The Ultimate Easy Creamy Chocolate Fudge

This is truly the Ultimate Easy, Creamy, No-Fail Chocolate Fudge. Just a few minutes is all it takes to make this seriously delicious, super creamy, no-fail fudge!

What type of fudge fan are you? Do you like it hard and crumbly or creamy and soft? This recipe is for a soft, creamy, smooth fudge that cuts like buttah.

Growing up there, my Mom couldn’t bake anything.  She wasn’t a professionally trained chef, but she could produce meals that were flawless and genuinely delicious. Now, any chef, whether professionally trained or not, has their specialty area. Mom, yeah, she owned the fudge realm.  Mom made all types, though her most requested was plain chocolate and toasted walnuts. 

Now, I’ll be honest: I was never a huge fan of fudge.  If given the choice between fudge and a cookie, the cookies always won out. For me, it was just too rich.  However, my Dad… my darling sweet father was a Fudge Fanatic!  No people you don’t understand!  My Mom would have to hide the fudge from him, even the ones she had orders for, because that man loved it THAT MUCH!

This is an easy recipe, BUT it is very specific about what you can and can’t use.

• Chocolates: Use high-quality chopped chocolate, not chocolate chips. I’ll provide more details about this below.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Vanilla Extract
• Marshmallow Fluff
• Butter

Back to Mom, I can remember her hiding containers of fudge in my baby doll stroller, underneath the blankets. Then it got so bad that she started stashing containers of it in my Barbie Doll case, underneath my clothes in my closet, way back in the corner, and in pretty much anything that could act as a hiding spot in my room. 

Well, Dad got wise to this and well…let me tell you a little story about fudge and my Dad. However, let me discuss this fudge recipe a bit further.

My SUPER easy (and I think much better) update to Mom’s Fudge Recipe

As for my Mom’s fudge recipe, I’ll be honest: I HATE making it because you need some serious muscle to stir it, and I wanted something EASY. So, I started analyzing her recipe and trying various tweaks to make it as good as (if not better) and way easier. I’m sorry, but creating a recipe shouldn’t require a gym membership.

I went through many trials with this, from using margarine, corn syrup, a million bags of marshmallows, cocoa powder, and baking chocolate, and they all failed. I mean, most were okay, but they weren’t what I was going for.

Finally, I decided to try marshmallow fluff and chopped chocolate (NOT chocolate chips). Once I saw how they combined it (as I use that mixture often when making fudge icing), it just clicked.

I’m going to be completely honest here: I think this tastes better.  The texture is so creamy and smooth. It almost melts in your mouth.

My workouts happen in the gym, not when I’m making fudge!

1. Line an 8×8″ pan with foil, leaving a 2″ overhang, and lightly spray the foil.
2. To a large bowl, add the chocolates and sweetened condensed milk. Microwave for a few minutes, stirring every 30 seconds to a minute, until entirely melted.
3. Once melted, add to he rest of the ingredients, transfer to the prepared pan, and chill at least 3-4 hours before cutting.

However, I had to go with what Mr. Fantabulous said. You see, when they say, “A girl marries a man like her father,” I truly believe that my husband is so similar to my Dad in so many ways; it’s uncanny. He is just as big of a fudge hound as my Dad was.  So I made both batches, and he loves this one more.

But let me get back to my Mom and how she almost had a coronary and, I think, made up curse words because she was so mad!

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and Mom was up to her elbows in fudge

It was about a week before Christmas, and Mom had a slew of cookie and fudge orders to fulfill. Now I did my best to help her out without being all over her feet and eating all the raw cookie dough. 

Now, one thing I didn’t help her make was her fudge.  I didn’t have the arm muscles to mix it.

Dad couldn’t help her as he’d eat it straight out of the pot – mixed or not. However, just like clockwork, when she’d pull it out of the fridge hours later, my Dad would buzz around like a bee to honey.  She’d whack him with the wooden spoon and threaten to beat him in his sleep if he touched the fudge.

Now, full disclosure – Mom always made him his own, so it’s not like he went without, but there’s something more desirable when you’re told you can’t have something.

Mom was a night owl, while Dad was an early riser.  10 pm was pushing it for him. So around 2 am, Mom went into her bedroom, and what happened next, well, let’s say I’m surprised no one got beaten to a pulp or had a heart attack from fright.

In my parents’ bedroom, they kept a small nightlight on – one, it helped light the room so when my Mom went to bed, she wouldn’t stub her toe walking in, and two, if I got scared, I could go into their bedroom and get them up.

So anyway, Mom walks into the bedroom when suddenly, she lets out the mother of all shrieks.  She starts screaming in fright, and all the lights in the house go on. I run downstairs to see what’s happening.

My Dad is lying there out of it, eyes all full of sleep, dazed and confused.  On the side of his face, his nose, around his mouth, down his chin, and all of his pillow is this massive dark stain/spot. 

It looked like dried blood. Mom was ready to call an ambulance (this was pre-911. Yeah, I’m old, peeps) as she was feeling his face, pulling up his lip and his nose to see where the “blood” was coming from.

All of a sudden, she got quiet…

REAL QUIET…

She had then put it all together. You see, earlier that day, Dad wanted to spend the day with me in my room – playing Barbies, dressing up, and having tea parties.  Now, that wasn’t anything new for him to want to spend time with me like that, but never the whole day – he worked. 

Remember how I said earlier that Mom had to hide her fudge in my stuff in my room?  Yeah… I see those wheels spinning in your head now.

My darling father, while we played all those things, was quietly sneaking out the fudge and putting it on his nightstand!  I know, right? 

So when he went to bed, he pulled open his nightstand drawer and would have a piece…then another…and another…and another… until he fell asleep. Only when he fell asleep, he must have still had a piece of fudge in his mouth.

And since Dad was a snorer, his mouth was open – with fudge still in it.  The fudge “melted” all over his face, his cheek, his chin, his nose, and his pillowcase.  And when it dried, it looked like dried blood, thanks to the hue of a nightlight.

Folks, I thought my mother was going to beat that man with a brick.  She was FURIOUS. And then she let the curse words flow.  She got about three words into it when she realized I was there, and then she switched over to cussing him out in both German and Slovak. 

I just stood there grinning because 1 – it was funny, to be honest, and 2 – I understood those words as well.  Needless to say, he was in the doghouse for a while.

Guys, even though it’s been decades since this happened, I still cannot stop laughing to the point that it brings tears to my eyes!

How to store the best fudge you’ll ever eat?

Well, if my father were still here, he’d say, “In your belly!” And I’m pretty sure Mr. Fantabulous would say in HIS belly! However, Mom kept it in a cool, dark area. The containers were draft-free, and she stored them between layers of wax paper. However, you can use VERY LIGHTLY SPRAYED parchment if you wish.

I store mine in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. Mr. Fantabulous likes it cold. However, you don’t necessarily have to keep it in the fridge if your room isn’t warm. 

Remember, this is fudge; it’s as soft and creamy as fudge can be. So, if your place is warm, it could become too soft to pick up. Again, still perfectly delicious but not presentable for say a tray.

• Store in an air-tight container
• Best stored chilled or at cooler room temps, as it’s a soft fudge, though it does not need to be refrigerated (unless it’s super hot where it would be stored)
• I’ve never tried to freeze this, as it goes too fast. If you freeze it, comment below on how it turns out.

What can you add to your fudge?

Gosh, what can’t you put in or on fudge?

• Nuts – Mix in toasted nuts after the butter is blended in. Nuts also will work if pressed in on top after it’s spread out in the pan and before chilling
• Dried fruits in or on top – again after the butter is mixed in.
• Peanut butter – I’ve added peanut butter into the mix (plus added a bit of fluff to help with its setting), as well as made a “Buckeye” peanut butter bottom, pressing that into the pan and then spreading the fudge on top. Seriously, this is CRAZY GOOD!
• Top with Sprinkles, Jimmies (chocolate sprinkles), or Nonpareils
• Top the fudge with M&Ms, mini chocolate chips, chopped candy bars
• Caramel pieces and sea salt flakes (FYI, this is on another level of deliciousness!)

How to easily cut your fudge

Many of you asked how I cut mine with such clean lines. It’s SUPER EASY!

1. Take a large, sharp knife (not serrated) and either stick it in a glass of hot water or run it under the faucet till it’s warm.
2. Wipe the knife clean, as you don’t want it wet, and make your slices.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 frequently, cleaning the knife in between.
4. By doing this, you’ll get nice, clean cuts!

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