Love the minty chocolate taste of Andes Mints? This healthy low carb fudge recipe has all the same great flavours and none of the sugar! Happy Mother’s Day!
Okay, confession time: this fudge is not really made of Andes Mints. There isn’t even a hint of Andes Mint in this fudge and in fact, there were no Andes Mints anywhere in the vicinity when I was creating this fudge. So why give it a name with such a blatant nod to the popular mint and chocolate candy? Well it certainly looks like an Andes Mint with the minty green layer sandwiched between two chocolatey layers. And it was inspired by several conventional recipes that do use Andes Mints. And as a kid, I really loved those thin wafer-like chocolates. So the name just appealed to me and I hope it appeals to you too.
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I remember the first time I tried an Andes Mint. My brother and I discovered them in the bulk candy store in the basement of St. Lawrence Market. If you’ve ever spent any appreciable time in Toronto, you will likely know that St. Lawrence Market is something of an institution. It’s a huge old brick building down by the lakefront with stalls for butchers, bakers, fish mongers and all sorts of food and craft artisans. It’s a little like Pike Place in Seattle, albeit on a smaller, more Canadian scale. My mother used to drag us down there on Saturday mornings for some shopping and exploring. These days, I look back fondly on the experience, but back then I didn’t appreciate it much. I was a kid and I found the place smelly and gross. Most of the time, I disappeared straight into the lower level to check out the bulk bins of the nut and candy store. Where one day I discovered a tin of Andes Mints.
My brother and I purchased them for Mother’s Day, but I am pretty sure that once they were opened, my mother didn’t get to eat too many of them herself. They were tasty and individually wrapped in pretty foil, so they were very appealing to us kids. And I’ve had an affection for them ever since, although I can’t eat them at all anymore. But when perusing Pinterest a little while back and spying recipes for Andes Mint Fudge and I suddenly just knew I could make a really great low carb version. The conventional recipes have a filling made with Andes Mint chips but that wasn’t a possibility for me. So I made a tasty minty cream cheese filling and added a touch of matcha powder for that pretty minty green colour. And you know what? I will never crave an Andes mint again, because now I have a healthy sugar-free equivalent!
- 1 & 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp liquid stevia extract depending on how sweet you like it
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp heavy cream room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp mint extract
- 1/2 to 1 tsp matcha powder optional - could also use spirulina powder
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Line an 8x8 or 9x9 square baking pan with parchment or waxed paper.
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In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together cream and powdered sweetener. Bring to just a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in stevia and vanilla extracts.
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Add chopped chocolate and let sit 5 minutes until chocolate is completely melted, then whisk until smooth.
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Pour half into the prepared pan and spread evenly to the edges. Transfer to the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up, and put a lid over the remaining chocolate to keep warm.
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For the mint layer, beat cream cheese, sweetener, cream, mint extract and matcha powder (if using) together until smooth.
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Spread over first chocolate layer evenly, smoothing to the edges.
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Top with remaining chocolate (you can rewarm gently, if needed), spreading evenly to the edges. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.
Makes 25 small squares. Each square has 2.78 g of carbs and 1.13 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 1.65 g
Food energy: 111kcal
Total fat: 10.66g
Calories from fat: 95
Cholesterol: 27mg
Carbohydrate: 2.78g
Total dietary fiber: 1.13g
Protein: 1.68g
Sodium: 35mg
Jeanne says
I love this~ Thanks for sharing! All I have is Bakers unsweetened chocolate-will that work?
Carolyn says
It should but keep your heat very gentle because it’s more prone to seizing.
Ang says
I used the bakers unsweetened bars and it worked perfectly. Just made sure to chop into tiny shreds!
janet says
This looks delightful!
I even have the matcha powder, on the list to try for sure.
Thank you for the info about Baker’s chocolate, cause that is what I have on hand.
Your recipes are always good and we enjoy them very much.
Thanks again!
Sandy says
I am so excited to try this! I love mint and chocolate together– yum! Happy Mother’s Day to you!
Joan says
First of all, I LOVE that you made these. Secondly, I love that you put Matcha in them! Too fun. They look and sound 1,000 better than the ones I grew up eating — can’t wait to give them a try!
Jennifer says
If you don’t love mint, what could you use instead? Would it even need a flavouring? Thanks
Carolyn says
Oh the possibilities are endless! 🙂 How about raspberry extract? Or orange? Or just plain old vanilla…
Ang says
Orange is brilliant! Can’t wait to try that.
I was planning on plain cheesecake next, but orange chocolate is an amazing combo!
Also, I made your fudge base recipe by infusing the cream w Earl Grey tea and it was incredible
Carolyn says
The Earl Grey sounds lovely!
Ang says
Carolyn, you are amazing, we made these and loved them. You are the number one reason I can do lchf! What would I do without you??? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Thank you so much, Ang!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Yum.. doesn’t this fudge look delicious! I love chocolate and mint together plus the addition of matcha too I bet tastes divine.
Kelli says
Have you any experience with straight across substitution of thick canned coconut milk or heaviest bit of cans of coconut milk for cream? Dairy cream makes my children and I terribly sick but we do use Greek yogurt cream cheese which should work for the green layer.
Carolyn says
Yes, I have done the ganache with coconut milk once. I used all of the milk and found it a bit on the thin side. I would suggest, as you say, the heaviest, thickest part of the coconut milk only. IN fact, I would chill it overnight in the fridge and scoop it out the next day to be sure I only got the thickest part. I plan on trying that next.
Lori says
This looks delicious and I’m making it tonight. I’ve loved all of your recipes that I’ve tried! Today I’m really craving my homemade, old-fashioned, creamed fudge. I’m excited to see how this compares.
Bridget says
Hello! I was wondering if I could substitute Lakanto Monkfruit for the powered swerve. It is not in a powered form so will it still work? Thanks!
Carolyn says
If you don’t want it to be gritty, you will need to powder it somehow. People say that they have good luck with coffee grinders.
Jessi says
Hi,
Where do you buy your mint extract? I’m from germany and can’t get it anywhere :(… Maybe you have a link from an online shop? Thanks a lot!
Carolyn says
Hmmm, around here it’s easy to get at any grocery store. But here’s the one I like on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00028QD1U/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00028QD1U&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&linkId=VPLDHPESB4RK2YMR
Monica says
Just wondering what is the purpose of the Matcha powder or the spirulina powder? I’ve never used them before.
Carolyn says
Colour. That’s it so if you want to skip it, that’s fine. But it does give it a pretty minty green colour.
Nikki says
so is the chocolate layer on this like a milk chocolate? or more of a dark chocolate. I have been trying to find a way to turn bakers chocolate into a sweet chocolate for keto treats. This looks like it may be the ticket. also how thick does this end up being? If I used a 9X13 pan would it give me something similar in size to the original candies?
Carolyn says
It’s definitely on the dark chocolate side.