Recipe For Easy Chocolate Fudge
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Enjoy rich and creamy squares of decadent fudge thanks to this old-fashioned recipe for chocolate fudge. It takes just 6 ingredients to make this easy chocolate fudge.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not just a recipe for chocolate fudge I am bringing you today. This is ammunition 😉. Yes, you heard me right! Put a good easy chocolate fudge recipe in the right hands and you can take over the world. You can get your car tuned up, your grass cut, your dog walked, and have the doors to any building opened for you with a red carpet rolled out in your honor. How do you do this, you ask? Just hold out a plate of fresh, homemade fudge.
This is a no-fail and super easy fudge recipe that anyone can make (I promise!). Mama and Grandmama have been making it this way for as long as I can remember. So, how do you make chocolate fudge? All you have to do is boil the butter sugar, and evaporated milk (yep, we don’t use condensed milk in this fudge recipe), and then add in the chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, vanilla, and nuts (these are optional). Then you have to patiently wait for the chocolate fudge to set before you can indulge.
This recipe for chocolate fudge makes the creamiest melt-in-your-mouth fudge imaginable. If you can stop at one piece… well, you have more control than me!
Recipe Ingredients
- Unsalted butter
- Marshmallow creme
- Evaporated milk
- Vanilla extract
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips ( )
- Sugar
- Pecans or chopped nuts of your choice (optional)
How to Make Chocolate Fudge
Place your butter…
Sugar…
And evaporated milk in a saucepot.
I like to get a really big can of evaporated milk so I can use what is left in my coffee. It makes the BEST coffee creamer!
You’ll need a candy thermometer because we are going to cook this to the “soft ball” stage.
The candy thermometer has that written on it so you know.
While that is heating up in your saucepan, take some butter and smear it all over the bottom and sides of a 9×13 pan.
Place your candy thermometer in the pot. Make sure just the tip is beneath the liquid but don’t let the tip touch the bottom.
It has a handy dandy clip that lets it hook onto the sides.
Bring that to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.
Keep a watch on your thermometer so you will know when it gets to the soft ball stage.
This is going to take about five minutes on medium-high heat.
Once it gets to the soft ball stage, remove the saucepot from the heat and pour in the chocolate chips.
Add in the marshmallow creme and mix together.
Add in your vanilla and nuts if using.
Stir that all up until the chocolate chips melt. It is gonna take a few minutes but don’t worry, it’ll melt.
Pour into your prepared pan.
Allow the homemade chocolate fudge to cool completely before cutting into squares.
This old-fashioned chocolate fudge recipe makes 3 pounds. Enjoy that delicious bite-sized !
Storage
- Store leftovers of this easy chocolate fudge in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can store it at room temperature, but it will become quite soft.
- You can also freeze them for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge before devouring!
Recipe Notes
- Here are some fun variations to make this recipe for chocolate fudge your own:
- Substitute the pecans for chopped walnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, or pistachios.
- Add 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows and 1/2 cup of chopped peanuts to make rocky road fudge.
- Top the fudge with crushed peppermint candy canes at Christmas. You could also substitute vanilla for peppermint extract.
- Another festive touch is to add 1/2 cup of red and green candied cherries along with (or instead of) the chopped nuts.
- Top the fudge with sprinkles before cooling.
- When you add the vanilla extract, stir in a tablespoon of bourbon or rum for an adults-only fudge.
- Add 1/2 cup of dried fruit, like dried cranberries, raisins, or candied cherries.
- Add 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips instead of the nuts.
- Use or instead.
- If you have leftovers, you can add crumbled fudge to a cup of hot milk to make the best hot chocolate you’ll ever taste. You can else melt it to make a hot fudge sauce and pour it over ice cream or a cake.
Check out my other fantastic fudge recipes:
Cinnabun, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Fudge!
Chocolate Meltaways: A Fabulous Fudge Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk
- 3/4 cup butter or 1 1/2 sticks
- 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips 12 ounces
- 1 1/2 cup marshmallow cream
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Combine sugar, milk, and butter in a heavy saucepan and heat to boiling.3 cups sugar, 2/3 cup evaporated milk, 3/4 cup butter
- Stir constantly for about 5 minutes over medium heat or until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage on your candy thermometer (238 degrees).
- Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Stir vigorously until well blended.1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 1/2 cup marshmallow cream, 1/2 cup pecans, 1/2 tsp vanilla
- Pour into a greased 13x9-inch pan. Cool completely and then cut into squares. Makes 3 pounds.
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This looks like the original recipe from the Marshmallow Creme jar (they changed the recipe and it is not near as good-my husband’s aunts kept an old jar that had the original recipe and I finally copied it down). I make it every Christmas, but I have yet to find a good candy thermometer. They don’t make them like they used to. The latest one looks like a ruler (Taylor), but I couldn’t stir well under it and the stuff on that side got burned. Wish I could find an old one like my mom used to use!
This actually sounds as though even I might be able to get a good pan of fudge from it. One of my earliest memories is watching my older sister make fudge, grabbing the spoon off the stove when she laid it down, and burning my head. I am an old lady now, and still have the scar. But I still love fudge, too!
Thanks for replying! The next time, I will heat more slowly, take it off as soon as it hits the right temperature, pour it up quickly, and let it cool on the counter. I will let you know if that all works! I would love to have one recipe for fudge that works all the time!!!!!
Help!!!! Both times I have tried this recipe, my fudge has the perfect consistency but turns out grainy, as if the sugar granules didn’t all melt. What am I doing wrong?????
Hey Nan! I think two things might be coming into play here. First of all, I’d heat it up a little slower. Then, It sounds like it may be overcooking slightly or perhaps it is cooling a bit too quickly before you get it all poured into your pan. The two times I’ve had problems with the same thing that has been the culprit. Make sure you have your pan ready and waiting and as soon as you get your final ingredients stirred in, I’d pour it in the pan right away. I hope this helps!
and I’m terribly sorry it didn’t turn out right for you!
I have been making fudge since I was a very little girl. Would sit on the counter top and watch my mom make it. One Big thing I have not seen here is to always stir in the same direction. Never stir one way and when arm gets tired switch direction. Constency has a lot to do with the sugar not being grainy. Also…never ever try making fudge when it is super humid or raining. It will NOT set
Oh also I can tell you bought your marshmallow fluff at Kroger, that’s where I used to work and I recognize the “manager’s special” label 🙂
Yep, this is the recipe from the back of the marshmallow fluff jar, but it’s the best recipe so I’m glad Christy shared it! I actually just made a batch tonight. Want to know how to make it even BETTER though? What you do is buy the big 13 oz jar of fluff instead of the 7 ounce jar, and you cut back the sugar to 2 cups but use the entire jar of marshmallow fluff. It turns out so creamy and perfect. I used to be a cashier at a grocery store and the day before Thanksgiving a very nice couple came through my line with ingredients to make fudge and told me to make it that way. I’ve been making my fudge like that ever since! Also, every year I separate out a little bit and stir in some peanut butter just until there are streaks of peanut butter in the fudge. Tonight I also tried separating out a bit and adding some Andes chocolate mint baking chips. It turned out great too!
I’m pretty sure this is the fudge we make every year with our Christmas cookie baking–we call it Fantasy Fudge, and the recipe originally came from the marshmallow creme jar. Not positive, since my mom and sister-in-law and I split the mixing of all the recipes, and mom always does the fudge, but it looks right. My dad loves it–and last year my then-2-year-old discovered he did too! I had to cut him off so I wouldn’t be too sorry I’d let him eat it!