Are these Sweet Potato Chocolate Fudge Squares healthy? Well, it’s all relative isn’t it? They are certainly healthier than traditional fudge. They are full of Vitamin A-rich sweet potato, protein laden almond butter and maple syrup, not sugar. A guilty pleasure with a lot less guilt, but a pleasure all the same.
My daughter and I have been having The Talk. The vegan talk. You thought I was going somewhere else there didn’t you? She’s 4. She thinks I made her out of food in my belly.
No, over the last few months she has become more aware that I eat differently to her. My daughter is not vegan and neither is her dad. Over the years I have gotten them to an 85 – 90 per cent vegan diet but there is still a ways to go.
While it may not be popular amongst the vegan community, I am letting my daughter make her own food choices. Mostly. I know my kid; she’s a mini-me. At age 4 she will happily tow my line because I am Mummy and I know things. When she’s 14, if I’ve forced a vegan diet on her, I will drive past our local McDonalds and see her in the window scarfing a Quarter Pounder. I would if I were her. No-one to be told how to live.
So, I am guiding her with my actions and hoping she will live a compassionate life. She asked why don’t I drink cow’s milk. I answered, because it doesn’t belong to me. She asked why I don’t eat eggs. Same answer. She asked why I don’t eat meat. I said it was because I couldn’t kill an animal and I wouldn’t ask someone else to do it for me. She asked does that mean that meat is a dead thing. Yes it is.
After a thoughtful pause she replied, “That’s a shame. I love eating dead things. They’re delicious.” Like I said, we have a ways to go.
I take comfort in the fact that I do all the cooking here and as long as that is so, we do vegan. And today we are doing vegan sweet potato chocolate fudge squares.
One of my favourite things is to incorporate healthful ingredients in to decadent desserts and sweets. I’m not going to lie, it makes me feel less guilty about stuffing my face with chocolate. These sweet potato chocolate fudge squares have a swag of good things but also a goodly does of melted vegan chocolate. They also tickle me because I can choose to have them one of two ways.
Sweet Potato Chocolate Fudge Squares | 2 Desserts in 1
You heard that right. These gorgeous little squares come together simply in a blender, set in the freezer and are good to go once set as a smooth, dreamy fudge square. However, after setting, if you remove the fudge from the freezer, slice it and allow it to sit for around 15 minutes, it softens. In it’s softened state it is like a slice of rich chocolate mousse slice. Serve it with ice-cream and nuts to send you over the edge.
With nutritious sweet potato, creamy almond butter, maple and dark vegan chocolate, my sweet potato chocolate fudge squares are both naughty and nice. While I scratch my head over my daughter’s own food journey I am comforted that she never met a vegan chocolate treat she didn’t like. We’ll start there. Enjoy, x.
NB: I stumbled across this recipe while testing a chocolate mousse recipe for my cookbook adding too much chocolate to the mixture. If you like a firmer fudge, you can add a little more melted chocolate to the mixture. You could easily add another ounce or 30 grams.
Sweet Potato Chocolate Fudge Squares
Ingredients
- 310 grams sweet potato, peeled and steamed medium-size sweet potato
- 1/2 cup dairy-free milk
- 1/3 cup almond butter
- 1/4 tsp sea salt optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 290 grams vegan chocolate 10 - 11 oz
- 1 tsp hemp hearts optional
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Line a small bread tin or lunch box with greaseproof paper.
- After steaming the peeled sweet potato for around 15 minutes or until soft, allow it to cool.
- Add the dairy-free milk, cooled sweet potato, almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Either in the microwave or over a double-boiler melt the vegan chocolate.
- With the blender running, stream in the melted chocolate and blend until well combined and smooth.
- Pour the mixture in to the prepared bread tin, level and sprinkle with hemp seeds or any topping of your choice. Cover with foil and pop it in the freezer to set for at least an hour. When set, remove from the freezer and cut in to slices to serve.
- Store in the freezer or for a softer mousse slice, the fridge.
Nutrition
![Autumn arrived today and it is officially soup weather. As a kid my favourite soup was chicken noodle. These days I can still enjoy a bowl minus the bird. This birdless version from my cookbook #greatveganmealsforthecarnivorousfamily uses jackfruit to add texture to the crazily authentic and flavorful broth. Takes me back to my childhood. 💚
4 to 6 servings1 (14-oz [400-g]) can jackfruit
2 tbsp (30 ml) tamari
⅛ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp (10 g) nutritional yeast
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely sliced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp water plus 2 cups (503 ml) for
the soup broth
Zest of 1 lemon
4 cups (1 L) vegetable stock
Handful (around 3 oz [85 g]) dried
spaghetti, broken
1 cup (30 g) baby spinach, finely
sliced
Good pinch sea saltDrain and rinse the jackfruit and cut each one into thin slices from the longest point of the triangle. Put the sliced jackfruit in a bowl with the tamari, white
pepper and nutritional yeast and stir to combine. Set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the olive oil to a large soup pot or saucepan and heat over low heat. Add the garlic, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves and thyme and
saut. for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of water. Cook
covered, for around 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, add
the second tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat.
Add the jackfruit and sauté for 5 minutes, pulling it apart gently with a fork as you
cook. Stir the shredded jackfruit into the vegetables, add the lemon zest, stock and
remaining water, and bring the soup up to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for
20 minutes. Add the broken spaghetti, cooking for another 7 minutes. Remove the
bay leaves and thyme, stir in the baby spinach and season with sea salt. #letscookvegan #fromscratch #foodstyling #meatlessmonday #makeitdelicious #tastingtable #eatplants #worldwideveganfood #goop #thecookfeed](http://scontent-ort2-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/9b62eb225aa88c73717b1f85ec8d6d6a/5D81B1E8/t51.2885-15/e35/s320x320/53425017_2026465847655903_4310692797615736546_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1.cdninstagram.com "Autumn arrived today and it is officially soup weather. As a kid my favourite soup was chicken noodle. These days I can still enjoy a bowl minus the bird. This birdless version from my cookbook #greatveganmealsforthecarnivorousfamily uses jackfruit to add texture to the crazily authentic and flavorful broth. Takes me back to my childhood. 💚
4 to 6 servings1 (14-oz [400-g]) can jackfruit
2 tbsp (30 ml) tamari
⅛ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp (10 g) nutritional yeast
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely sliced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp water plus 2 cups (503 ml) for
the soup broth
Zest of 1 lemon
4 cups (1 L) vegetable stock
Handful (around 3 oz [85 g]) dried
spaghetti, broken
1 cup (30 g) baby spinach, finely
sliced
Good pinch sea saltDrain and rinse the jackfruit and cut each one into thin slices from the longest point of the triangle. Put the sliced jackfruit in a bowl with the tamari, white
pepper and nutritional yeast and stir to combine. Set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the olive oil to a large soup pot or saucepan and heat over low heat. Add the garlic, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves and thyme and
saut. for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of water. Cook
covered, for around 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, add
the second tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat.
Add the jackfruit and sauté for 5 minutes, pulling it apart gently with a fork as you
cook. Stir the shredded jackfruit into the vegetables, add the lemon zest, stock and
remaining water, and bring the soup up to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for
20 minutes. Add the broken spaghetti, cooking for another 7 minutes. Remove the
bay leaves and thyme, stir in the baby spinach and season with sea salt. #letscookvegan #fromscratch #foodstyling #meatlessmonday #makeitdelicious #tastingtable #eatplants #worldwideveganfood #goop #thecookfeed")
