Chocolate Fudge Recipe (3 Ingredients)

Creamy, delish, and bursting with chocolatey goodness, this super easy 3-ingredient Chocolate Fudge recipe is any chocoholic’s dream. Satisfy your sweet cravings with just 15 minutes of effort!

About Chocolate Fudge Recipe

This ridiculously easy recipe is not the traditional old-fashioned way of making chocolate fudge, which is why I love it so much. 

Unlike the traditional method, you don’t need to spend hours cooking and reducing the fudge mixture. All you need is 3 ingredients and 15 minutes of time to make this delicious homemade candy!

It’s such a time saver during the holidays when all you want to do is cook less and spend more time with your family and loved ones. 

Since this fudge recipe is so simple, it’s perfect for making a big batch to gift to your friends, neighbors, mailman, or anyone else you want to show appreciation to!

Ingredients & Substitutions

1. Baking Chocolate: The chocolate bars used for baking are also known as cooking chocolate. For a really smooth texture I recommend using what is known as couverture chocolate, which has a higher proportion of cocoa butter in the mix. Based on your taste preferences, you can opt for either white chocolate, milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or dark chocolate.
2. Sweetened Condensed Milk – You could use any of your favorite brands, but make sure it is sweetened. Feel free to swap in a vegan brand if needed. You can also use evaporated milk, but you’ll need to add icing sugar (a.k.a. confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar) to sweeten it.
3. Butter – Both salted and unsalted butter work in the recipe. If you opt for unsalted butter, just add a pinch of salt. Ghee is also acceptable if you want a richer flavor. You can also use vegan butter if needed.
4. Nuts: Adding nuts is totally optional, but is a nice way to add some texture. You can use your favorite chopped, toasted nuts or dried berries, or skip the nuts altogether. 

How To Make Chocolate Fudge

If you’ve ever made fudge the old-fashioned way, you’re in for a treat. This method is SO MUCH EASIER! Here’s how it’s done:

Prep & Temper Chocolate

1. First, line a 6 x 6-inch square pan with aluminium foil or parchment paper. Keep some extra paper or foil hanging on the sides of the pan so that you can easily lift it when the fudge is set and done.

Chop chocolate and set aside. You could also just keep the chocolate block in a ziplock bag and break it with a pestle.

2. Take 1 cup chopped couverture chocolate, 200 grams sweetened condensed milk (half a can of condensed milk), and 1 tablespoon butter in a bowl or a shallow frying pan.

If using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt. Set the bowl or pan aside.

3. Heat about 1 to 1.5 cups water in a sauce pan or pot on a medium to high heat till the water becomes hot and begins to boil.

4. Lower the heat and place the bowl or shallow frying pan, containing the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, and butter on the saucepan, making sure that the bottom does not touch the boiling water.

You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second bursts, but I prefer using this double boiler method rather than melting chocolate in the microwave because it’s easier to keep from scorching.

5. As soon as you place the pan on the double boiler, the chocolate will begin to melt.

6. Stir often while the chocolate is melting.

7. In the photo below you can see that more of the chocolate has melted.

8. Stir the fudge mixture non-stop while the chocolate is melting.

9. When all the chocolate is melted, turn off the heat.

10. Quickly add chopped walnuts and vanilla extract or vanilla powder, if using.

11. Mix very well.

Set Chocolate Fudge

12. Using a spatula, pour the entire fudge mixture in the pan lined with the aluminium foil.

13. Let the fudge first cool at room temperature. Do not cover the pan while it is hot, or you’ll have condensation raining down on it. 

When the chocolate fudge has cooled entirely to room temperature, cover the pan and refrigerate it for 3 to 4 hours or overnight, till it sets completely.

I kept the fudge overnight in the fridge.

14. When set, remove the fudge along with the foil and place it on a chopping board.

15. Slice the chocolate fudge into squares or rectangles. The yield is 350 grams of chocolate fudge from this recipe and makes for about 10 to 12 squares of fudge pieces.

16. Serve these chocolate fudge squares or wrap them in foil or parchment paper and keep covered in a jar or box in the fridge. These stay good for a month in the fridge.

Expert Tips

• Lining your pan or tray: While making any fudge, it is very important to line your pan or tray with a parchment paper or a foil. Keep some extra paper or foil on the sides of the pan so that you can easily lift it when the fudge is set.
• Tempering chocolate: Chocolate needs to be tempered correctly for a smooth and glossy texture. Tempering means to melt chocolate and then cool it to achieve a stable crystalline structure, that results in a smooth, velvety, glossy and even texture. The best method to melt chocolate is with the double boiler as shown in this recipe. It gives you perfect results every time. 
• Roasting Nuts: Lightly roasting the nuts will give them much richer flavor. Feel free to use pistachios, almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, cashews, or pine nuts. 
• Refrigeration: Make sure to refrigerate the fudge for it to set completely and give you neat squares or cubes. Refrigeration makes the fudge more firm.
• Scaling: You can easily halve or double this recipe as needed.

FAQs

This Chocolate Fudge recipe from the archives, first published in Feb 2015 has been updated and republished on May 2023.