Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge, this is the best, creamiest chocolate fudge, made the old fashioned way! And only 6 ingredients. The perfect Homemade Chocolate Candy, one everyone will love.
I have been a big Candy lover for a long time, especially anything Chocolate such as these Easy Homemade Filled Chocolates or these Italian Chocolate Kisses / Baci.
Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge is everything a homemade fudge should be, so get your candy thermometer ready.
I have been searching and searching for the chocolate fudge that I had tasted when I was about 8 or 10 years old, if you can believe that! This fudge melted in your mouth and was just a little bit crumbly.
I can remember going to the Christmas Bazaar at the Church on Saturday afternoon with a couple of my school friends. I bought my dime bag of chocolate fudge and I still remember thinking “this is the best Fudge I have ever eaten”.
And when we went back to get another bag, the lady was sold out. A sad day for me!
I think in my quest for “the One” I tasted fudge from any and all chocolate stores. And unfortunately they were all the creamy types usually made with sweetened condensed milk, just like my Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge or this Easy Walnut Fudge I wanted that crumbly melt in your mouth fudge!
Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I decided I would google until I discovered my Chocolate Fudge. And discover I did, thanks to Hershey’s, apparently it is their Recipe that gives you that divine fudge.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sugar – granulated
- Cocoa powder – unsweetened dutch processed
- Salt
- Milk – whole/heavy milk
- Butter – I use salted – room temperature
How to make Chocolate Fudge
Line an 8 inch square pan with buttered parchment paper.
In a medium heavy saucepan stir together the sugar, cocoa and salt, then add the milk and stir with a wooden spoon (not a whisk or metal spoon).
Cook over medium heat stirring continuously until mixture starts to boil (a strong boil), approximately 15 minutes.
Turn heat to low medium and continue to cook without stirring until temperature reaches 234 °F (112C) Approximately 30 minutes.
Remove pot from the heat, add the butter and vanilla. Do not stir. Cool to room temperature (110°F/43C), approximately 30 minutes. Then beat with a wooden spoon just until mixture begins to lose some of it’s gloss (approximately 6-8 minutes).
Spread the fudge quickly in the prepared pan and let cool completely, even overnight (at room temperature). Cut it into squares.
Adjusting the Fudge Recipe for High Altitude
To adjust the temperature to your altitude, deduct two degrees from the temperature required for every one thousand feet of altitude above sea level. For example, in this Fudge recipe, if you live 5,000 feet above sea level, you would deduct 10 degrees from 234 degrees.
How to Store Homemade Chocolate Fudge
Wrap the cut pieces in parchment paper or aluminum foil and store in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag. Fudged stored at room temperature can last from 7 – 14 days.
Fudge can also be stored in the refrigerator wrapped and placed in an airtight container. In the fridge fudge will last 2 – 3 weeks.
How to freeze it
Freeze the fudge in a double bag, well wrapped. You can freeze it either in pieces or the whole slab. Fudge will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
What to make with fudge
If by chance you have some leftover fudge or for some reason your fudge doesn’t turn out, don’t despair and certainly don’t throw it out! Cut up some fudge add it to some hot milk and stir until smooth and there you have some amazing hot chocolate, maybe the best you have ever had?
Or melt some of the fudge, either in the microwave or over a pot of boiling water and drizzle it over some ice cream or as a ganache on a cake. Hot fudge sauce never tasted so good.
Can I add Nuts or Peanut Butter
Yes you can add nuts such as walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, peanut butter or even mini marshmallows. The best time to add these ingredients is when you add the butter and vanilla. I would also recommend roasting the nuts first to give the best flavor to your fudge.
You could also substitute the vanilla extract with peppermint extract or almond or even orange.
How to roast nuts
Place nuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking / cookie sheet. Bake in a pre-heated 350F/180C oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until they are golden brown, remove immediately from the pan to a clean bowl to cool.
How to keep your fudge from being gritty or grainy
- Make sure the sugar has dissolved.
- It could be the fudge wasn’t beaten long enough or hard enough.
Does the weather affect fudge?
Yes it does, on a humid day, once the candy has cooled it may start to absorb moisture from the air, so on a humid day the candy will end up being softer than it is suppose to be.
Therefore it is always better to make candy (fudge) on dry days. Although if you have no choice but to make candy on a humid day then cook it to the highest recommended temperature (which is 237-240F).
Cool weather also helps the candy cool faster that way it has a lesser chance to form the dreaded crystals.
Why is my fudge soft?
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Most of the time the reason is because your fudge has not reached the right temperature, it is very important to use a good candy thermometer for this.
I hope you enjoy this Homemade Chocolate Fudge! And let me know how you like it. Enjoy!
More Chocolate Candy Recipes
- Homemade Chocolate Mint Filled Chocolates
- Chocolate Torrone
- Creamy Old Fashioned Caramel Candies
- Homemade Italian Chocolate Kisses / Baci
Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup cocoa (unsweetened dutch processed)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup butter* (I use salted) (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
*if you use unsalted butter then increase the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
Instructions
- Line an 8 inch square pan with buttered parchment paper.
- In a medium heavy saucepan stir together sugar, cocoa and salt, then add the milk and stir with a wooden spoon (not a whisk or metal spoon).
- Cook over medium heat stirring continuously until mixture starts to boil (a strong boil), approximately 15 minutes.
- Turn heat to low medium and continue to cook without stirring until temperature reaches 234 °F (112C) Approximately 30 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat, add the butter and vanilla. Do not stir. Cool to room temperature (110°F/43C), approximately 30 minutes. Then beat with a wooden spoon just until mixture begins to lose some of it's gloss (approximately 6-8 minutes).
- Then spread quickly in prepared cake pan and let cool completely, even overnight (at room temperature). Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
- You can also freeze the fudge in a double bag, well wrapped. Freeze either in pieces or the whole slab. Can be frozen up to 3 months. Keeps in an airtight container for approximately 2 weeks or in the fridge for 3-4 weeks. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Updated from November 18, 2017.
Jennifer says
I cooked this on low med heat for nearly 1.5 hrs to get it to the right temp and set overnight on the counter and it is still liquid. Great flavor. Suggestions?
Rosemary says
Hi Jennifer, it sounds like you didn’t beat it enough after it cooled. Let me know.
Lynda says
I used “unsalted butter” and also, “half-n-half” in place of whole milk.
It came out very soft, so i ate it right out of freezer. Thankfully, so good! Good recipe! And quite easy too. Thank you so much Rosemary and the “An Ital. in my Kitchen” team!
Rosemary says
Hi Lynda, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
Joann says
Just made this wonderful fudge. I used Hersheys Dark cocoa and added crushed walnuts before turning into the cake pan. Yummy
Rosemary says
Hi Joann, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Have a great weekend.
Kristy A Miller says
Once I got to the cooled stage, it thickened up so fast that I couldn’t couldn’t beat it anymore. I had to pour it into the dish. What did I do wrong? Then it set before I could it spread it out.
Rosemary says
Hi Kristy, it could be that you cooked it too long once it reached the correct temperature. Be sure to test your candy thermometer to make sure it reads correctly. Let me know.
Rhonda says
I learned from an old Homes and Garden cookbook when I was younger, to rub the sides of the sauce pan you’ll be using with butter. Apparently if one grain of uncooked sugar gets in with the sugar mixture, it will turn the cooked sugar back into grandular sugar, and make it grainy again. The butter will melt as the pan gets hot, causing the sugar to slide into the pan. I’ve used butter to rub the sides of my pan for years. Also never scrape the sides of your pan while cooking. This really works. The fudge comes out as a very smooth texture.
Rosemary says
Hi Rhonda, thanks so much, that’s a great tip. Have a great weekend.
Sandy says
My mom used to make fudge in the 60’s and 70’s with condensed milk instead of whole milk. Would this work in this recipe or would It be too rich and thick? Thanks!
Sandy says
Hi, replying to myself in order to get an add on question to my previous one I just sent you. It may not have been condensed milk, possibly evaporated milk. But either way could I use one of them, probably evaporated as condensed would be too sweet?
Rosemary says
Hi Sandy I have never made this recipe with either evaporated or condensed although I have heard people use evaporated. You could try and let me know how it goes. I do have a quick recipe here using condensed milk to make fudge. https://allthingsbread.com/easy-walnut-fudge-recipe/ . Take care.
Courtney says
I’m having a really hard time… maybe it’s because I’m using an electric stove… help I’m doing everything said step by step
Rosemary says
Hi Courtney, I can’t really help because I don’t know what your really hard time is. Is it heating too quickly? Then you should lower the heat a bit. Did you watch the video? That might help. Let me know.
Lynda DeLuca says
I don’t have whole milk. So can i use “half and half”?
Rosemary says
Hi Lynda, I have never made it with half and half so unfortunately I cannot say that you can. If you want try it and let me know.
Denise says
What type of cocoa (milk or dark) and brand do you suggest using?
Rosemary says
Hi Denise, I use unsweetened cocoa that is dutch processed. Hope that helps.
Alex Quigley says
I don’t know whether it’s just me or if everybody else experiencing problems with your blog. It appears like some of the text in your posts are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This might be a problem with my web browser because I’ve had this happen previously. Thanks|
Rosemary says
Hi Alex, can you send me a screenshot and send it to my email address, rosemolloy59@yahoo.ca? Thanks, I will check it out.
Rose says
Could I use goat milk?
Rosemary says
Hi Rose, I really don’t know, I have never made it with goat milk.
Jane says
Hey I want to try this recipe but we don’t have any whole milk, will any kind of milk work or should I run to the store :)?
Rosemary says
Hi Jane, no you really do need whole milk for this recipe. 🙂
Jay says
I used 1 % millk and it was fantastic. Followed the recipe exactly but had to cook it a bit longer than 30 minutes to reach the required temperature.
Victoria says
THANK YOU! I have tried at least half a dozen recipes for fudge over the last 3 years and they have all been various levels of fail… NOT this one! Perfectly melt in your mouth creamy! The thorough instructions really helped me out.
Rosemary says
Hi Victoria, thanks so much, so glad you like the fudge. Happy New Year.
Natalie says
This is the first fudge recipe I’ve ever attempted, and the results were uniformly loved by all. The fudge was slightly softer and more melty than I expected, but that may have been because it took a lot longer than 30 minutes for my mixture to reach 234° (I suspect because my house is cold). In the end, sightly increasing the heat and partially covering the pot got me there. The soft fudge was perfect for truffle centers, but we didn’t end up trying that out, because they were too delicious to stop eating!
Rosemary says
Hi Natalie, thanks so much, yes the time can vary so much with your house, your stove even the pot. Glad you liked it. Happy New Year.
Veronica says
My fudge never hardened it’s still runny and it’s been 24 hours please help I was going to give this as a gift
Rosemary says
Hi Veronica, a reader gave these helpful tips. “I use to always use this Hershey recipe, but it’s has been years since I’ve made fudge. Tried a batch this weekend and it reminded me of how I used to fix the fails I’ve been reading about. If the fudge never sets or turns to concrete in a pan, do not despair. If too soft, heat it up again to temp (234 F for Hershey recipe – if too soft your thermometer was probably off). If it was too hard add a little milk as it melts, I cook just until melted. Remove from heat, add a pat of butter on top and let cool and beat as before. I used to call it my special twice cooked fudge recipe”. Hope this helps.