thoroughly combined. Gently press on top of the chocolate layer with a clean spatula.
- Chill the fudge for at least 3 hours before slicing into squares.
Any granulated sweetener may be substituted for the Truvia. Truvia is a 1-to-1 substitution for regular granulated sugar, so if substituting something like stevia that’s a more concentrated sweetness, you may need to adjust the amount of milk.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, high protein}
These look so good! Chocolate and peanut butter fudge? Yes please!
Thanks Marsha!
Could I use PB2 in place of the peanut flour? Just wondering. I really enjoy all your recipes, Amy. Thanks so much.
That should work Margaret! PB2 does have a small amount of sugar in it, so just remember that the fudge wouldn’t be “clean eating friendly” with that substitution. I hope you enjoy the fudge!
These sound fantastic!! Do you think it would be ok to use malitol syrup rather than agave??
I’ve never worked with malitol syrup, so I can’t confidently answer that. If you’ve been able to substitute malitol syrup in place of agave in other recipes, then it should probably work with this one as well. I hope you enjoy the fudge Erin!
Wow Amy, these fudge pieces look amazing! I have yet to try a buckeye but I love dark chocolate with pure peanut butter. Pinned!x
Thanks for pinning Eve! Buckeyes are so amazing — and yet so dangerous. Probably a good thing you haven’t tried them before because they’re oh so addictive! 😉
I’ve never used peanut flour, do you think it would work with almond flour? Thanks.
I haven’t worked with almond flour before in a recipe like this, so I’m not entirely sure. Most health-oriented grocery stores should have some type of peanut flour though, so maybe you can look there Maria!
These sound to good to be true!!! Can’t wait to try them! 🙂
I hope you enjoy the fudge!
Hi Amy
I’ve just made these, and I’m not much of a ‘baker’ the fudge seems sticky and gooey and I’m worried it won’t set! Any ideas would help
I love your site!
Thanks for your kind words about my blog Alex! 🙂 The fudge should be somewhat sticky but definitely not gooey. Did you use the exact ingredients that I linked to, or did you substitute for any ingredients?
Have you tried making this where instead of the peanut layer you use coconut flour? I have peanut allergies and don’t like buying Almond flour because it’s twice the cost of coconut flour. Just wondered what your thoughts would be having the chocolate layer – then a coconut flour based layer since coconut flour, like many other “nut” flours doesn’t need to be baked.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Shaun! I haven’t tried using coconut flour in this particular recipe of mine, so I’m not sure how that would turn out and can’t guarantee the results. Coconut flour behaves so differently compared to just about every other flour, so I typically don’t recommend using it in my recipes unless I explicitly call for it. However, if you’re dead set on using it here instead of almond flour, I’d recommend only ⅓ cup to start because is much more absorbent than peanut flour (or any flour!). If the mixture seems really wet, then add more until it’s soft but not liquidy or runny.
If you do end up making this fudge, I’d love to hear what you think of it!