The Best Chocolate Fudge Recipe

This is the perfect fudge recipe, and I’m tellin’ ya, all of your friends are going to be jealous. It’s not only amazingly delicious but also an easy chocolate fudge recipe. When the holidays arrive, there’s nothing better than creamy chocolate fudge. This one is just like grandma’s old-fashioned fudge recipe.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Additional Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours and 25 minutes
Servings: 25 pieces
Preparation Level: Beginner +
Yield: 1 (8×8-inch pan)

Homemade Chocolate Fudge Is The Perfect Gift

The milk chocolate fudge recipe makes a great gift, as well as the perfect treat for a holiday or Christmas party. Family and friends will love this recipe. We’ve been making this fudge every year for as long as I can remember.

The Best Homemade Fudge Recipe

The creamy, soft, rich, and decadent recipe is very similar to Fantasy Fudge. And it tastes leaps and bounds better than store-bought.

Chocolate fudge is one of those candy treats I just can’t live without around the holidays. The old-fashioned chocolate fudge is just part of a tradition in our house, and we’ve been making the decadent dessert for a long time. 

If you love chocolate fudge, give dark chocolate fudge with sea salt a try.

What Ingredients Do I Need To Make the Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge Recipe?

• Butter
• Sugar
• Evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk)
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Marshmallow cream
• Vanilla extract
• Chopped walnuts (optional)

Full printable recipe with measurements and instructions listed at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.

How To Make Chocolate Fudge

1. Add the butter to a medium saucepan and melt over medium heat.
2. Next, pour the sugar and evaporated milk into the pan and combine.
3. Turn the temperature up to medium-high, bring the ingredients to a full rolling boil, and cook until the temperature reaches 234 degrees.
4. Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the marshmallow cream, and combine.
5. Next, add the semi-sweet chocolate chips and stir to melt.
6. Add the vanilla extract and mix.
7. Pour the fudge into the pan and allow it to set up for two to three hours.

I love fudge. That’s just all there is to it. So much, in fact:

• I will risk burning my tongue to eat it out of the saucepan. Seriously. My house is full of people who love homemade fudge with marshmallow cream.

Recipe For Chocolate Fudge With Marshmallow Cream

Marshmallow creme is one of the main ingredients in old fashioned fudge. The recipe has been around for generations.

Just make sure you keep it hidden in the pantry, or the kids might get a hold of it.

A couple of years ago, I received a call from one of the ladies in my son’s elementary school cafeteria (I volunteer at the school all the time, so I know them all).

She said that one of the new guys in the cafeteria could NOT believe that a parent would let their child come to school with a jar of marshmallow cream for lunch!

She quickly walked out there and found my son sitting there enjoying his creamy, sticky-fingered mess with a plastic spoon.

She laughed and told the man that this child’s mother would never have allowed it if she had known.

I couldn’t help but laugh, and I now hide the marshmallow cream WAY in the back of our pantry where my son can’t find it.

This simple fudge recipe, which I am about to share (sounds like it’s worth a million dollars, doesn’t it?), is so quick and easy, as well as creamy and oh-so-good.

The cooking time isn’t very long, but the set-up time will take a few hours, so plan for that. I would give the total time about three hours. But beware, if you make this, people will be camping out on your front lawn to get some.

• Make some of this Chocolate Turtle Fudge, and people won’t ever leave. 
• Give this Tiger Butter Homemade Fudge a try. If you love candy, try this easy divinity candy recipe.

Step-By-Step Instructions For The Best Chocolate Fudge Recipe

I have a lot of readers who like to see the steps for how to make chocolate fudge. If this is your first time making the fudge, you can follow along with the steps below.

Start by melting the butter in the saucepan (at least a 3-quart pan) on medium heat.

Add the sugar and evaporated milk (make sure you don’t use condensed milk). Stir it until it’s blended. It will take a few minutes to start boiling.

Make sure your saucepan is large enough so it doesn’t boil over. If you double this recipe, you will need at least a 6-quart saucepan.

Once you get the ingredients to a full rolling boil, put your thermometer in and keep stirring until it reaches 234 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, that’s fine.

If you don’t have a thermometer, start the timer for 4 minutes after it starts boiling.

If you do, then when it reaches 234 degrees or 4 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat.

TIP: Be sure not to let the thermometer touch the bottom of the pan, or you will get an incorrect reading.

I do think using a thermometer is a good plan because you will be able to see when the fudge reaches the right temperature.

Some people know how to do the water test, where you drop some fudge in the water, but I am not great at that, so I stick to the thermometer.

I’ve had more success with the fudge turning out better with the thermometer.

Add the marshmallow creme and stir.

I always add the marshmallow first because the ingredients are still so hot and will melt the marshmallow cream faster.

If you add the chocolate chips in first, that’s fine, but it cools the fudge off enough that it takes longer to melt the marshmallow, and you’ll be using some elbow grease.

I usually use Jet Puff marshmallow cream, but you can also use Marshmallow Fluff.

Next, add the vanilla and the chocolate chips.

Pour your fudge mixture into the casserole dish.

Tips for Making Fudge

• I like my fudge thick, so I use a smaller pan.
• I use either a disposable tinfoil pan (about a 9″ x 9″ square pan) or a ceramic baking pan and never had a problem with the fudge sticking, most likely because there is so much butter in the recipe.
• If you used a stoneware pan, you would need to grease it first, but otherwise, you should be ok. Using a 9″ x 9″ pan makes the fudge pretty thick.
• If you’d like smaller pieces, you can use a 13″ x 9″ pan instead. 
• If you want to be able to lift the fudge out easily you can line the prepared pan with parchment paper.

Let Your Fudge Set Up

For best results, allow your fudge to set up at room temperature for two to three hours. If you’re in a hurry, you can place it in the refrigerator, and it will set up in about half the time.

As the fudge cools, it will set up, and it will take three to four hours. After it cools, put some Saran Wrap over the top to keep it from drying out.

How To Store The Fudge

You can store the fudge in an airtight container at room temperature or use plastic wrap (just don’t forget that cats and dogs can still smell it).

The fudge will keep at room temperature for a few days but about one to two weeks in the refrigerator.

You can freeze the fudge for about one month. Be sure to refrigerate the fudge as it thaws.

Different Options For The Easy Recipe

There are a lot of possibilities with this fudge base. The next time, you can add in the following chips as an alternative to the semi-sweet chocolate chips.

• Peanut butter chips
• Butterscotch chips
• Mint chips
• Milk chocolate chips
• White chocolate chips for white chocolate fudge
• Dark chocolate chips
• Cranberries – adding these is perfect for your sweet tooth.
• Crushed toffee
• Walnuts
• Pecans

Or, you can do half chocolate chip and half peanut butter, for example, and get a great and tasty combination with this foolproof chocolate fudge.

What Is The Best Chocolate Fudge Recipe?

Chocolate fudge made with evaporated milk, semi-sweet chocolate chips, marshmallow, and more is the best chocolate fudge recipe. It’s the traditional method that has been around for a long time.

There are a lot of other recipes out there, but this is the best fudge and it turns out decadent, creamy, chocolatey, and delicious.

What Is Fudge?

Fudge is a candy that is made with butter, sugar, evaporated milk, and a few other ingredients. The recipe is boiled until it reaches a certain temperature and cools to a thick and creamy piece of candy.

How Do You Keep Fudge From Crumbling?

Make sure you don’t overcook the fudge, and make sure all of the sugar crystals are mixed in with the evaporated milk.

What Chocolate Is Best For Fudge?

It depends on the type of fudge you are making. Semi-sweet chocolate is the most widely used because it is less sweet than other chocolates.

You are adding sugar and marshmallow to this recipe, so using semi-sweet chips will make it a little less sweet.

I use semi-sweet chocolate chips because they come out delicious every time and they are easy to store and use.

What Are Some Mistakes To Avoid When Making Fudge?

• Don’t allow the thermometer to touch the bottom of the pan, or you will get an incorrect reading.
• Make sure the ingredients come to a rolling boil on the stovetop before starting the timer if you don’t have a thermometer. Otherwise, it might not set up, or you might end up with grainy fudge.
• Use a pan that has a thick bottom. If you have a thin pot, it will burn the sugar at the bottom.
• Make sure the fudge reaches the proper temperature, or it won’t set up.
• Be sure not to cook the fudge past the proper temperature, or it will get too hard and crumbly.
• Don’t overbeat the fudge. Just stir on occasion.

More Delicious Desserts

• Pecan pie brownies
• French Silk Pie
• Buttermilk Texas sheet cake

This is the best old fashioned fudge recipe, and it’s easy to make.

Be sure to get your favorite chocolate fudge recipe below and make some today. It will surely become a family tradition for the Christmas season.

Find more delicious recipes at Julia’s Simply Southern, and South Your Mouth.