It’s official, holiday season is well underway. Decorations have taken over the stores, holiday party invitations have been received and here in New England it has been absolutely frigid. As ridiculous as I believe it is that the grocery store had Christmas themed candy on November 1st I am definitely guilty of early holiday enthusiasm including Christmas shopping and streaming my holiday music playlist well before Thanksgiving. Whether you are having trouble getting into the holiday spirit or you’ve been humming Christmas carols since August this fudge is sure to get you excited.
This here is the world’s smoothest fudge. I am allowed to make this claim because I have tried every fudge ever made across the globe including the one your grandma made last year. Although it was tasty, it does not hold a title quite like this one. Surprisingly simple, this fudge uses condensed milk instead of granulated sugar to lend to its smooth texture. The simplicity, delightfulness and versatility of this fudge recipe makes it a great holiday gift idea for family, friends, coworkers, neighbors and yourself. After you make this recipe and taste the rich chocolate you will be very torn. Part of you will want to keep it all to yourself because it’s habit forming. But part of you will want to give it all away because, well it’s habit forming and then we would have to add new pants to our holiday wish list. So make some, have some and spread the chocolately love.
One variation is to add chopped walnuts to the fudge. This is how my stepmom usually makes it, but she always leaves some without for me since I don’t like nuts interfering with my chocolate experience. However, I have some exciting variations I’m experimenting with so I will be sure to share in plenty of time for you to make this holiday season. Go and make this chocolate fudge now so you are ready to handle the dangerously delicious novelties I’ll have for you in a couple weeks.
The recipe
Worlds's Smoothest Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
Directions
- Line an 8" x 8" pan with wax paper and set aside.
- Melt butter and the baking chocolate square in a double boiler over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in half the bag of chocolate chips and stir with a heatproof rubber spatula to help melt. Once partially melted add the rest of the bag of chocolate chips and stir until fully melted.
- Carefully stir in the condensed milk to combine and remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the spatula.
- Refrigerate until the fudge is set then cut into bite size pieces. Best eaten straight from the fridge.
Notes
Variation: Add ½ cup chopped walnuts right before pouring chocolate mixture into the pan.
Comments
50 earlier comments
Elaine Wells
Lauren,
I’m so glad to be back from our travels so that I can read your blog!!! I’ve never made fudge, but feel compelled to try this recipe.
Aunt Elaine
LaurenAuthor
Thanks, Aunt Elaine! You should go for it, you won’t be disappointed :-)
Cynthia Hurtado
Sounds delicious! How would you suggest packing it for a gift? In waxed paper in a tin maybe?
LaurenAuthor
You got it! Line a tin with wax paper and the fudge will look great as well as stay fresh. This year I’m going to try something a little different. I’m putting the fudge in inexpensive ceramic mini loaf pans I found at the Christmas Tree Shop then going to wrap the pans in cellophane and tie with a ribbon. If they turn out well I will post a picture :-)
Cynthia Hurtado
That sounds so cute! Yes please post a picture!
petitedecadence
This looks great! We don’t have Baker’s chocolate around here, do you happen to know how many grams is 1 square? (Im substituting with dark choco chips)
LaurenAuthor
Thanks! According to Google 1 ounce is roughly 28 grams. However, please note that the Baker’s chocolate I use is unsweetened so I’m not sure whether dark chocolate chips would be a comparable substitute or not. Let me know how it turns out though!
Rae Nissley
I’ve never made fundge until now!! I’ve been wanting to make some for a long time so as soon as I saw your recipe I whipped it up!! Can’t wait to try it! :)
LaurenAuthor
Let me know how it comes out! I’m going to be posting some yummy variations next week so you might have to make some more 😉
Bryn Wimberley
How many oz of baker’s chocolate? I just realized they are making the squares smaller now I think! Thanks!
LaurenAuthor
One ounce of baker’s chocolate. I noticed that too when I bought some recently! So it’s two squares from the new ones. Thanks for reminding me of the change, I will update the recipe!
Nina
Does this have to stay refrigerated? How long can I make ahead for Christmas? Thanks!
LaurenAuthor
The fudge would be fine stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a week. I always store mine in the fridge and have had it taste fine for 2 weeks after making it. You should be ok to make some for Christmas now, but it would probably taste best making it and gifting it within a week. However I am certainly not a food expert so that is just my personal opinion :-)
Annie
I love the idea of not using sugar! Which size can of sweetened condensed milk do you use? Maybe you know how my oz.
LaurenAuthor
The can I use is 14 ounces. I will update the recipe, thanks!
Kelly
Thanks for this recipe. I’ve not had luck with fudge in the past…it never came out looking presentable, even though it may have tasted fine. I’m happy to report that this one came out picture perfect, silky smooth, and the perfect texture for cutting. Not at all greasy, grainy, or sticky. This one is a keeper for me, and will be a feature in my Christmas goody baskets this year and beyond. Yay, fudge!
LaurenAuthor
Thanks, Kelly! I’m glad you found a new keeper :-)
Leah
Wow..I’ve been looking for a good fudge recipe for a few years. I’m very picky about my fudge, and rarely ever buy it in specialty shops bc it’s so expensive and not that great. I tried this and I LOVE it!! I’m so excited to find a great fudge recipe not only to make for others, but to keep all to myself :) can’twait until you post the variations
LaurenAuthor
Other fudge has been ruined for me forever by my stepmom always making this fudge for us during the holidays :) I’m glad you love it and thanks for stopping by Lemon & Mocha!!
kim
It won’t set for me is it because i used unsweetened condensed milk, I decided to use unsweetened cause thats what I had in the pantry.
LaurenAuthor
I have never worked with unsweetened condensed milk so I am not sure how it would affect the texture of the fudge. However, the fudge is not going to taste very good if you don’t use sweetened condensed milk because that is the only sweetener in the whole recipe.
Dahlz
How many servings does this make?
LaurenAuthor
It completely depends on how small you cut the pieces. On a recent batch I cut them pretty small (1″ x 1″) and got roughly 64 pieces.
Ashley
I can honestly say this is THE tastiest and easiest fudge recipe ever. Oh my. I will be sharing this with everyone! I was just so surprised at how close it tastes like something you’d get in a fancy candy store. Thanks so much for sharing! :)
LaurenAuthor
You’re welcome, Ashley! I’m so glad you enjoyed it :)
L.Weinberger
Is it possible to make this in the microwave versus a double boiler?
LaurenAuthor
I have never tried so I can’t say for sure. You could certainly try it, but I would make sure to chop the baking chocolate into small pieces, reduce the power on your microwave by half, and heat in small increments with stirring in between. The problem with microwaving chocolate is you risk burning it. If you don’t have a double boiler you can use any heatproof bowl and rest it over a pan simmering with water. I use this universal double boiler and it’s really inexpensive: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000050AV3/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000050AV3&linkCode=as2&tag=lemo08-20. Good luck!
Kelly R.
I’ve never made fudge before in my life so I decided to attempt this- it was SO easy to do (even for someone who cooking challenged like me) and it came out seriously amazing. Thanks for this!
Vitoria M.
Actually, not the “World’s”… Just the places that don’t have to convert this crazy mesurement units… I wanna try this, I really do. But how many grams and mililiters there are in an ounce?… This math eludes me. :(
juliusand1
Try this link: http://www.epicurious.com/tools/conversions/convertingtometric
Vitoria M.
Thanks! I’ll come back to let you know how it turned out! ¦D
Jessica
Google it! Something like “how many grams in one ounce”. Google will pull upa little calculator to help you. :)
David Jaworski
I make the worlds best fudge, how do I enter?
Vitoria M.
LOL I don’t have the faintest idea, David! My comment was actually about the measurement system of the recipe, that’s very specific, very regional, instead of global… But I guess publishing your own recipe online might be a way. I don’t really know. ¦P
Courtney
I noticed if I use mini chocolate chips, they melt/mix more easily.
Lynda
Hi there, I just tried this today and while it tasted absolutely amazing and was beautifully creamy it turned out a bit sticky. I’ve never made fudge before so I’m guessing it’s my technique! Do you have any tips for how hot I should have it or how long to cook it for if that’s what causing the sticking? Thanks very much!
padge
This is probably a silly question, but is it a tin or glass dish? I’ve made fudge before and it always turned out gloopy and runny, then I heard Alton brown say something about always using either glass or tin, but I can’t remember which one and I don’t want to mess up again and waist ingredients and time.
Thank you!
Cake MakR
I had never made fudge until about a year ago. It was shortly after the holidays had passed so I had a bunch of stuff left over from cooking. The first time making it was extraordinary. I did not use the microwave but cooked everything on the stove instead. Like I said, I made this on a whim and really wish I wrote down exactly what I did because I couldn’t remember if I used sugar or s.c. Milk. I do remember it being amazing however. This recipe for fudge is pretty good as I made it last week, but it seemed that it tasted more like eating a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. It wasn’t very “fudgy,” in taste if you know what I mean. It is delicious for sure and my kids loved it. I wonder if using half semi-sweet, half milk choc chips would work to give it the fudginess I desire? I know when I made fudge for the first time it called for powdered cocoa. I am just looking for different ways of making it. I don’t like all.the exotic flavors of fudge, just the fudgy chocolate one. Any ideas to help me with a good outcome?
Lory
This recipe works fabulously with peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, or any combination thereof as well. My personal favorite is to use 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a six ounce bag of butterscotch chips combined. It gives the chocolate a wonderful buttery taste that no one can quite figure out but everyone always wants more! The fudge looks adorable with a little candy pumpkin or some candy-corn stuck on top for Halloween and looks pretty with crushed candy-canes sprinkled on top for Christmas, Jellybeans for Easter, etc.
Brittany
Do you have to boil the condensed milk? Or do you simply just undue the can and pour it in?
LaurenAuthor
No need to boil the condensed milk, just open the can and pour it in when called for in the directions :-) Thanks for stopping by, I hope you love it!
Hans
I am new to this. I tried the recipe but the fudge did not set. After sitting
in the refrigerator for a day it came out with the consistency of frosting,
not hard enough to cut. What may I have done wrong?
LaurenAuthor
Hi Hans! Without being in the kitchen with you it’s difficult for me to know what went wrong. Did you use the exact ingredients and amounts called for in the recipe? A can of sweetened condensed milk must be used; it can’t be substituted with any other milk product.
Hans
Lauren,
Yes, I used all the specified ingredients and processes.
I am thinking that I did not get the mixture hot enough
and/or did not stir it long enough after it got off the heat
for it to thicken properly. I will keep trying until I get it right!
LaurenAuthor
Hmm, that is so odd! The only additional tips I can give are to make sure the chocolate chips are melted completely and that when you stir in the sweetened condensed milk (on the heat) keep stirring until it is completely combined before removing from the heat and stirring in the vanilla extract completely. I hope it works out for you next time!!
Liz Byrne
Hi….I live in Nicaragua and can’t seem to find unsalted butter, is regular butter okay to use instead? Thanks
LaurenAuthor
Hi Liz! I’ve never tried it, but you should be fine using salted butter instead since there’s only 2 tablespoons of butter in the whole recipe I can’t imagine it would make the fudge salty. Thanks for visiting from Nicaragua! :-)
RR
Actually salt enhances the flavor of chocolate. If I didn’t use salted butter I would add salt. I would probably add salt even if I used salted butter.
LaurenAuthor
Let me know how it turns out with the additional salt. Maybe I will try some flaked sea salt next time!
Annette Schultz
Best fudge ever! Silky smooth texture, dark chocolate flavor with the sweetness of fudge! Perfect balance! Boyfriend and I ate the whole tray!