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These homemade frozen Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars are the healthier vegan frozen summer dessert we all need to stash away in our freezers. Made simply with just 9 pantry staple ingredients…creamy canned coconut milk, maple syrup (for sweetness), plenty of chocolate, espresso powder, vanilla, and nutty-salty peanut butter. It does not get simpler.

Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

Finish each bar off with a dip into a homemade “magic shell.” Put everything together and you have a frozen fudge bar that’s chocolatey, peanutty, extra creamy, and so delicious. You’d never guess they’re vegan.

It’s finally that time of year for creamy frozen desserts. I’ve loved any kind of ice cream bar since I was little. Who could not? Frozen treats are just more fun. Probably because they tend to be associated with summer, which as a young kid was definitely my favorite season. Schools out – suns out, time to chill. And ending the day with ice cream was the absolute best!

Literally the best right? I love thinking back to those memories.

Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

Dairy Queen was my family’s “ice cream parlor” of choice. Mainly because it’s all our town had close by at the time. We were lucky, my mom would take us there pretty regularly on hot days. Were you a peanut butter cup or cookie dough blizzard kind of person? I loved both.

For as much as I loved DQ blizzards, one of my favorite frozen treats was a simple chocolate fudge bar. Last year I made these very, very classic fudge pops. This season, I’m changing up the recipe and sharing a different, but similar frozen swirled peanut butter chocolate fudge bar. And they are heavenly…creamy, peanutty, and with the best all-over chocolate shell coating.

Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

Details

To make these bars I use a creamy chocolate cashew mousse. Soaked cashews, coconut milk, cocoa powder, vanilla, and a touch of espresso. There’s truly nothing better than this mousse. The key to the silkiest, smoothest, vegan “mousse” is to boil the raw cashews. This makes them extra soft and easier to blend up. When they’re plump and soft, they blend into the smoothest consistency that truly resembles a real mousse.

I like to add a touch of vanilla and coffee, to really bring out the chocolate flavors. So good.

It’s really important to take the time to boil the cashews and let them soak. Because of this, the prep time is a little longer, but by no means hard.

Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

When the mousse is all combined, it goes into a square baking dish. Then the peanut butter is poured directly over top. Use a knife to just lightly swirl the peanut butter into the creamy mousse.

You don’t want to mix it in, but instead, you want swirls. Then just stash the pan in the freezer until frozen, then cut and freeze once more.

Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

Once the bars are cut and frozen, dip them into the chocolate. Then finish them with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt for that salty-sweet combo we love so much.

At this point, you can begin to lick away. Or keep them in the freezer to enjoy later. You should always have a number of these on hand. Just stash them away in the freezer for when in need!

I love keeping these on hand as a snack or late-night dessert.

Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

Looking for other chilled dessert recipes? Here are a few ideas: 

Homemade Chocolate Frosty

Creamy Vegan Chocolate Fudge Pop

4 Ingredient Creamy Fruit Popsicles

5 ingredient Raspberry Peach Sherbet

Peanut Butter Brownie Ice Cream Bars

Coffee and Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Lastly, if you make these Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars

Prep Time 45 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 16 bars
Calories Per Serving: 274 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • 1. Place the cashews in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil 2 minutes, then cover and remove from the heat. Let the cashews soak for 30 minutes or up to overnight. Drain well. 
    2. Line a 9×9 inch square baking dish with parchment paper. 
    3. Add the drained cashews, coconut milk, cocoa powder, instant coffee, vanilla, and maple syrup to a high-powered blender. Pulse until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed, about 5 minutes. Taste, adding more maple syrup if needed to sweeten. Pour evenly into the prepared pan.
    4. Drizzle the peanut butter over the chocolate, then use a knife to lightly swirl the peanut butter through the chocolate. Cover and freeze for 3 hours, until firm. Cut into 16 bars, then place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze another hour, until firm.
    5. To make the chocolate shell. Melt the chocolate and 1 tablespoon coconut oil in the microwave until melted. Let cool 10 minutes. Remove the bars from the freezer and cover/dip in chocolate. Sprinkle with sea salt. Keep in the freezer until ready to eat!

Notes

For the Chocolate: if you are vegan, make sure to use a vegan chocolate bar. 
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Creamy Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

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Comments

  1. Can I use store bought cashew milk if I don’t have raw cashews at home? Does that change the quantity/number of cups needed to make this receipe work?

    1. Hi Shelly,
      Sorry, unfortunately that won’t give the same consistency as blended cashews, you’ll want to follow the recipe as written:) Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx

  2. These look delicious but wondering how to eat them – do you add sticks at some point to hold the bars or are they eaten with a fork/spoon?

    1. Hi Sue,
      No sticks, you can eat them by hand or with a spoon of fork:) Let me know if you give the recipe a try! xTieghan

  3. 5 stars
    Can’t wait to make these with Sean, our six-year-old. We look through your books together and pick out what he wants to eat. (My husband does that too.) Thank you for going to so much trouble to make food look scrumptious.

    1. Awe thanks so much Pauline, I hope you guys love the bars, let me know how they turn out!! xTieghan

  4. Hi Tieghan! Can’t wait to make these!! Was wondering if I could omit the coffee? And use chunky peanut butter instead? Love all your recipes by the way!

    1. Hey there,
      Thanks for your kind message!! Yes, you can omit coffee and use chunky peanut butter, it’s just going to give a different texture:) Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx

    1. Hi Paula,
      Sorry, I fixed that, it’s 2 teaspoons:) Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love it! xx

  5. Sounds like a great recipe! I am curious if you could sub out the coffee powder with something else – not a coffee lover at all. Thanks

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    2. Hey Anne-Marie,
      You can just omit the coffee powder:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx

  6. Is there a substitute for the espresso if you don’t do caffeine? I love chocolate and peanut butter so maybe it would be fine to just omit it?

    1. Hi Tara,
      Yes, that would be just fine for you to do. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx

  7. Thank you for sharing your wonderful, artistic recipes with the world! This looks absolutely amazing!! We can definitely eat peanut butter at our house, but not tree nuts. Is there another ingredient that we could use? We are not dairy-free or vegan, either. Any ideas are much appreciated!

  8. We have a cashew allergy in the house. Do you have another suggestion? (It doesn’t have to be vegan)

    1. I would imagine you could use any kind of nut, or even sun butter (except you would skip the step where she makes the cashew butter).

    1. 12 teaspoons is the equivalent of 1/4 cup and won’t take all afternoon to measure. Hope that helps!

      1. i think the recipe is wrong and have not gotten a response. 1/4c coffee???? this is a choc pb recipe. i suspect its 1/2 t. did you make it?
        seems lots of comments, but no one has made it

    1. Hi Eddie,
      Natural peanut butter should drizzle quite easily for you, if not just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to thin it out:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the recipe! xx

  9. How do you drizzle peanut butter that is not thinned out with any other ingredient? Is something missing? Looks yummy!

    1. If you get natural PB that needs stirring it is much more drizzley. You could also microwave some to liquefy it.

    2. Hi Nancy,
      You should be able to pour your peanut butter slowly over the chocolate, if not just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to thin it out if needed. I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan