With the magic of sweetened condensed milk as its cornerstone, this Easy Fudge Recipe unlocks the gateway to a world of candy-making — without any fuss.
Fully line an 8x8-inch square baking dish with aluminum foil or parchment paper so the bottom and sides are covered and excess hangs over the sides of the pan. Rub the butter all over the foil or parchment to help it peel off later.
Add the chocolate chips and condensed milk to a medium saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and thick, about 5 minutes.
Scoop the chocolate mixture into your prepared dish and smooth it with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Set aside to cool completely and set, about 3 hours, or chill for 2 hours.
When your fudge has set, remove the slab from the baking dish by peel lifting up the foil using the excess as handles. Peel off the foil and cut the fudge into squares with a sharp knife. You can enjoy the fudge immediately or wrap it in parchment or wax paper and store it in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
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Notes
Get Creative! Perhaps my favorite thing about this recipe is how flexible it is. Here are just a few ideas to get you started.
Feel free to swap in white chocolate chips, milk chocolate, or vegan chocolate as needed.
For a nutty fudge, stir in 1 cup of toasted, chopped walnuts or pecans with the vanilla.
Feel free to add an extra boost of warm flavor with a splash of vanilla extract, or try fun flavor combinations like chocolate peppermint fudge or mocha fudge by adding mint or coffee extract.
Add some texture and a bit of pizzaz by stirring in toasted nuts, sprinkles, cookie bits, crushed peppermint candies, dried fruit, or chopped pretzels or sprinkling them on top of the fudge before it sets.
Instead of cutting it into squares, you can use small cookie cutters to make seasonally-appropriate shapes (e.g. trees for Christmas or hearts for Valentine’s Day!).
Use low heat. Don’t be tempted to crank it to medium heat to speed the process, or you risk overheating the chocolate and breaking the mixture.
Use chopped bar chocolate. It will melt more smoothly than chocolate chips, which have stabilizers to help them hold their shape in cookies.