Easy chocolate Fudge recipe without condensed milk

Adapted from Sally McKenney | Sally’s Candy Addiction | Race Point Publishing, 2015

Dear readers, here’s a “no-fail” easy chocolate fudge recipe for your Christmas noshing and gifting pleasure. No lie. As the author explains, “The sweetened condensed milk gives the chocolate fudge a smooth texture, which eliminates the need for the long period of beating required by more traditional fudge recipes. While certainly not your grandma’s classic chocolate fudge, this is a recipe to keep on hand when you want something simple.” Consider it our gift to you. Merry Christmas.–Renee Schettler Rossi

LC Grandma’s Shortcut Chocolate Fudge Recipe Note

We have only one quibble with this crazy easy chocolate fudge recipe. Although the author mentions in the cookbook that this is “certainly not your grandma’s classic chocolate fudge, ” we find that to be not exactly true. The author, of course, who couldn’t be lovelier or more creative (have you tried her chocolate-dipped potato chips?!), is referring to the classic turn-of-the-20th-century fudge that needed to be beaten within an inch of its life. This recipe is not that. But this recipe is the very same easy chocolate fudge recipe making the rounds in spiral-bound church cookbooks in the Midwest and, we suspect, elsewhere for literally decades. It’s the fudge that our editor in chief recalls from childhood and the one that the grandma in her family still makes. Whether the recipe has remained in circulation so long because it’s so darn good or because it’s so shamefully easy to make isn’t clear. We suspect it’s probably due to both.

• Quick Glance
• 15 M
• 4 H, 15 M
• Makes 64 one-inch squares

Ingredients

• One 14-ounce (396 grams) can full-fat sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups (546 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (117 grams) coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted if desired

Directions

• 1. Line an 8-inch (20-centimeter) square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving ample overhang on all sides.
• 2. Combine the condensed milk and chocolate chips in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon as the chocolate chips melt. Once the mixture is smooth and the chocolate chips have melted, remove pan from the heat. The mixture will be extremely thick at this point. Stir in the vanilla extract and walnuts until combined. Pour the thick mixture into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
• 3. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until set, 2 to 4 hours. (Alternatively, you can let the covered fudge sit at room temperature overnight to set.)
• 4. Once the fudge has set, remove it from the pan by lifting out the aluminum foil using the overhang on the sides of the pan. Invert the slab of fudge onto a cutting board, peel away the foil, and flip the fudge back over. Using a large sharp knife, slice the fudge into 1-inch (2 1/2-centimeter) squares. If the fudge has been in the refrigerator for longer than 4 hours, it might be quite stiff, so allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes or so before cutting. It goes without saying that this makes a spectacular gift for any occasion.