Coconut Cream Chocolate Fudge

I wanted to try coconut cream, or coconut butter (not the same as cream of coconut), so I bought a jar from Vitacost a few months ago.  Coconut butter is just raw coconut that is so blended up it becomes like a spread, almost solid at room temp.  This is because it contains the whole coconut flesh, which contains the oil.  It's very good just by itself, but I had a whole jar to use, so I needed to make something with it. 

I originally bought it so I could make my own coconut peanut butter, but decided not to do that after all.  So I chose this recipe- it's a dairy-free fudge that would be vegan if not for the honey. (One could use agave.)  I like nuts in my fudge, so I added 1/2 cup of chopped macadamias to this, and it was a good move.  

This fudge is supposed to set up in the fridge, but after that, I'd remove it and store and eat it at room temp.  For some reason, I thought you were supposed to store this in the fridge, and I really didn't like it very much!!  I finally took it out of the fridge to try it at room temp and it was SO MUCH better.  Out of the fridge, its' hard and tastes almost bitter.  At room temp, it's soft and creamy, melts in your mouth, and is not bitter at all.  I love it at room temp.  The first pic on this post is taken of room temp fudge, the rest of the pics are taken of cold fudge.

Coconut Cream Chocolate Fudge

adapted from the Coconut Mama

1 1/2 cups coconut butter
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raw honey
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup chopped macadamias, optional

1. Heat a medium saucepan over low heat. Add coconut cream concentrate/coconut butter, cocoa powder, vanilla and sea salt. Mix well as the coconut cream melts. Slowly add the raw honey into the coconut mixture until combined.  If using nuts, mix them in now.

2. Pour the warm fudge into greased 8 inch square pan. Cover and refrigerate. Allow fudge to refrigerate for 4 hours or until its completely set. Cut into squares and serve at room temp.

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