Name: Pumpkin Spice Fudge
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Dairy-Free
Ingredients: 2 3/4 cups sugar; 2/3 cup cocoa powder; 2 tablespoons canola oil; 2 tablespoons margarine; 1 tablespoon light corn syrup; 1/2 cup soy milk; 1/2 cup soy creamer, or more soy milk; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger; 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg; 1/4 teaspoon allspice; 1/8 teaspoon cloves

This year, I made an assortment of homemade vegan Halloween candy. I have a bowl of mini Halloween treat bags in the kitchen filled with fudge, vegan Tootsie Rolls, meringues, and chocolate cranberry bark with no express purpose other than to have on hand. We probably won't get trick-or-treaters in a third-floor walk-up (and homemade candy is filled with POISON and RAZOR BLADES), so the treat bags will more than likely go to friends over the next week. I feel like Martha Stewart, in a very appropriately seasonal kind of way.

Perhaps I'm a little biased, but my go-to candy recipes are in the Vegan Candyland zine. It's filled with sugar, chocolate, oil, and flavors mixed, then cooked in different ways to result in a variety of recipes like Kit Kats, Fudge, Tootsie Rolls, Peanut Butter Cups, Butterfinger Bars, and caramel-based goodies. This year I modified the Fudge recipe to be Pumpkin Spice Fudge, and I made a batch of Tootsie Rolls.

The Pumpkin Spice Fudge recipe isn't available in the zine of course, so I'm posting it here. While the recipe itself isn't overtly difficult, it does take some finesse and making sure the fudge mixture reaches soft ball stage, which you can do with a candy thermometer OR a bowl of cold water. One is more precise, but both methods will do the trick (...or treat).

📖 Recipe

Pumpkin Spice Fudge

Yield: 1 8x8-inch tray

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Cooling Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

This vegan pumpkin spice fudge is made with a chocolate base and flavored with a pumpkin spice blend.

Ingredients

2 ¾ cups sugar
⅔ cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
½ cup soy milk
½ cup soy creamer, or more soy milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
⅛ teaspoon cloves

Instructions

Combine all ingredients from sugar to soy creamer in a medium saucepan.
Turn the heat to medium. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium/low and place a lid on the saucepan, then cook for 3 minutes.
Remove lid and cook mixture to soft ball stage (238°F, or when a spoonful of the mixture dropped into a cup of cold water holds its shape and is pliable like a soft caramel ball), about 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and let the mixture cool to 110°F, about 1 hour or so.
Add the vanilla and spices. Pour into a parchment-lined 8×8-inch pan, let cool, cut, and eat!

Notes

You can replace the corn syrup with agave or brown rice syrup if you have those on hand and can’t justify buying a bottle of corn syrup for one recipe. If you’d like to avoid the corn syrup for health reasons, maybe just make a kale salad instead? Because all of the other ingredients in this fudge are pure sugar and oil.
Extra: if you really want, you can make little fondant pumpkins, paint them with food coloring, and stick them on top of the fudge with melted chocolate for that PSL glow.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 64 Serving Size: 1 piece
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 50Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 4mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 0gSugar: 9gProtein: 0g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on seitanbeatsyourmeat.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimates.

And the Tootsie Rolls!, which can be found in Vegan Candyland.

I poured my love and questionable illustration skills into Vegan Candyland over 10 years ago and people still buy it, so it's, like, a classic. You can grab it HERE for a paper copy (shipping is free, currently US addresses only), or get it as a digital download at Gumroad.