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.
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!”
Lyss says
Hahahahaha…. is that a real book??
psychoj1 says
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
Steph says
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!!
Pure2raw-twins says
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. 🙂
Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) says
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
broccolihut says
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.
CaSaundra says
Your little fudge babies are becoming a phenomenon! 😉
healthy & homemade says
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
Catherine says
I just tried these, omg yum! Thanks
Ellie says
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
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
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.
Namaste Gurl says
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?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Yes ma’am 🙂 :).
Happy baby making hehe
Rachel Ramey says
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*.
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
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 :).
Chantelle says
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.
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Aw I hope you love them! 🙂
Jenny says
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.
Anonymous says
Hi,
Do you think that date spread can be used instead of whole dates?
Thanks
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Sorry, I don’t know.
Claudia says
Heya do you use dried dates or normal ones?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
dry
Trajayjay says
My sister and I were laughing our butts off at the how a baby is made story. It was gross though. I can’t believe they were showing a baby coming out of a vag. I saw a video of that in health class. This borders on pornography. It’s really freaky, cereally, how does something that informational and detailed get past US (home of the immature pussies) censors? This should be illegal to publish. It’s factual but the cartoons. are crudely drawn. This is what health class is for. I was like, oh so that’s where the vajay-jay is. And my sister said, oh, where did you think it was? Up on your butt cheek? If I didn’t know about secks, I would’ve been totally freaked out, and probably would have been cringing and dying and having a seizure.
Trajayjay says
Well, the nutrition facts usually tell the number of grams in one serving of dates, so you can use that as a reference.
Rosie says
Have just made my first ever batch of these, it’s healthy to sit and eat them all at once isn’t it, they’re so tasty!
And that book is the exact same one I had as a child! Haven’t seen it for years – I think I was probably about 6 or 7 when my parents read it to me/I read it (maybe we do things differently in the UK!?) My Dad had a beard just like that man so I thought it was just about my parents!
Marilee says
I made the thin mint babies and despite my best effort, they were somewhat dry. Any suggestions?
Unofficial CCK Helper says
Sounds like you just had overly dry dates. Just add a little water and process again. Continue to process possibly longer than you did, until the nuts release their natural oils and the mixture is sticky.