Melt in Your Mouth: 8 Tempting Recipes for Fudge

Do any of you make fudge? I always associate this thick, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth candy with the holiday season, but it's actually been years since I've had any. Time to revive the tradition!

Fudge can be as finicky or as easy-peasy as you like it. Traditional recipes require candy thermometers and include instructions for cooling the fudge on marble slabs. But the ones that take a few shortcuts are very often just as good.

I also love how endlessly adaptable fudge can be. You can take a basic recipe, like chocolate or vanilla fudge, and mix in whatever extras you have around. Pretzels, candy bits, nuts, dried fruits, and the contents of your spice drawer are all fair game here.

Here are some recipes to inspire your holiday fudge-making:

• Simple Chocolate Fudge from Martha Stewart
• Vanilla Cream Fudge from Saveur
• Maple Pecan Fudge from Leite's Culinaria
• Bittersweet Chocolate and Walnut Fudge from Bon Appétit
• Coconut Milk Fudge from Smitten Kitchen
• Mocha Almond Fudge from Sunset Magazine/MyRecipes
• Rocky Road Fudge from Fine Cooking
• Peanut Butter Fudge from Bakerella

What's your favorite kind of fudge?

(Image: Martha Stewart)

Comments (16)

Will fudge last more than a few days out of the fridge? (I ask optimistically)

I've been trolling for care package-friendly recipes online. Would love to send fudge but don't know if it'll last shipment to the UK then shipment to a BFPO in Afghanistan.

Yum! Would love to make this as a gift around Christmas time. My favorite sort of fudge is the kind that swirls together peanut butter and chocolate fudge. :)

I haven't made a chocolate fudge in years. I heard through the grapevine that my brother wishes I'd take it up again. This year I'm jonesing for a walnut penuche (basically a caramel fudge instead of chocolate).

@wobble - I've read that fudge in an airtight container will keep for about 10 days at room temperature or a month if refrigerated. Since it's winter and the package will probably not be shipped or stored in heated facilities, I'm thinking that you might actually be ok to ship overseas!

Fudge also freezes phenomenally well for a 2-3 months. I double wrap mine in plastic wrap for that purpose.

For the past few years, I always made a special Christmas chocolate fudge for family and friends. And will make again this season as it is now has become a holiday tradition...

@Kristen--it freezes well, huh? That is very good news!

My Mom taught me to make fudge, years ago. We used one of her old cookbooks - the recipe did not use corn syrup, marshmallows, etc. It did use lots of butter, sugar, milk, cocoa. It required cream of tartar, a thermometer or the ability to distinguish the various stages (soft ball stage for fudge), patience stirring and waiting for it to cool, as it cooled, a strong arm for beating it, and the talent for discerning the exact moment it was ready to go into the buttered square pan before it seized in the pot. I don't like any other fudge besides that homemade chocolate with walnuts. It was creamy with a very fine crystalline grain, and an ever so thin crystalline crust. It was not even slightly taffy like -- as are the "fudges" sold commercially. Ah, might have to make some this year.

I like making Nutella fudge with espresso salt! http://www.confessionsofachocoholic.com/chocolate/fudge-with-espresso-salt

We make fudge!

We love this Coffeeshop Fudge from Taste of Home. It is a softer fudge so I wouldn't recommend it for shipping.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Coffee-Shop-Fudge

We also like this Mama Reiner's Fudgemade with the recipe for fresh homemade marshmallow cream. (It's good to dip homemade marshmallows in too.)
http://www.marthastewart.com/255395/momma-reiners-chocolate-fudge

@abcornwell - My mom makes a very similar type of fudge. For me, that's the only real fudge. :)

Wobble - the type of fudge my mom makes keeps forever. The only issue I've found is that it tends to dry out, but if you wrap it well you're fine. Mom sent me fudge in summer when I was in the Golan Heights, and it was fine. Sending stuff in Winter should be good, I'd think.

My go-to fudge recipe is dead simple to make and to customize, and is delicious. Mix 2/3 cup evaporated milk and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a big saucepan, add a large pinch of salt, and bring to a boil, stirring. Turn down heat and simmer another 5 min, then remove from heat. Immediately stir in a 12-oz bag of chocolate chips until all melted, then any mix-ins you want -- extracts, nuts, marshmallows, dried fruit, peanut butter, whatever. Spread in a greased 8x8 pan (9x13 for a double batch), let cool, and enjoy!

I love this made with dark chocolate chips and orange extract, and it's great with mint or with raspberries. I can't tell you how well it keeps, though, because it has vanished quickly every time I've made it.

In Scotland fudge is harder and a bit grainy its called 'tablet' delicious. Butter, sugar and condensed milk so its full of healthy goodness.

Fudge was our go-to vacation treat. Disney world, camping, you name it theres always a fudge shop and I remember so well my mom slicing us off hunks with the little plastic knife they'd always give you.

We only ever made it a handful of times but my mom to this day swears by marshmallow creme fudge and it's never let me down. Just get a jar of marshmallow creme and follow the recipe on the side. Change it up how you like for flavor. And in my experience, fudge will last practically forever in the fridge but doesn't make it that long when people are around!

Well, I'm a few days late to the fudge party. But in my family we always made it with sweetened condensed milk & bittersweet choc chips. Lazy? Maybe, but it's delicious and completely foolproof.