Paleo Hot Fudge – Smucker’s Healthy Twin
I’m a hot fudge girl. Always have been. When I found out I couldn’t eat sucrose I was devastated. I had to avoid Smucker’s hot fudge for the rest of my life. How could any girl live without an occasional (or daily) spoonful of “medicine”?!
About a year after my diagnosis and figuring out my safe foods I realized I still needed chocolates, brownies, chocolate cake, and hot fudge. I was determined to get what I wanted without making myself deathly ill. I started experimenting.
I tried everything. I mean, everything and every combination available on the store shelf or online (at the time). I finally found the sweet spot and the ingredients that make for the paleo twin to Smucker’s hot fudge!
Honey/Sweetener: It’s incredibly important to know that 80% of all bottled honey on your grocer’s shelf is diluted with rice syrup – 100% straight sucrose. YIKES! Dark and/or clear honeys will completely eliminate the “sweet spot” – the perfect marriage between honey and cocoa – and you’ll end up with either bitter or sickeningly sweet hot fudge. I tried agave. The agave made for too airy and light of a flavor, and definitely made the hot fudge more soupy – not a good hot fudge consistency. I discovered that using a cloudy, light-colored honey from a source I knew and trusted was really key to this recipe. (If you’re near the southeast Idaho area and looking for honey that works in most recipes, comment, message, or email me and I’ll send you the information to a really great bee keeper.)
Baking Cocoa: Regular baking cocoa does not pack enough of a chocolate punch to compete with the honey – I kept getting really strong honey-flavored hot fudge. Until I found this Dutch cocoa by Wincrest!
Honey and Cocoa: Honey and chocolate have a love-hate relationship. They’re finicky around each other. And they have to be perfectly balanced to within ¼ teaspoon or else your hot fudge will be too bitter, or the complete opposite – sickeningly overly rich.
Vanilla: Most vanilla flavors or vanilla extracts contain alcohol. When I used the vanillas with alcohol, the alcohol was waaaaaay too pronounced and really threw a wrench into the fudge flavor. It completely throws the whole flavor out of balance. But I found this amazing vanilla flavor by Dutch Mill (I have not been able to locate an online source yet – it’s only sold in Utah stores right now)… it doesn’t bother my stomach, it doesn’t give me a headache, and it doesn’t ruin my hot fudge! It’s the only vanilla I use unless it’s straight from a vanilla bean (super expensive)!
Oils: I experimented with the different coconut oils and olive oils. I found that the coconut oils that had their flavors removed (refined coconut oils) produced a chunky and gritty hot fudge. It would not blend well and made for a poor “hot fudge” consistency. When I tried making fudge with refined (adulterated) coconut oil, there was also a lack of … depth and warmth to the hot fudge. Using olive oil cured the chunky and gritty problem, but came with its own set of problems. Olive oil wouldn’t produce the hot fudge consistency, and the fudge suffered the same lack of depth and warmth as with the refined coconut oil. I found that the best oil for this recipe is Nutiva’s cold-pressed virgin coconut oil. Hands down. I don’t know why. But it somehow contributes to the amazing fudge flavor and consistency that none of the other oils I experimented with could produce.
I cried the day I perfected my hot fudge recipe…after living a year on just select veggies and meats, I was speechless and in tears. I want to share my hot fudge recipe because I know what it’s like and nobody should ever have live another day without hot fudge!
I use this paleo hot fudge on my paleo brownies and in my paleo brownies, cakes, cookies, and almond truffles, for that occasional spoonful, and even as a fruit dip! It’s so much like Smucker’s that it even heats up like Smucker’s hot fudge!
I share the recipe with you because I know how hard it is to find something that is safe to eat that meets your physical and emotional needs, especially during the holiday season. Nobody should ever have to live without hot fudge – e.v.e.r!
Disclaimer: I am not a dietician, doctor, healthcare professional or consultant. If you have serious health concerns about this recipe, consult your healthcare team before trying this recipe yourself. This is a hot fudge recipe that is safe for me. I encourage you to alter it, tag me, and I’ll celebrate and give you a shout out for striving to thrive!
Paleo Hot Fudge – Smucker’s Paleo Twin
Ingredients
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- 1 cup real honey
- 1/2 cup Nutiva coconut oil
- 4 pinches of salt
- 4 tsp Dutch Mill imitation vanilla
- 3/4 cup Wincrest Dutch Cocoa Powder
Instructions
Briefly melt honey in the microwave (about 1 minute). Add coconut oil. Microwave for about another minute until coconut oil is completely melted.
Add remaining ingredients and whisk together until smooth. Whisk again about every 10 minutes until it starts to thicken. Pour into a 1-pint microwave-safe jar and store in the fridge.
When ready to use, remove the jar from fridge and microwave (without the lid) in 30-second increments – just like Smucker’s!
