In the regards to turning off the heat when adding the cream and chocolate, don't. Just turn it down on low and have someone else stir. This makes the fudge come out best from experience.

I know this fudge and I make it all the time. It is very very good. You all should try it.

I was wondering if you could perhaps reduce the amount of white sugar that is used in this recipe by half?

Instead of the nuts, add crushed potato chips, its a wonderful change to nuts.

I'd like a walnut/pecan mix in mine please!

Does this work without nuts? I've been looking for a good fudge recipe without nuts, but many say the nuts are essential for the textures/tastes to work. Any ideas? Thanks!

I have this recipe too and make it every year. It's yummy!
ANd yes, extra walnuts please!

Just wondering though, my MIL makes fudge and sends to us every Christmas. And it's definitely not fantasy fudge. It tastes like it has alcohol in it. Do you think thats from the vanilla? Anyways it tastes bad. I usually end up throwing it out.

Could this be done without the nuts. (My husband and I dislike nuts in our baked goods. I know, it's strange.) I'd love to make some, but I want to make sure the nuts are optional.

I've just one word...

Ahhhhh.........fudge.

Wait; that's two. Never mind.

Yum!

We never had many holiday traditions, so I create my own. My first try at homemade fudge (from the same recipe on the jar!) came out like frosting - didn't boil it long enough - but tasted great. Grandma loved it. She hadn't made fudge in years. It turned out fine the next time. I'm going to try to make gingerbread this weekend but the fudge will be my backup plan. Merry Christmas, everyone!

This is our family's fudge too, but I have to warn you, Elise, that plain marshmallows don't work as well. We've tried it and the fudge takes on an odd texture, as opposed to the smooth and creamy texture that it normally has. My theory is that the marshmallows are coated with something to make them less sticky when they're packaged. I really don't know for sure.

Oh and I should tell you and everyone that this fudge is pretty successful if you leave out the nuts too...this is a must for me, because I'm deathly allergic to walnuts. My dad actually got to prefer it with no nuts!

Sounds good to me!

I've made this fudge for years. With or without nuts it's great. The way my husband likes it best is out of the freezer. After cutting in squares it freezes well and will last for several weeks.

I made this fudge for my work Xmas party this year and it was FANTASTIC. I think it was esp. good because the grocery store was out of marshmellow cream, so I picked up some Hershey's Marshmellow ice cream topping. It is creamier and more liquid-y than the usual marshmellow cream. I was worried the fudge wouldn't set up but it turned out to be the best fudge any of us had ever had. :-) People asked if it was an old family recipe. I said, yes...just not from my own family!

I grew up making this fudge too! I still think its the best and easiest out there - I've never had it go wrong. I always make mine without nuts, and it comes out great. This year I made pralines instead - way more high stress! You can do this fudge in the microwave as well - they used to put the directions that way on the label. :)

Btw Elise, I love you site. I was just hopping on to get a recipe for dinner tonight! Great job! I also love hearing your comments about your family - you all sound like a fun group. :)

I was inspired to try this today as I was creating holiday tins for my husband's office party tomorrow. I only had mini-marshmallows, but it worked great. I did turn off the heat but kept the pan on the burner, to get chocolate and marshmallow mixture melted quickly. Thanks for posting this easy and delicious recipe.

I have been having the taste for fudge for the pass month. Must be the season! Must try this one.
Thank you!
Donna A.

My MIL uses this same fudge recipe as well and it's soooo good! She makes a version with nuts and a version without nuts, for the non-nut eaters.
It is a holiday tradition!

My family uses this same recipe with a minor variation. For the chocolate we add a 12 oz. Hershey's bar (with or without almonds) or a Symphony milk chocolate bar to 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips. It's outstanding! Can be made with or without nuts.

This is the "old family recipe" that I have used for years. In addition to being wonderful with or without nuts, I also change the flavor of the chips. Peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips - they all work excellently well. Merry Christmas

Why didn't mine turn out? Its grainy and oily!!

Any suggestions??

Thanks!

Try this one with REESES Peanut Butter Chips instead of Chocolate Chips.....YUMMY!!!!! Better than the chocolate. And to those who don't like the nuts you CAN make it without the nuts. I have also used the butterscotch chips, but the Peanut Butter is my favorite!!!

Sandy, you probably just didn't cook it long enough. That is usually the problem when candy doesn't come out right -- any candy. I have people tell me all the time that they can't make divinity, it turns into soup. I have never had a problem, no matter what the weather. I once had my Mixmaster burn out right in the middle of pouring the hot syrup into the eggs whites. Yikes! I thought it would turn to soup. I tried to mix it by hand but I got very tired and cramped up. The divinity came out great anyway! Try cooking it a little longer and make sure you mix it thoroughly.

Does it work without marshmallow cream and what can I add instead of ? I didn't find it in the area where I live.

I have been making this fudge for years; I halve the white suagr and add no nuts, and it is the richest, best chocolate fudge I have produced. Every year people ask me for tins of this :) I halve the sugar to bring out that rich chocolate flavor rather than having it taste more sugar-y like most fudge. For those who like the chocolate richness more than the sugar sweetness, give it a try! Chocolate lovers definitely will love it!

Instead of nuts...
Made batches of this every Saturday morning Feb-May 1967 for jr. high club bake sale. Occasionally put in coconut instead of nuts-we
used pecans back then. I prefer the nuts but recall we had several regulars who pined for the coconut. Add very gradually and stir like mad. You might want to make just a portion with coconut and see how you like it.

This can be made with or without nuts. We make many different kinds with pecans, peanuts, mint chips, cracked peppermint stars, toasted coconut, jimmies, and the list goes on.

WAY too sweet- as other people have asked, do you think its a good idea to cut the sugar? Or maybe use bitter chocolate? And man is that hard work! I have never made fudge before and never will again, thanks! I will leave it to the pros. It doesn't look like fudge yet, I doubt it will. Its sitting on my counter cooling and so far looks like burnt chocolate, or chocolate you are trying to melt in a double boiler and water gets in on accident. I have a back-up dessert to bring to the boyfriend's family house tomorrow, I may have to use that.

I am pretty new to making candy. Probably this is somewhat easier for more experienced cooks.

I made this a few weeks ago,and froze it.I was reading all the comments and had to go to the freezer and have a couple of pieces,delicious.I always make it at the holidays..I think its a good recipe...

I made this fudge for my christmas cookie tray and everyone loved it. It's the first and only time I've ever made fudge. It was very nice and creamy and smooth. Yummm. Thanks so much for the recipe. :)

My mom use to make this fudge and now I do too. I think it is the easiest and tastiest. You could also add maple flavoring instead of vanilla and it's yummy. Or after it comes off the stove, add the nuts and some mini marshmallows....voila! Rocky road!

This was my first attempt at fudge. I used 2 cups of sugar instead of 3, and the chocolate flavor really came to the fore. I think next time I will use 2&1/4 cups of sugar.

I used Bakers Chocolate (semi-sweet).

I set the burner to medium, but I couldn't get the temp on my candy thermometer to climb past about 225 degrees F. I turned up the burner a bit and the temp and boil increased, but never reached 234. I noticed a bit of brown in the mix and immediately cut the burner to low and added the rest of the ingredients. Perhaps my inexpensive thermometer was a bit off.

The texture of the fudge was perfect, so I am very pleased with my first effort.

I am anxious to try some other flavors.

Thanks for the recipe.

Hey!
Who said this recipe can't be for moms either?
I made this recipe as a surprise for my parent's anniversary and they absolutely loved it! I will definitely make it at least once more!
Thanks a lot!
~Cassandra
Age: 12

Help!!

Marshmallow cream is impossible to find, where I live, yet I would love to try this. I notice someone has mentioned it isn't likely to work without; any suggestions for a substitute?

I don't have a candy thermometer either ;0(

The closest I have been able to find to marshmallow cream in Oz, is a product called Fluff in the imported foods section.

Im sure it may be substituted for normal marshmallows, but I have no idea to what quantity or how it needs to be prepared.

Would love some hints. Cheers

I make fudge for a living. I always use 2 cups of sugar, 3 makes it to sweet when you're adding marshmallow, and the flavored chips. Fluff is better I find than the mini Marshmallows, sometimes if you're lucky you can find them in small plastic tubs and then it's all measured out for you. I have never used a candy thermometer and my fudge has always come out premo. What I do is what my ingredients until I see a slight bubbling start, I then set my timer to 5 minutes and stir the whole 5 minutes, remove off burner add other ingredients, set in buttered pans WahLah!
Feel free to e mail me with any questions in fudge making it's my passion, I make 100's of pounds at christmas and I make a lot during summer months for those who just gotta have fudge!

RVQueen57 AT hotmail DOT com

Yes! I too would like some help in finding a simple marshmallow cream substitute, or a fudge recipe that doesn't call for marshmallow cream at all, as it's not (readily) available in Australia.

Any hints?

I don't recall ever making any chocolate fudges, though I did make an ultra simple 2-ingredient peanut butter fudge many years ago.

I was reading all your posts and noticed several of you asking for substitutes for marshmallow creme/cream. I did a Google search for you and found the following website with info about the product. You can find substitutions toward the end of the article.

http://www.recipezaar.com/library/getentry.zsp?id=358

I've made this fudge like a million times and tried many variations. My favorite is using white chocolate chips instead of the chocolate and adding crushed oreos instead of the nuts. It's awesome.

This may seem odd, but i live in Argentina, and i cannot find marshmallows or marshmallow cream here. Is there an alternate ingredient?

Note from Elise: actually this recipe for fudge requires marshmallow. A more traditional, and more difficult, method of making fudge does not require marshmallow, but you'll have to find a different recipe online for it. I don't have it.

I love this recipe! My favorite thing is to substitute raisins for nuts. I sometimes also add a few drops of rum extract for a Rum Raisin Fudge. Last year I tried cranberries instead of nuts or raisins and everyone thought it was great. I've also tried it with peppermint extract (no nuts) and that was good too. I'm planning to try it with some mixed dried fruits (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cherries) this year. I always make several batches for the holidays, so it's fun to try it different ways, and gives you an excuse to eat more than one piece 'cause you have to try each variety!

I've been using this recipe for years and I think it's the best there is. You can lessen the sugar by using 1 1/2 cups and 1/2 stick of butter. I use a 12 ounce bag of Nestle chocolate pieces and add more vanilla than what's called for. We don't particularly care for nuts in fudge so we eliminate it and it's just as good. The most important rule in making fudge is NEVER make it when it's raining as it will turn out grainy. My daughter and I are peanut butter fudge fans and you can use this same recipe by substituting the chocolate pieces with 1 cup of peanut butter (smooth or nutty) for excellent peanut butter fudge.

In response to the question about leaving out the nuts, nuts are not necessary in this. Most of my kids do not like nuts in things and I have been making this fudge for them for years without the nuts. It works just fine.

Be sure to use the original recipe given by Elise and not the recipe that is on the Kraft Marshmallow Jar - apparently Kraft changed the original recipe (added evaporated milk)...some people claim the fudge doesn't taste as good. Merry Christmas everyone!!

I have many kinds of fudge over the years, first of all fudge is meant to be very sweet, the main component is sugar, and if you decide to use the mini-marshmallows you have to remember that they are coated with corn starch.
Also I have made brown sugar fudge (from scratch) all you do is use butterscotch chipits & brown sugar in some of these, add maple extract & walnuts or pecans, it is excellent, also made it with out any nuts if you are in doubt of some one with allergies
I have used Kraft mallow creme, also no-name mallow creme that seems to be the only ones I have ever seen here in the prairie provinces of Canada

Hello everyone! I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how many cups of chocolate chips are in a pound? I used two cups, but am not sure if that's quite right; I found a plethora of answers on the internet. Thank you!

For those like me who either prefer fudge without marshmallows or fluff, or who have no access to them, there are many very tasty sounding recipes that do not call for either. However, it means having to pay more attention to the recipe and temperature to which it must cook. I personally do not care for what I feel is excessive sweetness of the marshmallow type fudges.

Hello to Whitney in Argentina (I think it was Whitney). I visited Argentina this past summer (winter there) with a choir that I belong to. I really enjoyed the towns we visited and the people there.

Cyndi

Have made this fudge for years. I sometimes substitute a cup of peanut butter (with or without nuts) for the chocolate chips to make peanut butter fudge. Everyone asks me for the recipe. I usually make a batch for Christmas with and without nuts (kids don't like them).
Also great Valentine's present - guys love the PB variety.