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This Dairy-Free Fudge is a delicious version of your favorite peanut butter fudge. It's made with just five ingredients and only requires a few minutes of prep work, plus it's stored in the freezer so you can enjoy it for even longer!
Everybody loves fudge, right? Right. This peanut butter fudge is my new go-to fudge recipe, mostly because it's dairy free.
Fudge is always an easy dessert recipe to prep--certainly much quicker than cake and cookies--but we tend to think of fudge as being a holiday dessert. Well, the good news is that the holidays are right around the corner!
Recipe features
- The recipe requires just five ingredients: coconut oil, peanut butter, maple syrup, cane sugar, and salt
- It's freezer fudge, so it lasts long time (that is, assuming you can contain yourself from eating it all!)
- This dairy free fudge has the perfect fudge-like texture.
Ingredient notes
Peanut butter - The most important ingredient, so be sure to use your FAVORITE brand of peanut butter. I made mine with Trader Joe's creamy unsalted peanut butter (the one with the green label) and it was perfect.
Maple syrup - Pairs perfectly with the peanut butter and coconut oil; I haven't tested this recipe with honey as a substitution, though I imagine it would work just fine.
Coconut oil - This is key to making the fudge turn out perfectly and for getting the texture correct -- no substitutions.
Cane sugar - Can sub coconut sugar, though it won't be as sweet and does make the fudge have a slightly more coconut-y flavor to it.
Salt - The salt helps to make this fudge sweet and salty. I added a pinch to the actual fudge, and then think it tastes even better with extra salt sprinkled on top.
Step-by-step instructions
Making dairy free fudge is quite similar to making traditional fudge. This recipe requires just two steps!
Step 1: Add ingredients to a saucepan. Pour the peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, sugar, and salt into a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir frequently until the coconut oil has melted and the mixture is completely smooth.
Step 2: Freeze. Pour the mixture into a parchment-lined 8x8 baking dish, and then place the dish in the freezer for at least two hours.
Tips and tricks
- Storage: Since this fudge recipe is made with coconut oil, you're going to want to store it in the freezer. Otherwise, the coconut oil and therefore the fudge could soften if left out at room temperature.
- In order to keep this dairy free, the main ingredient is coconut oil (instead of sweetened condensed milk). I recommend eating 1-2 pieces of fudge at a time, because similar to most fudge, it's really rich. So think of it as an easy, portion-controlled dessert 🙂
- Try to use peanut butter without a ton of oil. Since the recipe already calls for oil, we don't want even more oil while scooping out the peanut butter.
Can I use coconut sugar instead?
You can. The first time I made this I used coconut sugar, and while the recipe turned out just fine, I found that it had more of a coconut-y flavor to it, which is why I recommend cane sugar instead.
Can I sub a different kind of nut butter?
Yes! I've made this using half peanut butter and half almond butter and it's delicious. You could also make the entire thing from almond butter if you want. My favorites are Square Root and Abby's Better Nut Butter (the coffee almond butter in fudge form is to die for!).
More dessert recipes
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Peanut Butter Dairy-Free Fudge
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 ¼ cup peanut butter
- â…“ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup cane sugar
- pinch of salt plus more for topping
Instructions
- Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat.
- Whisk frequently until the coconut oil has completely melted and the mixture it smooth.
- Pour mixture into the baking dish, then place the dish in the freezer for at least 2 hours, allowing fudge to harden.
- Before serving: remove fudge from the freezer and trim the edges if necessary. Cut fudge into bite-size pieces, sprinkle with additional sea salt and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
UPDATE NOTE: This post was originally published in December 2019. It was updated with new text in December 2020.
Joanna says
This tastes good (because it's peanut butter and sugar), but it isn't fudge. I had to add more sugar because it wasn't sweet enough and I should have cooked it longer because the sugar didn't dissolve all the way. When it came out of the freezer it was okay, but when it warmed up it was just sticky and not fudge consistency. I just wanted a non-dairy fudge but apparently non-dairy/vegan means it needs to be healthier and not as good. Also, there's no need to use maple syrup, just use sugar. The syrup just adds to the stickiness.
Dalia says
The recipe looks soooo good to me except the cane sugar. Is it necessary to have the sugar on it. Can I do it without it ?
Thank you so much
Erin says
Great question! You can definitely omit it -- it should be fine without it, but if you want it to be a tad sweeter, I'd add 1 tsp vanilla extract and that should do the trick.
Debbie says
Could you make this with dried peanut butter?
Erin says
I wouldn't!
Ashley Martin says
Love this! Couldn't be easier to make and it's the perfect snack to satisfy my sweet tooth. I also catch my husband sneaking a piece or two out of the freezer throughout the day 🙂