Plain Fudge recipe with condensed milk

These 3 recipes are the very definition of “easy fudge.” They’re all 3 made with sweetened condensed milk, and so even though this isn’t strictly a (you don’t usually buy fudge at the grocery store, do you?), I was actually quite pleased to see that the fudge sets up best … when you use our homemade sweetened condensed milk recipe. And that was a D.I.Y. Friday post. I only made the recipes with both store-bought sweetened condensed milk and with the homemade variety made with evaporated milk. I haven’t tried any of them with the dairy-free kind, or the whole milk kind, but I have every confidence that they would work that way, too. If you’re dairy-free, try it and let us know how it goes!

We begin with chocolate fudge, since, well, it’s a classic. It sets up quick and easy, and tastes as good as the chocolate you use. I’ve made it with more expensive bittersweet chocolate (usually Scharffen-Berger), and it’s amazing. I’ve also made it with totally cheapo Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate, and you know what? Still delicious. It’s fudge, for crying out loud.

The ingredients are super simple, of course. The title of the post is “easy, ” after all.

The peanut butter fudge has no chocolate in it, which really helps fudge set up. So to keep it from being too soft, you add some confectioners’ sugar at the end. No biggie. This one’s for the peanut butter lovers out there. I would not make this with Sunbutter or Nutella, as they’re much softer and I suspect you’d have a mess on your hands. Just my 2 cents. :)

Ah, vanilla fudge. I am working diligently on a non-white-chocolate version of vanilla fudge (coming soon!), but this recipe is all about how to make the simplest fudge, from sweetened condensed milk. This is how you do it. Don’t forget to add the pinch of salt, though, or the sweetness can be a bit much. And don’t try to melt white chocolate chips! They seize. They really just aren’t made to melt. I used white chocolate baking disks, which are made to melt. Want a truly amazing vanilla fudge? Try using homemade white chocolate. Now that would be dreamy…

Meet you back here on Monday for a big intro to my next cookbook, Gluten Free Classic Snacks! I’ll show you the Table of Contents, the cover and a few of the most amazing food photos I’ve ever seen. Simple, unfussy, but gorgeous. I’m planning to include a few photos from the Table of Contents that I select, and then let you guys weigh in on what other photos you’d like to see, and I’ll edit the post the next day to include a few more of the most requested! I can’t wait!!

Prep time: Cook time: Yield: 12 pieces per recipe

Ingredients

Chocolate Fudge
11 ounces dark chocolate (or semi-sweet chocolate), chopped

12 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vanilla Fudge
15 ounces white chocolate, chopped (or white chocolate disks, but not chips!)

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Fudge