Vegan Peanut Butter Fudge
Photography by Simeon Crofts
DIETARY – Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Dairy-free
I made four batches of vegan peanut butter fudge before finally landing on the winning recipe. The first was too soft, the second too sweet, the third was plain terrible and the fourth, finally, was just right; perfectly sweet but not sickly, had a delicious nutty flavour, a firm, slightly crumbly texture, and oh-so-creamy to eat. Hopefully, I’ve made all the mistakes for you so that when you give this a go, it’s perfect every time. I made a couple of extra batches, just to be sure!
Homemade fudge makes a great gift, party favour or weekend treat and I find it incredibly satisfying to make. I have a bit of an obsession with making my own confectionery and have been making all kinds of fudge, lollipops, honeycomb, chocolates and the like for years. There is a ‘cheats’ way of making this fudge, which is really straightforward. If you don’t feel confident with the traditional method, you can make a quick and easy version of this fudge by melting the vegan butter, peanut butter and vegan coconut condensed milk together in a saucepan, bring it up to the boil then take off the heat and stir in around the same quantity of icing sugar, vanilla and salt. This will result in a much softer final fudge, best kept in the refrigerator. But, it’s still delicious and will cut easily into squares.
The trickiest part of the traditional way of making fudge, as I’ve done in my recipe below, is getting the temperature of the sugar mixture just right before taking it off the heat, and learning to work quickly to combine it with the peanut butter and get it in the tin. Though a sugar thermometer will come in very handy, if you don’t have one you can use your sight and the cold water trick. When you think your mixture is about ready, scoop a teaspoon of the mix and drop into a glass of ice-cold water. You should be able to mould it between your fingers into a soft ball in the water.
I was really thrilled to collaborate with Mayver’s on this recipe, who was kind enough to send some of their fantastic peanut butter out to me to develop recipes with. Apart from being Australian made, what I really like about their peanut butter range is the variety – you can find everything from dark roasted and extra crunchy to skin-on and even high-protein. I opted for the Smooth Dark Roasted Peanut Butter as it had just a hint of sea salt and a much richer, toastier flavour, which I found works perfectly in this fudge recipe. However, you can use any type of peanut butter you like for this fudge, smooth or crunchy.
A tip when looking for the vegan coconut condensed milk it to check the international aisle of the supermarket. I found it in amongst the coconut milks and creams, next to the Asian foods. I really hope you enjoy this indulgent nutty treat as much as I enjoyed all the fun of experimenting to make it. Happy cooking!
Vegan Peanut Butter Fudge
Ingredients:
- 100g vegan butter
- 1 tin (320g) vegan coconut condensed milk
- 300g caster sugar
- 250g peanut butter (I used Mayver’s Smooth Dark Roasted Peanut Butter)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Method:
- Line a square baking tin with parchment paper. I used an 8x8” tin.
- Put the vegan butter, coconut condensed milk and sugar in a large saucepan and set over medium heat. Stir occasionally until melted and the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Meanwhile, measure out your peanut butter in a large bowl and mix in the vanilla extract and salt.
- Allow the sugar mixture to come up to the boil then simmer until it reaches 115°C/239°F on a candy thermometer or, if you don’t have a thermometer, until it starts to come away from the sides of the pan – approximately 4-5 minutes after coming up to the boil.
- Take off the heat and, working quickly, pour into your peanut butter mix and stir, incorporating well, then pour straight into your pre-prepared tin. It’s important not to stir for too long as the fudge will rapidly harden and become crumbly if over-mixed.
- Allow to cool at room temperature. This will take around 3 hours. After 1 hour, you can put the fudge in the fridge to speed up the process. The fudge can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for two weeks. You can also store it in the fridge for up to four weeks, however, storing fudge in a refrigerator will dry it out, so I personally recommend keeping it at room temperature, somewhere cool and dry.