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:
Have you tried making a smoothie version out of this? I would probably use almond milk instead of walnut or cashew, with only a couple dates, vanilla extract, raw cacao, and some sunflower sprouts for protein, bananas for neurotransmitters, and an avocado for some healthy fat. Yum!!
I did… and it wasn’t very good. But I have a blogger friend who did make a good “Fudge Baby Shake” that I highlighted a few months ago. If you ever do make a version, I’d love to hear it! Maybe I should try again!
Just tried these out…they are AMAZING! I had to add a little bit of water to make them sticky enough to roll into balls, but other than that, fabulous! I’m going to try adding almond milk next time and throw in some oats and coconut. Thanks for this recipe, I really can’t believe they’re good for you!
~Laura
Thanks, Laura! I think your addition of coconut would be super-delicious :).
Hi Katie
I want to try this recipe so badly they look delicious and I love date balls, but I don’t have nuts. Do you think they’ll be fine without the nuts?
I did try just cocoa powder and dates once. It’s completely different, and EXTREMELY sticky. But it’s still good in it’s own right. Not nearly as good as with the nuts though. Do you have nut butter?
No I don’t but I’ll be going to the stores tomorrow and to buy the nuts definitely will be trying them. By the way I tried your single lady carrot and it is beyond delicious. Treats like that make me glad I’ve decided to become a vegetarian.
Thanks, Katie! I love this recipe and am sharing your post and recipe on my Paleo diet blog.
Just made these again today and they never fail to disappoint!
Thank you Katie, you are a lifesaver. I am struggling to lose weight and I now have delicious healthy chocolate treats to turn to when I’m tempted to eat bad chocolate treats. The guilt is gone and I feel energized with these desserts.
I have tried similar recipes but yours is by far the best. A chocolate covered (and healthy) life is the best life! Thank you!!
I came across your site while searching for healthy chocolate desserts. I never really had a sweet tooth before I started Paleo but not wanting to go off of my diet, I began looking for alternatives to satisfy my newly developed craving. I just made these and they are AMAZING!!! I look forward to trying out a few of your other recipes as I stay on track with my health/fitness goals.
Thanks for the great info.
-B
I forgot to tell you I made these! These were the first things I found on your blog and I made the hot cocoa version, but I actually followed the measurements from another blog with the same recipe (http://thecopycatcook.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/cocoa-nibbles/) since I didn’t want to use my scale and I had to tell you how much I liked them! They didn’t last long, and I’m looking forward to making other varieties of raw balls, like peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough balls! Have you made something like that? Thank you so much for sharing your fabulous recipes with us!
OMG.
SO GOOD.
I think the best part is that I can let my kids eat these whenever and as much as they want (well…ok, within reason, kids don’t have an off-switch) and they love them, too.
Haha “kids don’t have an off switch”
I was babysitting once (in 6th grade), and the lady told me I could let her son have whatever he wanted… well, when she got home she discovered I’d allowed him to eat more than 1/2 a box of nilla wafers!
will these still be good if i freeze them in an air tight container for a few days?
Definitely! They will keep for a few weeks if you leave them out of the fridge, they’ll keep for a few months in the fridge, and they’ll probably keep even longer in the freezer!