Salted Maple Pecan Vegan Fudge
Author:The easiest, most fool-proof, rich, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth Salted Maple Pecan Vegan Fudge. Punctuated with crunchy pecan pieces and a smatteering of sea salt crystals, it’s like salty, sweet perfection!
Ingredients
- 256g / 1 cup creamy cashew butter , be sure to mix the natural oils which rise to the top, well into the butter when you open it so it's nice and creamy. See recipe notes for alternatives including nut-free option*
- 120mls / ½ cup maple syrup , make sure it's real maple syrup and not the cheap flavoured stuff
- ½ teaspoon salt , fine
- 70g / ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon coconut flour , see recipe notes for substitutions**
- 50g / ½ cup chopped pecan nuts , see recipe notes for nut-free options***
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- OPTIONAL extra pecans and sea salt flakes for sprinkling
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add the cashew butter, maple syrup and salt to a bowl and mix together really well.
- Add the coconut flour, vanilla and pecan nuts to the cashew butter mixture and stir really well again until there is no dry flour showing at all. Be very thorough and make sure you scrape into the bottom of the bowl with the spatula. It gets pretty thick and hard to stir. That's normal.
- Line a 1lb loaf pan (or other similar size container) with either cling wrap or parchment paper. Cling wrap I found is a tighter fit and makes it look neater when you turn it out. If you don't have anything suitable you can make them in muffin cases instead.
- Pack the fudge mixture into the loaf pan and flatten out the top so it's neat. Get a mug of water and dip a spatula in it then shake it off to remove any excess, before spreading the top of the fudge and you will find that it won't stick all over the spatula and will make your job much easier. You can dip in the water every few spreads to keep the effect up.
- Once the top is level sprinkle some more pecans and some sea salt flakes on the top for decoration and press them really lightly with your fingers into the fudge so they stick.
- Put the whole pan in the freezer for about 30 minutes, then remove, lift out of the pan and cut into pieces. The fudge can be stored in the freezer or in the fridge after the initial set. If kept in the fridge it will stay quite soft but still firm enough to hold and bite into, whereas from the freezer, it will be harder but not completely solid. When it's frozen it's best just to leave it for a minute or two before eating. It's great both ways so try both and see which you prefer. Or go 50/50!
NOTES
*Cashew butter gives by far the best flavour here because it's so neutral and the flavour of the maple and the pecans really comes through well. You can use almond butter but it isn't quite as maple-y then and the almond flavour really comes through. Not a bad thing if you like almonds but now how it's intended to be.
**Coconut flour gives the best results. DO NOT try substituting regular flour because it will not work and it will taste horrible. If you are allergic to coconuts or cannot get coconut flour, a fine almond flour works well but it does change the flavour. Not in a bad way, it just tastes almond-y and the maple doesn't come through so well. Another option is to use powdered sugar but that will make the fudge extremely sweet.
***If you have a nut allergy use sun butter instead of cashew butter. You can either totally omit the pecans (it's still really lovely) or use any add-ins that you like instead. Some ideas:
- any other chopped nuts or seeds
- raisins or other dried fruit
- chocolate chips
- freeze dried fruit
- candy
- shredded coconut
- coffee extract
- cinnamon
- cookie pieces
NUTRITION
Serving: 25g serving (1 of 24 pieces) | Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2.5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1.6g | Sodium: 57mg | Fiber: 1.5g | Sugar: 4.9g | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.7mg
