Paleo Crockpot Fudge
You can make fudge in your crockpot! And it can even be COMPLETELY DAIRY FREE! And it will taste AH-MAAAAZING. If you don't have a tiny 1 1/2 or 2 quart crockpot, this would totally be a perfect time to invest in one. It will just cook too fast and burn in a larger crockpot. If you HAD to, though, you could just double or triple the recipe and use a larger crockpot until it's at least half full. (Slow cookers work best when they are about 2/3 of the way full, but you could fudge it a bit. Hah! FUDGE it! I crack myself up.) I totally meant to post this before Valentine's Day, but the week just sort of happened. Our car had to go in for some maintenance, the husband had three interviews, I had to go to the dentist, bills had to get paid and every time I sat down at my laptop, the husband had another paper for me to edit. So life happens, right? And that's why you need fudge. Fudge helps when life happens.
You can make fudge in your crockpot! And it can even be COMPLETELY DAIRY FREE! And it will taste AH-MAAAAZING. If you don't have a tiny 1 1/2 or 2 quart crockpot, this would totally be a perfect time to invest in one. It will just cook too fast and burn in a larger crockpot. If you HAD to, though, you could just double or triple the recipe and use a larger crockpot until it's at least half full. (Slow cookers work best when they are about 2/3 of the way full, but you could fudge it a bit. Hah! FUDGE it! I crack myself up.) I totally meant to post this before Valentine's Day, but the week just sort of happened. Our car had to go in for some maintenance, the husband had three interviews, I had to go to the dentist, bills had to get paid and every time I sat down at my laptop, the husband had another paper for me to edit. So life happens, right? And that's why you need fudge. Fudge helps when life happens.
- Carbohydrate 25.0390250223771 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 11.6335433422095 g
- Fiber 2.07206253523849 g
- Protein 1.48080375125616 g
- Saturated Fat 7.19286833858507 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (40g)
- Sodium 22.1905625034346 mg
- Sugar 22.9669624871387 g
- Trans Fat 0.528292667056626 g
- Calories 189 calories
Step-by-step
- Grease the inside of the crock with coconut oil well.
- Open your can of coconut milk and empty it into a bowl. Stir it together until it's all the same consistency. Then remove a half cup of it and place it in the crockpot.
- Add the rest of the ingredients except the vanilla extract and cook on HIGH for right at 2 hours. Add vanilla, stir and combine it... and then turn the crockpot off. Leave it uncovered for three to four hours until it's mostly at room temperature.
- Once it's at room temperature-ish, take a spoon and stir it for about ten minutes, until that glossy finish that was on it is all gone. (This was a lovely job for my husband. He didn't mind stirring it for ten minutes because I promised him he could lick the spoon afterwards.)
- Grease a 1 qt. Pyrex or other container with coconut oil, and then transfer fudge to said container and cool it in your fridge overnight. Cut it into tiny pieces to serve. Be sure to store it in your fridge, as this fudge is made out of coconut milk so it will get squishy and melt if it's left out for too long.
Traditional stovetop fudge relies on precise sugar-syrup boiling stages monitored with a candy thermometer, but this slow cooker method bypasses the stove entirely. Ambient heat gently melts the chocolate chips and honey together with the high-fat canned coconut milk, removing the risk of burnt sugar or crystallized crystals seizing the mixture prematurely.
Equipment and Thermal Management
Slow cookers operate most efficiently when filled to approximately two-thirds capacity, making a small one-and-a-half to two-quart insert essential for this yield. Standard larger slow cookers will spread the modest volume of ingredients too thinly, causing the mixture to scorch along the bottom edges before the heat penetrates the center. Cooking on high for precisely two hours achieves sufficient melting without degrading the dairy-free chocolate solids. Leaving the insert uncovered for three to four hours afterward allows the thermal mass to drop safely to room temperature.
The Crucial Ten-Minute Stir
Transforming the cooled mixture from a glossy liquid into firm fudge requires mechanical agitation. Stirring the cooled mass continuously for ten minutes forces the cocoa butter and coconut fats to form small, stable crystals, yielding a matte finish and a dense, sliceable block. Because the recipe uses coconut milk rather than standard dairy cream, the finished squares must be stored in the refrigerator overnight to maintain structural integrity, as ambient room temperatures will cause the high-fat content to soften prematurely.
