Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Stevia Fudge and Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found my stevia fudge recipe here. It was originally chocolate-peanut butter fudge, but I make it just chocolate. I also sort of mush some of the steps together to streamline the process.

Heat the following ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat. Add one ingredient at a time, making sure the mixture is completely combined/melted/dissolved before adding the next ingredient.

1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoon stevia*
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dry milk powder
6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate*

*I used my NuNaturals white stevia powder and added a lot more than the original recipe called for. Some stevia is sweeter than others, so keep that in mind with any stevia recipe. I used Ghirardelli chocolate because these are Christmas gifts.

Line an 8"x8" pan with tin foil and spread fudge in it. Let chill in fridge for at least one hour, then cut.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dan's Bible college has a gift swap party today. I never know what to give at those gift swaps, especially since there is such a vast age range among students.

I was seriously thinking about making a batch of soaked grain, sugar-free chocolate chip cookies, but I could picture how that would go. Dan would say they were some kind of healthy cookie; he might even use the words "sugar-free" and no one would want them. I'm still using my whole white wheat flour, but I'm not going to highlight that to Dan.

Cookies are great for these kinds of swaps. I don't know a college student who wouldn't want cookies, my husband included.

I make chocolate chip cookies by the recipe on the bag of chocolate chips, just like my mom taught me.

Beat together:
1 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Add:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Fold in:
12 ounces of chocolate chips

Bake for 10 minutes at 375. Then feed this massive batch of cookies to a large crowd or one college student.

26 comments:

Alicen said...

Oooh, I bet those cookies will get grabbed up very quickly at the gift swap! They look delicious :)

crabcakes said...

Emily,

I agree with your husband on this one. Soaked grain sugar free cookies don't really scream "awesome gift" unless you KNOW already it's someone who would jump for joy over it.

Regular chocolate chip cookies are an awesome idea though. College students love cookies and they probaby don't have a ton of money either to spend on expensive gifts.

It's the holidays and there's no better time for regular, sugar filled cookies :)

Marie said...

I'm a student during exams; I would LOOOOVE those cookies (or fudge). That's going to be a great gift.

Lori said...

I've been wondering how you were doing fudge with stevia, since the sugar is a structural element of a fudge, not just a sweetener. Interesting. I wholeheartedly approve of the use of the Ghirardelli chocolate. (As a cost saving measure, and perhaps something that would let you use this recipe more often, you can substitute 1 c. plus 2 T. cocoa and 2/3 c. butter for the chocolate.)

And I agree with your husband. Cookies for a gift should be something the person in question would like without reservation.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to try the fudge recipe! It sounds good. And can I add that I loooove the color pictures much better then black and white. It is easier to really see the food.

Marcy

Rachel said...

Emily, my mom and I went to a Christmas bazaar, and they had samples of Key lime fudge. It was delicious! My mom said that she had the cookbook with the recipe at home, so she gave me the cookbook. So I am making key lime fudge and Fannie Farmer fudge for Christmas parties, gifts and a bake sale at church.

Emily said...

Lori, when I make the fudge for DH, I use cocoa powder and butter instead of Ghirardelli. It's still delicious, just not quite as delicious.

Diana @ frontyardfoodie said...

Good to see the color photos! Isn't it awesome to come up with healthy and equally delicious recipes for guilty food pleasures!? These look amazing.

Tammy said...

I know you don't do honey, but we recently made fudge with: (1 cup each) organic cocoa powder, melted extra virgin coconut oil, raw honey, and walnuts. It was gone in 2 days. Looking forward to trying the stevia recipe, thanks!

Anonymous said...

I'm curious how you got blogher ads, when they say they aren't currently accepting new blogs.

Emily said...

Anon, when I was accepted they said they could take on a few new blogs at that time.

Anonymous said...

What kind of tray are the cookies on?

I won't feed my family stevia. Interesting that you won't use honey.

Unknown said...

Rachel,
I love key lime. Would you share that recipe??

Emily,
I love your gift ideas! I am going to try some out if I can ever find the time. :)

Emily said...

Anon, the tray is one that had peanuts on it. I won't use honey because it effects my body the same way white sugar does. Stevia has been an excellent alternative.

Anonymous said...

We avoid processed foods. I see Stevia no different than I see aspartimine or saccharine. Raw local honey is a much safer and real alternative.

Emily said...

Anon, stevia is an herb. You can grow it in your garden, quite unlike artificial sweeteners.

mrs.b said...

I was wondering which brand you prefer the taste of? I've been trying to find one I like. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I know what Stevia is. I can also grow deadly nightshade in my garden but I won't be whipping that into batches of fudge.

Emily said...

anna, I have only tried NuNaturals brand and we like the taste in everything we need it for.

Anon, growing it in your garden would put it in a different category from artifical sweeteners. If you consider it a dangerous herb from misleading studies, fine, but it is not an artificial sweetener.

Kelly said...

Cracks me up you make real food with real ingredients for complete strangers while your kids are fed flour and water paste...er, pasta.

amanda said...

we use stevia here in moderation, my only concern with it is I heard it has "hormone type" effects on males that can reduce their fertility (somewhat like soy stuff) I havent found anything to concretely say it does, but havent fount anything to concretly say it doesnt either. - sigh - love your blog though!!

sunnymommy said...

What is the consistency when you pour it in the pan? Pics of every step/stage would be helpful. (You said in a recent post you want your blog to become more useful/helpful/informative/etc).

I made it twice and one time it came out "pourable" (more liquidy) and the 2nd time it came out really thick and had to be spread around with a rubber spatula to even it out. I can't figure out why they were different as I did everything the same except adding a bit more stevia the 2nd time. So I was wondering which way it was supposed to be! It didn't seem like you added much more liquid for dropping the PB in the original recipe so I thought maybe it was supposed to be more liquid...

Also it is a really, really dark chocolate taste to me - not nearly as sweet as "regular" fudge. Is that right? I guess I was expecting something closer to regular flavor and texture.

It says on the original recipe to keep it in the fridge. Do you put a note on the gifts that say that?

I just saw the comment with the fudge made with honey and coconut oil and I am going to try that one today! Thinking of subbing butter though. And I want to try the cocoa and butter in the stevia recipe in place of chocolate squares as that is a lot of chocolate squares and it's running up my budget! We are trying to make these for Christmas gifts as well...

Emily said...

sunnymommy, it is a liquid out of the pot, but then solidifies after an hour in the fridge. I used 60% cocoa chocolate chips, the squares are way more expensive. I think that made it sweeter, using 60%, but I added more stevia than the original recipe as well, which called for 1 3/4 teaspoon. Adding more stevia makes it more sweet, like regular fudge. If you are using totally unsweetened squares, you will probably want more stevia. I'm not sure if this was helpful, but I hope you get it to work for you. (:

sunnymommy said...

Aha! That would make a huge difference (using choc chips instead of unsweetened baking squares). I have the ghiradelli 60% choc chips in my cupboard and I just checked the ingredients - besides the chocolate they also already have extra sugar and cocoa butter in them so I'm guessing it would be a significantly different taste and texture if I made it with those. I wish you had been more exact in the original post! :)

sunnymommy said...

Tried it with the choc chips - now that tastes like fudge! And it was liquid when poured into the pan. But, a couple questions. I am not sure on the nutritional value of powdered milk.. have read a bit that makes it out to be pretty bad for you. Do you have any concerns with it? And second, the stevia is new for us - it seems to be extremely processed to come out as this white powder. I've read that you can buy it simply dried and crushed, but it will be green and have a less desired flavor. I've also read that stevia was originally used by native people to help with birth control (though not too sure if that story is legit). Are you concerned about either the processing or fertility suppression of stevia?

Emily said...

sunnymommy, I wouldn't use powdered milk regularly, but what I see as the biggest problem is that it lacks the good nutrients in milk fat. Adding in the butter voids that out. Also, I don't expect my fudge to be extremely healthy.

The processing of stevia is simply an extracting. It is an extract. I've seen some studies on the fertility issue and they seem poorly done. I'm still looking into it...

Post a Comment