The question that makes mothers everywhere cringe.
Warning: the above is shockingly graphic for a childrens’ book.
But it makes a hilarious addition to any college party. (The seniors read this book to us when I was a freshman in college. I really don’t know how I would’ve reacted if someone read it to me when I was a child!)
Fudge Baby FAQ:
Q and A for the Fudge Babies and Homemade Larabars.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Larabar recipes, and so I thought it’d be a good idea to answer them all in one place. That way, you don’t have to click a million links to find the answers!
Fudge Baby FAQ
1. Question: I don’t have (or don’t like) walnuts. Can I sub another nut?
Answer: Of course! I’ve had a lot of success with cashews.
(In fact, I like the Homemade Cashew-Cookie Larabars even better than the original fudge babies), and I know others have successfully made the balls or bars with almonds, pistachios, peanuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, etc.
2. Question: Must I use the fancy-schmancy, expensive dates from Whole Foods?
Answer: No, the Sunmaid packaged dates, available in mainstream grocery stores, are perfectly fine! They’re what I usually use. They seem softer, which makes my Magic Bullet happy. And they’re pre-pitted!
3. Question: I don’t have a food processor. Does a Magic Bullet work?
Answer: Definitely. I usually make them in the Magic Bullet. But you’ll want to halve the recipe if you’re making the original fudge babies.
4. Question: Do I need to refrigerate these bars?
Answer: Nope! (But you’ll probably want to fridge the Raw Macaroons and Mounds Babies.) And they freeze well.
7. How many cups of dates is 80 grams? I don’t have a food scale.
Answer: 80 grams of dates is roughly 1/2 cup, tightly packed. I list gram amounts because measuring in grams gives a much more precise amount. For example, a cup of dates is a very vague measurement: there’s a big difference between a loosely-packed cup of dates and one that is jam-packed. In many recipes, things like this wouldn’t matter… but sometimes such discrepancies can throw off an entire recipe. Conversely, 80 grams of dates is 80 grams of dates, no matter how you look at it.
8. Question: How many calories are in each ball or bar?
They’re pretty comparable, gram for gram, to commercial Larabars.
I calculated the stats for one version here: Samoas Babies Calories and Nutritional Info.
Tips and Tricks:
I like to transfer the mixture to a plastic baggie and smush it all together first in there. That way my hands don’t get as sticky:
Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes:
Question of the Day:
Do you remember when you first found out how babies are made?
I was in third grade, and I told my mom, “That’s it; I don’t ever want to make you a grandma!”
Also: Have you tried making Homemade Larabars?
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
Now you got me thinking and I DON”T remember how I found out? I know I never really had the talk with my parents either, and I turned out ok. I am thinking maybe I just learned in school? I don’t remember!!! Darn!!
You are totally harassing me with those fudge babies! They are going to start haunting my dreams! I NEED to make them but if you can believe it, Saudi Arabia is out of dates. Well, medjool dates anyway. And I refuse to even acknowledge other dates even exist. So. As soon as I get my hands on my sweet little morsels of medjool goodness I will make a whole litter of fudge babies!
As for finding out where babies come from…I really don’t remember at all! As early as I can remember I just always knew. I don’t remember a big A HA moment, and I know I didn’t have a convo with my parents….so who knows how I found out!
I need to make these! I have a bulk sized tub of dates just waiting to be bars
Unfortunately all I have at school in my apartment is a blender!
Happy Wednesday!
Love,
Meg
Haha you and your fudge babies, how many batches do you make in a day? I have no idea when I first found out the real way babies were made. How funny you said that to your mom!
Haha I love your response to your mom’s explanation! Like many of the other commenters, I can’t remember when I found out. It was probably in health class at school?
My parents explained things to me one year when my cat had a littler of kittens. Haha, I remember it being a pretty graphic conversation. *Shudders* Both my parents are teachers and they laid it out in scientific terms!
I’m still up to my elbows in Fudge babies! I need to get cashews and make the new recipe. I already have pecans, so that’ll be my next version!
Unfortunately, I do remember that day. I was horrified. Much like my Magic Bullet is going to be when it finds out what I have in store for it
I remember i was in 2nd or 3rd grade as well and i asked my mother in an attempt to make her uncomfortable. Unfortunately, she was a single parent at the time and had developed and extremely thick skin my this point… so a question about procreation yeilded the response:
“A Mom and Day have sex and nine months later a baby is made.”
Granted, there were still some things to be answered but i ended up feeling more awkward than she did. Fail.
You are just too cute CCV. I can’t wait to get on making some homemade Larabars.
Have I mentioned how much I love you? These are the greatest things!!! Curse you for making me try these…now I can’t stop eating them
I can’t wait to experiment some more with the basic recipe.
Fudge babies!!! Hmm… I don’t remember how I found out babies were made. I don’t even think I cared to know hahaha. I was too busy collecting lizards and frogs.
For the life of me I can’t remeber how I found out where babies come from. Now i am going to have ask my parents and see if there is a memorable story in there somewhere.
I noticed that some of the commenters mentioned not having a food processor and neither do I. So I took the Fudgy Babies recipie and tweeked it a bit. I ground the cashews in my coffee grinder, added cocnut, left out the dates and used agave nectar to bind everything together.
The result was great. Thanks again for the recipe! It provided an excellent source of inspiration. : )
Haha you never fail to crack me, chica. Glad you have so much love for tus bebes
What? You mean babies aren’t delivered by storks?
I remember when I asked how are babies made. My mom took me to grandma, so they two explained to me that when two people love each other, they pray to god….
I was like, 3. And kept thinking. Wtf, that can’t be correct
Okay, I read the title “Barbies,” and was looking forward to a YouTube link to the Barbie Factory.
Yeah I’m not sure my parents ever did tell me. In fact, I seem to remember a strategically placed picture book not too unlike the one in the picture above…
We’re not much for birds and bees in this family I guess!
Haha great F.A.Q. about those beauty fudge babies.
I think if I were to use the magic bullet,I might just killll the magic bullet. I’ve made banana soft serve,one too many times in that thing. It burns out so darn easily!
In regards to the calories, I’m somewhat of a new reader,meaning I definitely hadn’t read that post about calorie counting yet. But I just did and I really appreciate and give ya kudos (or chocolate?) about what you brought up.
Have a great rest of your week Katie.
HAHA your mom must have laughed so hard when you said that to her!
hehe I just got a magic bullet!! I haven’t even read the instructions yet…I didn’t know you could put hard things like nuts in it. I didn’t think it was strong enough to deal with crunchy stuff…hmm maybe I should pull out that instruction manual.
Hahahahaha…. is that a real book??
Great tips on your fudge babies…. there are so many combination’s to try out! Love that! I really don’t remember when I learned about baby making… shows that I do not have a good memory.
So glad you did this post b/c I get asked the same things…now I can just say, hey, Katie already answered all this stuff
I get SO much mail regarding the But I dont have a Vita/Dehydrator/Etc. I’m like neither did I til a year ago and you’ll survive with a M Bullet, Food Procesor, or the oven
I loved your comment yesterday too bout realizing you just couldnt get to all blog, every day. Hello, I am so there. I’m getting 30+ comments a post Plus the blogs I was reading before…so it’s like 50-60 comments per day…umm no
xoxo
bah I shall never forget the old “birds and the bees” talk with my mom and talk. My parents thought it would be best to kill 3 birds with one stone and give the lecture to my and my sisters all at the same time. My sisters were 9 and 10.. I was 5. Needless to say I was quite mature for my age
Haha!! Girl, you’re one funny chic
I am definitely making these soon! Man, the recipes I plan on making of yours are piling up!
<3 jess
xoxo
it’s so tempting seeing photos of these fudge-babies every day. I guess I’ll have to do without until I go home for winter break and finally have kitchen access!!
My mom handed me a stack of books (not unlike the one you pictured above) when I was in fourth grade, and said “read these.” I shudder thinking about it even now.
Your little fudge babies are becoming a phenomenon!
Hi Katie! I think your blog is hilarious and full of fun and delicious recipes. I’ve been making similar versions of the fudge babies for a while and just made a blog post with a recipe I think you’ll love! (hint, they’re super duper chocolatey
lol
http://healthyandhomemade.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-am-officially-in-chocolate-heaven.html
xoxo,
Stephanie
I just tried these, omg yum! Thanks
Hi Katie!
I am an avid follower of yours and especially your fudge babies! I am teaching a class to high school students on how to make healthy desserts and I’m featuring yours as one of our recipes. For the class, I am giving the calorie counts of each dessert and am curious about how many calories the fudge babies are. You said each fudge baby is about the same of a Larabar- did you mean a mini (100 cal) or a full (280) one?
Thanks! Ellie
Hi Ellie
,
The recipes make a little over the size of two Larabars (i.e. the full-sized Larabars). So each bar would be a little over 200 calories, give or take a bit.
I’d love to make a batch for the holidays! No gram measurement scale on my end though…..
What is the equivalent to 30 grams? 1/4 cup?
Yes ma’am
.
Happy baby making hehe
How long do dates last (assuming they don’t get eaten
)? I am new to dates, and cannot seem to find the answer to this question *anywhere*.
I just looked on the package of SunMaid ones I bought last week, and they don’t expire til March of 2012. So I guess they have a pretty long shelf life
.
I’m looking forward to trying these! And the “How Babies are Made” book is one of our faves around here. Not shockingly graphic at all. Just straight forward facts.
Aw I hope you love them!
It is a danich book,
I had it read in pre-kindergarden- I was abouth 4 years old!
It was 1984, and a lot of the boys was talking abouth there “small boy” and the girls “small girls”, so the liberated teathers read it.
Hi,
Do you think that date spread can be used instead of whole dates?
Thanks
Sorry, I don’t know.
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