Remember the days before frozen cappuccino’s, when sub-zero chocolately goodness flowed out the back of an ice cream truck? For me, it was always a toss up between a Fudgcicle and an ice blue abominable snowman foot with gumball toenails. I love those memories, but I definitely don’t feel the same way about the ingredients in those popsicles.
Fortunately, there is a healthier way to capture the joy of frosty goodness on a hot summer day. These homemade fudge pops are luxuriously creamy and so delicious. They’re naturally sweetened and full of nourishing fats from silky, chocolately cocoa butter and anti-oxidant rich avocado.
Yep, avocado. If you’ve never experienced the creamy goodness of avocado in a fudge pop, rich chocolate pudding or or these key lime popsicles, you’re in for a treat. (As a bonus, using avocado instead of milk or cream makes this dessert dairy-free, which is one of the most frequent requests I receive.)
This recipe makes about 7-8 popsicles using my favorite silicone popsicle molds. I love them because they’re petite (and therefore a reasonable serving size for my kids), and also because they’re super easy to pop out and serve. If you’ve ever fought with a popsicle mold and found yourself holding a broken stick with half a popsicle on it, you know the struggle. Also, if you’re making these fudge pops with different molds and want to calculate how many you’ll end up with, the total amount of liquid is around 1¾ – 2 cups.
One last thing: If you happen to run out of popsicle molds and have some of the mixture leftover, store it in the fridge overnight and the next day you’ll have a yummy chocolate mousse!
Homemade Fudge Pops
Ingredients
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk (how to make your own coconut milk)
- 1 tsp grass-fed gelatin
- 2 oz cocoa butter (by weight, or 1/3 cup melted)
- 1 avocado (peeled and seeded)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup cacao powder (or more to taste – chocolate flavor is less strong when frozen so use more than you'd think.)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Heat the coconut milk on the stove until it is hot (but not boiling), then remove it from heat and set the pan aside.
- Add the gelatin to the coconut milk and stir it in. It will be clumpy and that's okay because it will even out in the blender. Right now all you need to do is add it so that the gelatin can set up.
- Add the cocoa butter to the coconut milk so that it will melt naturally. (You can also heat it on the stove but I prefer to skip steps when possible.)
- Place the avocado, maple syrup, cacao powder, vanilla, sea salt, cocoa butter/coconut milk, and gelatin/coconut milk mixtures into a blender. Puree until smooth. Taste and see if it is sweet enough and if the chocolate flavor is just right or needs to be stronger. Add cacao powder and maple syrup if needed.
- Scoop the fudge pudding into your popsicles molds and freeze for at least 4-5 hours before serving.
Nutrition
Want more frosty goodness? Check out these recipes . . . .
4 Ingredient Strawberry Mint Popsicles – Made with a base of lightly sweetened yogurt and a hint of mint. They’re delicious, easy to make, and pretty too!
Cherry Almond Ice Cream – This recipe was a happy accident of sorts. I’d promised my littles a movie and homemade ice cream, then damaged my rotator cuff while paddle boarding. If you’ve ever broken a promise to three excited kids, you know exactly what happened next: I made the ice cream with one arm. Basically, I just dumped a bunch of stuff in the ice cream maker and hoped for the best, and this is what came out!
Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches – Grabbing a spoonful of cookie dough before it gets popped into the oven is the best part of making cookies, right? In this egg-free, grain-free recipe, I’ve skipped the baking part and paired chocolate chip cookie dough with creamy vanilla ice cream because, yum.
Dairy-Free Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream – Rich, creamy, and full of minty, chocolatey goodness , this dairy-free ice cream has the rich texture of the real deal.
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Fudge pops are AMAZING!
What can you use as a substitute for bananas? Should applesauce work? I can’t stomached bananas and they are in everything!
I don’t think applesauce would hold the pop together very well, but you could try! You might also try extra avocado with a bit more sweetener 🙂
Hi Heather,
Really enjoy reading your blog and trying the diy cleaners !! Thank you for doing an awesome job !!
I don’t eat gelatin. Any vegan or vegetarian options that you could suggest for gelatin would be great !!!
Thanks in advance.
Agar would probably work but I haven’t tested it so I’m not sure if the process/proportions would be the same.
Just a little correction… Cocoa powder is actually not GAPS legal. Sorry!
Hi Tamara! It is my understanding that it is not SCD legal but is allowed on GAPS as long as it doesn’t cause digestive problems. http://www.wellfedhomestead.com/is-chocolate-gaps-legal
That is correct, cocoa and unsweetened chocolate are legal on full GAPS if they don’t cause digestive problems. NCM states this in the FAQs at the GAPS website.
This recipe looks great!
hahah I love your humor. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
can you replace the gelatin with anything?
Second this question.. for the vegetarians..!
I wonder if you can use agar agar. Isn’t that made from seaweed? Vegetarian version of gelatin.
You’re amazing. You know that, right? Thank you!!
These look absolutely delicious!!! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Oh those look so gooooood!
Marrow as in from bones? or the squash?
Bone marrow. I’m always trying to get more in my diet so I add it to everything I can!
Do you roast marrow bones regularly? Or is there somewhere else that you find bone marrow?
Thanks!
Courtney Shuman – The gelatin makes the pop slow drip and adds a little protein but it’s not really necessary 🙂
Adds to a “creamy” pudding like consistency as well. We make popsicles all the time with coconut milk. All kinds of flavors using just coconut milk as the base. I keep meaning to save some avocado to use in a popsicle, but keep forgetting. Thanks for the reminder. Another healthy add in is a couple of teaspoons of gently melted coconut oil.
Aww shucks Erin Waterbury! I almost feel inspired to get out of my pj’s now!!!
Yum!!! Cannot wait to make these!
I’m SOOOOOO excited about this recipe!!! Thanks, Mommypotamus!!!!
Well now, how convenient is it that we just finished our tray of popsicles and are ready to make some more?!
These look amazing! I follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for health reasons and if I leave out the chocolate these are a go! I am thinking cinnamon would work?
Cinammon might be a little strong but you could try it! And stay tuned, because I have a DELICIOUS key lime popsicle recipe coming up soon. It’s SCD friendly 🙂
Dear Heather, These look delicious. Did you create this recipe? How did you learn to do that? 🙂
Hi Emily! I’ve been making chocolate pudding from scratch for years so I just tweaked things a little to make them freezer friendly 🙂
Yes! Very clever! I’ve been making “Chocolate Avocado Coconut (full fat) Milk pudding (and thicker for Icing) for years but never thought to up it to “fudgesicles” for summer! Here I go…….!
Thanks!
oooh this recipe sounds amazing! i want to try it with the bone marrow but not sure what source to use or how to prepare it – any advice or info on what you use would be appreciated! thank you in advance!
Hi Tara! It’s really simple: I buy beef marrow bones (grassfed cows only) from Whole Foods and then let them simmer in a pot for 10 minutes. Once they’ve cooled I remove the marrow and then put the bones back on the stove for beef stock! Easy peasy!
Hello 🙂 I had a question. I am breastfeeding my 7 and a half month old and am trying to start gaps. I am doing the intro to gaps diet and I’m just moving into stage 2 so maybe I should just wait it out but I’m really struggling with energy levels even when I take naps along with Ethan and I’m trying to eat plenty! My milk supply has gone down a little not a lot and I’m asking for your opinion. While breastfeeding should I maybe just go into full gaps? I’m eating plenty of fat, lots of broth, meat, and I fins myself hungry for energy (maybe cuz its digesting faster) but I have to be able to feed him so I’m kinda disappointed in myself maybe for feeling like I can’t or should not do the intro right now.
Hi Laura! The introduction diet is not recommended for breastfeeding mamas because it can cause you to detox too rapidly and the toxins will transfer to breastmilk. Full GAPS, however, is a wonderfully nourishing diet for nursing mamas . . . just make sure to get lots of good carbs like butternut squash and beans because they’re necessary to support hormone function in bf’ing mamas!
By the way I think you are an amazing woman and have inspired me to live beyond the typical “healthy ” diet and pursue the best and most natural life for myself and my family .
Awww, thank you Laura!
Looks great! How many does this recipe make if I use the dixie cup method?
I’d say 3-4 depending on how much you fill each cup 🙂
Is that a nut topping on your popsicles in the photo? It doesn’t really look like it…
Yep! I used macaddamia nuts 🙂
I’m curious about the cocoa butter. What is its role in this, and would a coconut butter be a good substitute? I have plenty of that and wouldn’t have to go shopping!
Hi Debra! Cocoa butter is what gives it the silky, chocolatey texture. I haven’t tried coconut butter so I’m not sure if it would work, but if you test it out please let me know what you think!
I just made these with coconut butter since its what I had in and they were great! I bet they’d be better with cocoa butter, but they were still creamy and silky.
Heather,
I’m assuming you can’t taste the marrow? I think marrow has a strong “cow” flavor. This is awesome though if the other flavors mask it!
LOVE your dessert recipes 🙂
Thank you, Genevieve! I love your Sh*t Crunchy People say videos! Regarding the marrow: I can’t taste it at all, but I put it in everything so I’m probably not be the best judge. 🙂 If you’re feeling adventurous you might add a tablespoon and see what you think before adding any more.
Sounds good!
Hi,
Just printed this recipe and discovered that there is a big error! the ingredients say one thing and the method says to use other ingredients. HELP!
I just got back from the store with all the ingredients from the list, so I guess I just make up my directions and hope it turns out. PLease email with corrections- I would love to try the original recipe.
Hi Sarah! What ingredients are you seeing that are listed in the directions but not the ingredient list? I can’t seem to find them . .
Made these today – my kids TOTALLY LOVED THEM!! (so did I, btw). THANKS!
Yay, I’m so glad Kelly! Thanks for letting me know – feedback is awesome and helps me figure out which recipes to share next 🙂
Heather, These look great — I’m looking for some “treats” for my teenage son on GAPS. His birthday is this weekend.
But I’m confused about you calling these popsicles. Do they go in the freezer for a bit before they are ready to eat?
Oh my goodnes, yes Julie! I can’t believe I didn’t add that into the instructions! They need to freeze for at least two hours (depending on how cold your freezer is) before serving. Thanks for pointing this out – I just updated the post!
Can we sub anything for the cocoa butter? I would love to use it but can’t get my hands on any right now :/
I usually don’t comment on posts, but these are amazing. We make them all the time. All four of my children love them. Sometimes we don’t freeze it and eat it as pudding. What a great, healthful dessert! Thanks so much!
Yay, THANK YOU for letting me know, Kristin! I love comments that begin with “I don’t usually comment on posts” because I know the author really means what they’re about to say! 🙂
Is the purpose of heating the milk to dissolve the gelatin? I’d love to do this with raw milk and kefir as the base, so I’d rather not heat it if I can get around it somehow. I might add an egg yolk or two as well…
I used some homemade yogurt that was more on the liguidy side. When you heat it, it won’t even boil. It will probably get just as hot as it does when it incubates which is a healthy temperature for the little critters. One suggestion when you soften or bloom the gelatin, double up on the milk. For instance, the recipe calls for two tablespoons so put four TBSP in a wide container so that as you sprinkle the 2 tsps of gelatin to soften it, you are putting down a thin layer so that it dissolves more thoroughly and faster. So, if your gelatin is soft, when you add it to the “heated” milk, it will dissolve easily. Ya, I love experimenting!
I wouldn’t heat it past 110, to save the raw milk properties, that’s plenty high to help dissolve the gelatin!
Holy Cow Batman!!!…those sound amazing. As soon as the weather gets out of the 50’s, I shall give them a try. Or…the pudding option sounds good too! Thank you for posting this!
Thank You so much for this recipe! the texture is awesome! I even added a handful of walnuts and ground them in the mix. The taste is VERY banana-y. I think I might leave out the banana next time and see how it turns out. Very excited to try this again. I now have about 5 cups worth of popsicles to eat before trying again…oh darn 🙂
How could I adjust this for my daughter who is allergic to banana and avocado but still get a similar texture?
wanted you to know have always made them with coconut butter instead of cocoa butter cause that’s what I have and they are wonderful. Also I didn’t have marrow but added liver powder!
These look wonderful! I’m doing a healthy frozen treats round up post for Keeper of the Home on June 14 and plan to include a link to these. Hope it brings lots of new friends your way! Blessings to you, Kelly
Thank you, Kelly! 😀
Where should i buy bone marrow from?
I buy mine from my local farmer who raises grass-fed beef 🙂
I’ve been trying to find cocoa butter. Whole foods has some but in the beauty products and I’m not sure if I can use those. I tried looking at your source for buying online but I can’t seem to figure out where it is on the village green network. Can you tell me what brand and where you get cocoa butter?
Hi Mary Rose! I buy mine at Whole Foods, too, but not in the beauty section. They should have food-grade cocoa butter in the raw food section.
Can’t wait to try this in my zoku pop maker as an alternative to my other fudge pop recipe which is soaked raw cashews blended with water or almond milk, honey and cacao powder. You’re recipe looks like a great way to get some great calories into my tiny little 1 year old.
hi there,
these sound great…just wondering, I only have the Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate gelatin at the moment…will this still work? I am always trying to add it in the kids food when ever i can, but not sure if I need the red can for these? thanks alot!
Hi Simmone! I would use the red can or eat them really, really quick if I made them with the green can 🙂
Wow! Awesome. One question, we cant do coconut because of allergies, and cant do straight milk, although we can tolerate yogurt. Would yogurt work as a substitute? Thanks so much!
Yes, I think it would!
You nailed it again. I have made several of your recipes. I know when I do a search for some healthy GAPS/real food treat and mommypotamus comes up as one of the options that it’s going to be worth the time to make. I have been making “fudge pops” with just coconut milk, cacao powder, gelatin, honey, coconut oil, and sometimes adding in some dashes of seasoning such as cinnamon or ginger. They worked well and my 8 year old daughter loves them. But I felt like they were still lacking oomph. Your recipe really took it up a notch. We have large popsicle molds and this recipe made so much that we ran out of molds. I had enough for 1 to 2 more popsicles that we wound up just pouring into a bowl and sharing. This recipe was really pudding like and creamy and yummy even just eating that extra with a spoon. I did add some coconut oil to the recipe, in the 1 to 2 Tablespoon range (I’m not that big on measuring at times). I also kept the honey at the more minimal side of things with just using a 1/4 cup. The banana we used was huge, which added sweetness. Bone marrow is pretty hard to come by in our area and so it just winds up in our broth, but would have loved to have had that to add in. I also skipped the extra step with nuts and just made plain fudge pops. We can not wait until they are ready to eat as pops. Thanks for another great recipe.
YAY! I’m so glad you liked them, Nancy.
Ashe Biles not sure if you follow this page but you’d love it!
Yum , you always have great recipes
Thanks Jenny Coker Craig! I’m following this page now 🙂
Annamarie Beam Clark
Rosa Del Carmen Gardner yum!! Tony Gardner
Cheri Harkness!
Yesterday I was thinking it’s about time for some of these 🙂
Ooooh, thank you so much Mommypotamus! We LOVE fudgesicles 😀
Rim 🙂
Shannon have you made some thing like this? It sounds that it wouldn’t taste right w the avacado
Meagan Hope Baker i made chocolate “pudding” with avocado and it was hard to tell. same with adding it to my chocolate smoothie. it really lends a light flavor and the chocolate kinds covers it up. 😉
Malena Yako I would make these for me but I hate bananas ..
Rebekah Thompson, Dani Todd, Ashley Walther Short, Samantha Wayne Kauffman,
Thanks Heather Day! I’m pinning this right now!
I made these this morning!
Brittany Shaw
Lindsay Schumaier thought of you
Claudia Jelinek
Tiffany Violet Leigeber check these out for kiddos
Could you use almond milk? Not everyone in my family like coconut.
June Biemiller – Yes, you can! It won’t be quite as creamy, but it will still be good 🙂
thanks! Great Fudge Pudding Pops recipe.
I wish these were already in my freezer….
Patricia Tommie Wilson Snyder
I’m trying to imagine these without the chocolate (although I’d rather not)…have you tried it?
Bridget Clough
I have a child who has an allergy to avocado and banana, any suggestions on substitutions? Thanks
Fajr, Coconut cream might work, but you’d probably need to play with the ratios.
I made these fudgepops and they were gross. It may have been that I substituted guacamole for the avocado. The garlic undertones just didn’t mesh well with the chocolate and banana.
So, do you know what the carb count is for one of these delicious things?
SO GOOD! Learned the hard way that the banana needs to be very, very ripe–otherwise it overwhelms the chocolate goodness.
By the way, I had extra after filling my popsicle molds, so I put the leftovers in the fridge–and accidentally made the most delicious chocolate mousse I have ever had. After going dairy-free, I thought my mousse-eating days were over. Ta-daaa! Thanks, gelatin! (And Heather 🙂
These are amazing! And not the “really good for 1-2 bites but then some weird after taste starts creeping in” taste like so many healthy dessert recipes seem to have. These are amazing all the way down to the last lick! Like the previous commenter, I had some filling left over so I put it in the fridge and she is right, it is the most heavenly mousse. The texture and flavor is spot on! I will say that I used very ripe bananas and I had 2 perfectly ripened avocados so I’m sure that made all the difference. Thank you!
So, so happy to hear that, Jen! And I totally know what you mean about the 1-2 bite thing. I still tease my mom about a “healthy” pie she once made for Thanksgiving that was exactly along those lines. 🙂
Yum! My kids enjoyed these as popsicles, and I enjoyed it as mousse. Thanks for a great recipe!
My pop-cycles turned out fabulously! They were so creamy and perfect and hid the coconut. There was too much for my mold so I put it in the fridge and it also made fabulous pudding. Since all my other popcycles have turned out icy, I’m going to adapt them with avocado and cacao butter to see if it fixes them too. Thank you!
What is the popsicle mold you used?
What can I use instead of the Cocoa Butter?? Thanks!
Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes.
I remember making this several years ago, and at that time you suggested adding bone marrow to them. Is there a reason you no longer include bone marrow in the recipe?
Totally add it if you have it! Most people don’t and I often got questions about whether it was even worth making if they couldn’t include it, so when I updated the recipe I left it out for the sake of simplicity. 🙂
Thank you for your response! I know that sometimes food recommendations change over time, and I was curious if bone marrow wasn’t as healthy as people originally thought. I am glad to know that isn’t the case because it is yummy!
It has been a while since I made these with the marrow. Any chance you can share how much marrow you usually add to this recipe so that the taste isn’t overpowering?
Thanks again for your delicious recipes and your levelheaded approach to healthy living. I have appreciated all that you have shared over the years!
The recipe has been slightly updated since I first posted it with the marrow but back then it was 2-4 tbsp. I’d probably start with two and work up from there as desired.
This recipe is completely DELICIOUS. Perfect. I normally do a lot of research on recipes, and compare, and often end up kind of making my own based on gathered info. However, you need look no further for a perfect, nutrient-dense, healthy “fudgesicle” (as I called them growing up). I grew up fully processed, but we learned about real food/real health/nutrient dense/traditional eating truths when my kids were babies (which seems so long ago now). Since then (life, the beer bug, and other bumps getting in the way), we’ve strayed a bit from this kind of eating a bit. Or at least, I’ve been less-inspired, and stuck in a rut on what to do (due to complete overwhelm and puzzling new health issues, it seems)…..but THIS recipe has revived my passion for healthy snacks once again. And truly…..it is RARE that all 4 of my kids (they are now 8-13 years) can all like the same things. I don’t think they ever have. But they all love this one. Thanks again, Mommypotamus! You really do have kick-ass recipes…..ooh, can I say that on here?
Oh, and I just learned a tip that I hadn’t thought of before. Once frozen, take the pops out of their molds, and individually wrap and place in a separate bag. This way, you can kind of batch make some inside of a day or 2, and then forget it, and have treats built up for a little while. Also, for this one, a little cheat code would be to add some chocolate extract in there as well to enhance the flavour a bit more.