If you’re all about gifting food, or just eating really great sweets, this vegan peppermint s’mores fudge is the perfect recipe! Fudge is inherently pretty easy to make, but there is a very hard part: waiting for it to cool before enjoying.

Firstly, I’m so sad that my regular blog posting got derailed last week! If you didn’t see my instagram story, I ended up sick in bed after wearing myself out cooking two thanksgiving dinners. So, as much as I tried to be, being productive didn’t happen.

BUT, there will be two blog posts this week to make up for it, this being one of them. Though I am very excited for the soup recipe that I’m posting! Mostly because the ginger turmeric soup IS something I made while I was sick, and it was fantastic. (I have some in the freezer still and can’t wait to eat it later)

Now, the deal with this fudge recipe is that I actually made it last year. I had been inspired by the Cranberry Orange Fudge I had made for the VegNews Holiday Issue and wanted to make a different version. Clearly, I did! But, I ended up running out of time putting the whole post together and shared the recipe on Instagram only.

Personally, I don’t like using recipes off of IG, so I knew this vegan peppermint s’mores fudge needed a dedicated blog post! That way we get the process shots in there, and you get to read me waxing poetically over food. 😉 On a semi-related note, I was reading a thread on FB asking if people preferred process shots or just final product shots and found it really interesting. What do y’all think? Do you find them helpful? Let me know in the comments!

Before I get to the recipe, I want to note a few things! As you can see above, I toasted the marshmallows with a kitchen torch, on top of the fudge. Don’t have a torch? You can place marshmallows on a skewer and bulk-toast them over a stove burner. You’re also welcome to forgo the toasting altogether if it seems too complicated! Though, you may miss out on a little of that toasty flavor.

Substitutions & Tips:

• Semi-sweet chocolate chips – if you can’t find dairy-free semi-sweet chips, and just generally vegan chips, that’s fine! Just adjust the maple syrup to taste, because there may be added sugar to the chips.
• Full-fat coconut milk – I use this in place of heavy cream for a dairy-free version. If you have an aversion or allergy to coconut try using store-bought vegan half & half or cashew milk.
• Vegan butter – this adds a little extra richness and a teeny bit of salt, but if you are out of vegan butter, olive oil could likely work in its place.
• Vegan marshmallows – you can find vegan marshmallows in SO many stores at this point! Even Target has them, if you don’t know where to start.
• Vegan graham crackers – what makes most graham crackers non-vegan is honey, but there are a few versions at big chain grocery stores that have honey-free ingredients! In this case I opted for both vegan and gluten-free to cover another allergy.
• Candy canes – you can also use regular peppermint hard candies, and if you’re worried about artificial coloring, YumEarth has naturally-dyed candy canes.
• For shorter cooling time – to have the shortest cooling time possible, warm the chocolate chips really gently until there are a few chunks left, turn off heat, and let sit until the pieces melt. This way the chocolate doesn’t reach as high a temperature and will take less time to set.

1 year: Chocolate PB Candy Bites // 2 years: Baked Vegetable Pakoras // 3 years: Crustless Bacon Brussels Quiche // 5 years: Roasted Butternut Garlic Bisque // 6 years: Apple Pie on the Rocks // 7 years: Pecan Persimmon Oatmeal // 8 years: Orange Marmalade Thumbprint Cookies

Love desserts like this vegan Peppermint S’mores Fudge? Check out some other great options for the holidays, below!

• Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
• Holiday Nog from Fettle Vegan Cookbook
• Gluten-free Pistachio Cheesecake