Everyone’s favorite Fudge Babies, one of my most popular recipes of all time, are back once again!
Oil Free
Flourless
Vegan
Just 5 Ingredients… and NO Baking Required!
These secretly vegan and healthy chocolate fudge balls, with just a few wholesome ingredients and no added sugar, are easy to make, completely delicious… and totally addictive!
Don’t say I didn’t warn you!!!!!
Readers also love this Banana Ice Cream
This has been one of my most popular recipes with readers over the years, and for good reason.
If you’ve never heard of Fudge Babies, they’re basically raw and paleo chocolate truffles made without any added sugars, oil, or processed ingredients, and they’re pretty much impossible to stop eating.
The recipe is one of the easiest healthy desserts you’ll ever try.
Fudge Babies will always have a special place in my heart because, long before the Chickpea Cookie Dough Dip or the Black Bean Brownies came onto the scene, this was actually the first one of my recipes to ever go viral!
Fudge Babies come in all sorts of different flavors, such as Thin Mint, German Chocolate, and Chocolate Peanut Butter.
You can roll them into balls, cut out shapes with cookie cutters, or even form them into bars to make your own homemade Larabars, for a healthy snack any time you’re craving chocolate.
You can also roll them in coconut flour if you want to make your own homemade Larabar Bites.
And because they don’t need to be refrigerated, they’re great for any of the following:
Packing in a lunchbox
Making a batch to give as a gift
Shipping to family or friends
Taking as a healthy on-the-go snack
So why highlight the Fudge Babies again now?
Well first of all, the recipe is way too good to be lost in the archives.
If you have just 5 minutes, I highly recommend making a batch.
They are ridiculously fun to make and even more fun to eat.
Especially with Valentine’s Day around the corner, chocolate Fudge Babies are the perfect recipe, because they are both heart healthy and sinfully decadent and chocolatey at the same time.
But even more importantly: On February 21st, at noon EST, I’ll be making these fudge babies live in the studio at the USA Today Headquarters!
**Edit: Above is the live footage from the USA Today Headquarters broadcast
I included a few flavor variations below, but the sky really is the limit.
Have fun coming up with your own Fudge Baby flavors by adding ingredients such as chia seeds, almond extract, shredded coconut, instant coffee, or anything else you think sounds good.
I’d love to see your variations, so please feel free to post a photo of your results in the comment section below, or tag me on Instagram @ChocolateCoveredKatie.
Fudge Babies – The Famous Recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts or nuts of choice – Or here’s a Nut-Free Version
- 1 1/3 cup pitted dates
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder
- optional just over 1/8 tsp salt
- optional mini chocolate chips
- optional add-ins such as chia seeds or shredded coconut
Instructions
- *If your dates are super hard, just soak them in boiling water for a half hour. Most regular grocery stores carry dates; just be sure to buy them pitted. I usually add the salt, but it’s your choice! Blend all ingredients in a food processor (or halve the recipe and use a single serve blender or mini chopper). When doing a full recipe, I’ve found that a food processor works much better than a blender because everything processes more evenly and the results are not a sticky mess. Roll into balls – I find it’s easiest to transfer the dough to a ziploc and smush it into one big ball, then break off pieces and roll into smaller balls. Feel free to dip in melted chocolate or roll in cocoa powder or shredded coconut or coconut flour. You can also form bars or even roll out the dough and cut shapes with cookie cutters! View Nutrition Facts Variations: Hot Chocolate Fudge Babies: 1/4 cup raw cashews or walnuts, loosely packed 2/3 cup pitted dates, 1 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder, pinch salt Coconut Cookie Fudge Babies: loosely packed 2/3 cup pitted dates, 1 1/2 tbsp coconut butter, pinch salt Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Babies: 1/4 cup roasted peanuts (with salt), loosely packed 2/3 cup pitted dates, 1 tbsp cocoa, 1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract And here’s a Cookie Dough Version!
More Reader Favorite Recipes:
Best flavor ever! My boyfriend suggested I add some pretzels to the basic “hot cocoa” babies and omg, it was fantastic!
Oh wow, your bf is a genius! I want to try this ASAP… and it’s not even 9AM! 🙂
Hi Katie!
Thanks so much for your kind and rapid reply to my email the other day!
So my blog and web page are finally up and running with my very first (and only) blog entry in honor of you and Fudge Babies… thank you so much!
I have had a big set back though – I used iweb (mac) and just discovered that I can’t have a comments page without going through some big song and dance, so for the moment I can only take emails! *sigh*
I’m just going to have to start again with WordPress I think…
Oh well, c’est la vie. I’d love to hear what you think of it – I know I’m addicted to yours! I just found “how to milk an oat”. What a fantastic title! It conjures up a great visual… you’re very clever like that.
Liese xx
Thanks for the recipes! I’m always looking for healthy portable nutrition.
My adaptation is Carob Babies. I have been avoiding anything that produces the health issues I have been fighting. Hence, no chocolate. Carob is a great substitute. It made these babies the perfect sub for this former chocoholic! Just exchange the carob powder for the cocoa powder. Presto, a snack for the holidays I can eat guilt free!
I just love the fudge babies. I’m addicted totally. I crave them. I had to cut the recipe down to a single serving because I will sit and eat every bit of them. Also I am so impatient to get them into my mouth that I don’t even roll them into ball! I eat right out of the cut that I mixed them in… with a spoon. Wow where have these been all of my 43 years? Thanks so much, they are amazing!
Ooh I love your single-serving idea! 🙂
No Bullet, no food processor. Just chopped by hand. Tasted good but no where near as moist as yours look and wouldn’t hold together without added water. Also not shiny like yours. Any suggestions or is it just the result of doing by hand instead of machine?
I’ve never made them by chopping by hand, but it seems like that would make a BIG difference in terms of texture.
Also, some types of dates are moister than others. I really like Delget Noor (sunmaid). But I know a lot of others use Medjool.
I tried these for the first time today after getting a kitchenaid food processor for Christmas. They were DELICIOUS! My processor had some issues breaking up the dates, but the ones I got were from a bulk section and pretty dry, today I went to the store and bought a bag and they have more moisture. They turned out amazing, I can’t wait to make your other varieties!
I’m so excited you made them! (And I’ve had problems with the harder dates, too. But then again, my Magic Bullet probably isn’t meant to handle anything that hard.)
I just added a little splash of water to the food processor while blending, and it all came together great.
Seriously good. Dates, as they are, are like candy to me.. this is a deadly mix! Seriously good!!! Thank you!!
Could you replace the dates with another dried fruit instead?
I tried it with figs, and it tasted weird. But I do know some people have had success with raisins or even prunes!
Have you considered market these as your CCK vegan dessert line? I’m sure it’ll be a hit 😀
Haha I have thought about it a few times… but the thing is that it takes years to get a product line up and running successfully, and I also have zippo business experience. It’s a huge risk, because you could devote ten years of your life to it, only to find out that the product never reaches mainstream status in the end. But yeah, I still have thought about it. Right now I just have too much else to do, in terms of fun ideas for the future :).
P.S. Sorry about disabling the direct msg thing. I am just way too verbose for 140 words!