In my quest to find healthier alternatives for our nightly dessert fix, I came up with this roasted almond, pistachio and cranberry fudge.
It’s called fudge very loosely because, while it satisfies the soft, sweet and rich part of the definition, it doesn’t contain any butter or milk and the only added sugar is from the dark chocolate.
Instead, this chocolate fudge is a wonderful mixture of coconut oil, cashew butter (although any nut butter would work), dark chocolate (70% cocoa – no milk solids), roasted pistachios, almonds (again any nuts work – roasted hazelnuts are even better!), cranberries, a little Himalayan rock salt and a sprinkling of freeze dried raspberries.
We ate most of the first batch of the fudge (which had hazelnuts in it) in one sitting so I had to make another one to photograph.
Suffice to say it tastes AMAZING. The recipe is super easy too, simply melt and stir, pour into a tray and leave to set.
Almond, Pistachio & Cranberry Fudge
Makes: 20 pieces
Prep time: 15 minutes Setting time: 30 minutes
115g coconut oil
150g dark chocolate, broken up (I used a good quality 70% cocoa solids chocolate with no milk products)
6Tbsp cashew butter (or any nut butter)
1/2tsp Himalayan pink salt
150g cranberries
100g almonds (or pistachios or hazelnuts) lightly roasted & chopped sprinkling of freeze dried raspberries
Line a slice tin approximately 20cm x 20cm or 18 x 30cm with non-stick paper and set aside.
Pre-heat your oven to 160°C fan bake, place the nuts of your choice on a lined tray into the centre of the oven and lightly roast for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Chop when cool.
Place coconut oil, dark chocolate, nut butter and salt in a small pan and stir over low heat until melted. Add the chopped nuts and cranberries and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the lined tin, and place in the fridge to set.
Once firm, remove the fudge from the tin and cut into pieces. Store the fudge in a sealed container in the fridge and it will keep a couple of weeks, although I doubt it will last that long! It freezes well too.
Oh my goodness this looks amazing – yum!! Plus seems nice and simple something that even I could follow..
Yes a super easy recipe – almost too easy! 😉
Beautiful colours. Perfect for Christmas.
This looks yum! Could I substitute the coconut oil for sunflower oil or something I have in the cupboard? thanks!
Hi Rachel, no I don’t think sunflower oil would work. The reason I used coconut oil is that it is solid at room temperature which helps the fudge set. If you used another oil that is liquid at room temperature I don’t think it will set. You could probably substitute butter, I’m not sure how that would affect the flavour as I haven’t tried it. Or cacao butter would work too. Thanks.
Yum, that looks good! I’ll probably substitute with 90% chocolate and raspberries as I have lots in the freezer. Can’t wait to try it!
Great idea Raohaelle! I think would raspberries would be fantastic x
Please where do I find nut butter? Or how do I make it? I have looked in the supermarkets and can’t find freeze dried raspberries! Where do I get these??
Hi Priscilla, you can find nut butter in most supermarkets in NZ. In countdown it’s in the Naturya isle with all the other organic and gluten free foods. In New World it is usually in amongst the other spreads like peanut butter. You can also find nut butter at most health food stores. If you want to make almond butter yourself buy some plain almonds, place on a tray in the oven at 160C for 5-10 mins to warm them up. Then place them in a food processor with a good pinch of salt and blend. It will take about 15-20 minutes and you will have to keep scraping down the sides but presevere and eventually they turn into a liquid nut butter.
Freeze dried raspberries are made by Fresh As and can be found in selected New Worlds, Farro Fresh, and possibly Nosh. Hope that helps!
Looks incredible and ticks lots of allergen-free boxes for friends of mine. Just clarifying though, did you use fresh/dried/freeze-dried cranberries?
Hi Lorraine, I used dried cranberries as those are the most readily available. You could easily substitute them for another type of dried fruit such a apricots or dried cherries if you’d prefer.
And Binn Inn has all of those ingredients and I have just been there. Fudge tonight! Great recipe, thank you.
Thanks for the tip Fiona! Hope you enjoy the fudge x
Do you use all those nuts, or just one sort
Hi Jenny, you only use 100g of nuts but you can choose which type from that list or a mixture. I will edit it to make it clearer 🙂
Hey. I can only find cranberries that have sugar added. Do you know of a brand that doesn’t have sugar added?
Hi Jolie, I haven’t come across any unsweetened cranberries yet but I have found ROAR do naturally sweetened sour cherries (with apple juice I think) which could be a good substitute. ROAR can be found at most health food stores and some supermarkets. Hope that helps 🙂
Could you use macadamia nuts instead?
Hi Tracey, yes I think macadamia nuts would be delicious. You can substitute any nut you prefer, just so long as you use the same quantities.