17.6.12

 salted popcorn peanut butter fudge. any excuse for teacuppery. salted popcorn peanut butter fudge. fudge. 

I know it's been kind of a long time since I last posted a sweet recipe - what can I say, I'm just so wholesome and health-conscious - but I've been holding onto this one for a while; and by 'holding onto' I mean 'making and remaking and eating vast amounts of it'. No hate, no hate. But seriously, this is comprised almost entirely of my favourite things, including coconut oil, peanut butter, and popcorn. Not including whiskers on kittens or warm woolen mittens, but hello, this is the internet, I'm sure you can find those elsewhere.

Other things the internet is surprisingly full of? Vegan fudge recipes. Like, the 'I'm gonna live til I'm 103!' style of recipe, which I'm not against, but there are times when I wanna eat fudge, and there are times when I wanna eat mashed banana with agave syrup and pureed avocado, and those two times don't generally coincide. I'm vegan, guys, I'm not dead. Butttt... I don't want to pack my body with margarine and twelve cups of white sugar, either (not every day, anyway). And this is where I give myself all the awards, because this recipe is not only vegan and healthy, but it actually tastes like fudge.

Wait, I'm not using enough caps here. IT'S VEGAN. AND IT'S GOOD FOR YOU.

AND IT ACTUALLY TASTES LIKE FUDGE.

Not any old fudge, either. Salted Popcorn Peanut Butter Fudge. The beauty of this is that the bulk of a fudge recipe is usually a ton of sugar, whereas this uses peanut flour for a super high protein, low-fat hit of peanutty goodness (although I have tried this with coconut cream powder, which worked, but I suspect different brands may give different results with that). The fat here is mostly coconut oil, which is one of the healthiest fat sources you can nail down, plus some chunky PB (I said healthy, I didn't say low-calorie). Part of the sweetness is thanks to maple syrup (you could use agave!), so you only need 1/2c. of icing/powdered sugar compared to the 2.5c. of most recipes out there. That's 80% less refined sugar, people. Finally, for kicks, popcorn, because who doesn't like popcorn. NOBODY FUN HATES POPCORN.

God, I wish I could high-five myself. Honest to god truth, this is one of the best recipes I've ever concocted, right up there with my ultimate vegan brownies and those ridiculous stollen scones.

Am I full of myself todayyyy. Or am I just full of fudge?



Salted Popcorn Peanut Butter Fudge

60ml (1/4c.) coconut oil
60ml (1/4c.) maple syrup
60ml (1/4c.) chunky peanut butter
2 Tbsp non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
70g (1/2c.) icing/powdered sugar
70g (1/2c.) defatted peanut flour
240 ml (1c.) air-popped popcorn - I microwaved 50g (1/4c.) of kernels in a brown paper bag for five minutes or so, and had a little more popcorn than I needed. But if you can't think of something to do with spare popcorn, we can't be friends.

First off, pop yo' popcorn. Awesome.

Stir the coconut oil, maple syrup, peanut butter and milk together in a saucepan over a low-medium heat, til the oil has melted and they've started to combine: up the heat and allow the mixture to boil for a minute or two. Remove from the heat. Add the vanilla and salt. Stir in the sugar, carefully, and then the peanut flour (if you add both at once it'll go everywhere, not that I speak from experience or anything). Combine smoothly, then add a cup of popcorn and make sure it's all evenly mixed through.

Pour into a foil or foil-lined loaf tin: mine was a standard 2lb size (around 19x9cm). Or, you could double the recipe and put it in a square 8x8" tin, if you're sure other people are gonna be around to save you from yourself and you can afford all those ingredients, which I can't. Chill in the fridge or freezer, and cut into twelve pieces once it's set. I prefer to keep it in the freezer, where the texture is a little firmer, but if you live somewhere cooler than me, the fridge might be enough. 

Enjoy :D.




18 comments

  1. this fudge looks delicious! i love the combination of popcorn and peanut butter, kind of like caramel corn!

    (and it's ok. you can be full of yourself. you rock.)

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  2. My friend sent me this recipe today. She says it's fantastic, and I cannot wait to try it tomorrow!

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  3. Hey, any idea on a substitute for peanut flour? I do have chickpea flour kicking around, so I might try that. Any "beaniness" will likely be covered up by the sugar and peanut butter I think.

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  4. Jim - I think chickpea flour's worth a try! If you can get coconut flour or coconut cream powder, I've tried it with the latter but not the former, so (probably depending on your brand though, I suspect) that would work. Let me know if it works out!

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  5. I just cannot get over how amazing this looks. Holy crap, people.

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  6. Any subs for the powdered sugar?

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  7. Hey, Anon! The powdered sugar is difficult to sub, cause it's there for both bulk and sweetness: if you wanted to use a liquid sweetner (such as maple/agave syrup or whatever) you could *probably* increase the peanut flour to make up for the change in texture, but I'm not confident about that. The trouble with using natural alternative sweeteners such as bananas or dates, is that it changes the flavour pretty significantly, so unless you're in the mood to experiment with it, I'd say just use the sugar, cause once you've cut your fudge into twelve squares it doesn't work out too badly. Let me know if you try something different, though! :D

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  8. What an interesting idea! I'll have to try this. Huh, popcorn. Cool!!

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  9. I really like the vegan concept. And I like this fantastic recipie. But seriously, something that consists of coconut oil, peanut butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar and popcorn can not possibly be healthy (I was referred here from foodgawker looking for food tagged 'healthy').

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  10. Hey Anon, actually I talk in the post about why this is much healthier than the regular equivalent - healthy here definitely not meaning low-calorie, but meaning healthy fats and 80% less white sugar than a standard recipe.

    Here's some information on why coconut oil is super good for you: http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html

    If you use regular peanut butter (without added corn syrup and fats), it's basically nuts with a pinch of salt and sugar. Nuts are another great source of healthy fats and protein.

    Maple syrup is a much less refined sweetener than white sugar, so it's much better nutritionally. If you use agave, as I gave the option, that's low GI and generally very popular among health bloggers.

    The powdered sugar in this whole recipe is only 1/2c. / 70g (for what makes twelve servings - that's only a very small amount per serving), which as I detail above is 80% of that in a standard recipe. It's subbed with peanut flour, which has a fantastic nutritional profile and is super high in protein and low in fat.

    Popcorn is well-known as a low-calorie snack - since this is air-popped in a microwave it doesn't contain any flavourings or additives. A cup of air-popped popcorn is only 30 calories.

    Again, *I DON'T AT ALL PROFESS THIS TO BE LOW CALORIE*, and it's still a treat - but I also make it clear in the actual post that I wanted something that tasted like real fudge, and I feel I did that and used almost entirely unrefined, natural ingredients that have a positive effect on your body. I'm happy to call this healthy! Your mileage may vary, but I hope you still enjoy the recipe.

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  11. This is SO great. Beautiful photos and all - I assume the delicate china was bought in Japan. Thanks to the commenter that mentioned chickpea flour I can make them right now, still in my pyjamas :)

    Omedeto, oishiso desu!!

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  12. I figured out what to do with the extra popcorn - make two batches!! :S

    I tried chickpea flour, agave syrup and almond butter. Already delicious, though if you know it's there you can detect a slight hint of savouriness from the chickpeas, not unpleasant.

    Second version: cocoa, cinnamon syup, peanut butter and olive oil. Just realised that olive oil is not solid at room temperature so this one may be a disaster. Tastes good though :)

    Thank-you love. Do you mind if I post the recipe on my blog? All credit to you obviously xx

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  13. Thank you so much! So glad the chickpea flour worked, I'll try that when I can get my hands on some here. You're totally welcome to post the recipe to your blog, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! ^__^

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  14. I just made this for the second time, and this time I just had to double the batch. I don't have peanut flour, so both times I've blended up some almonds into a powder and it's worked perfectly. Thanks for the DELICIOUS recipe!

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  15. Mmmmm can't u come here and make it for me? I miss your dancing... Anyway, any ideas on a substitute for coconut oil? Or where in England would sell it? Also, I know we've had this conversation before but what can I do to make cream cheese vegan? Loves xx

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  16. For this recipe would I be able to omit the defatted peanut flour, due to allergy??

    thanks :) looks yummy!

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  17. Anyone subbed coconut flour for the peanut flour? Or any other type of flour? :)

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  18. Anyone subbed coconut flour for the peanut flour? Or any other type of flour? :)

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© papillon.Maira Gall