Peppermint Fudge Recipe (simple and easy)

This Peppermint Fudge Recipe is a simple and easy fudge that doesn’t need a candy thermometer, just sweetened condensed milk. Perfect for the holidays or as a gift, this no-bake dessert is always a crowd pleaser!

Perfect for any holiday cookie tray, and so easy to make!  We love no-bake holiday sweets like my Sugar Cookie Truffles and Crockpot Candy and this is one of my Desserts you’ll definitely want in your holiday rotation!

Peppermint fudge recipe

**sleigh bells** Can you hear that?  Santa is gearing up folks, we’re in the home stretch!

Holiday baking is in full swing, and I don’t know about you, but I could use some more no bake treats.  My oven has been working overtime and no bake desserts are generally quicker and easier.

And this year, I’m all about the easy treats.  It’s been a rough year for all of us, so why not take it easy on yourself?

Usually, fudge recipes require a mixture to be brought to a specific temperature, then beaten until it loses its gloss.

It’s not particularly complicated, but you will need a candy thermometer, and some time.  And you know what, I don’t even own a candy thermometer, and I’m betting a lot of you don’t either.

So that’s the motivation behind this easy fudge recipe.  Make it easy, make it accessible, and make it with simple ingredients.  Check, check, and check!

How to make easy homemade fudge

1. Prepare pan.  Line an 8×8″ baking pan with parchment paper and set aside until needed.
2. Melt chocolates.  Melt both the dark and white chocolate, in whichever way you prefer.
3. Stir in condensed milk.  Pour half the sweetened condensed milk into the dark chocolate, and the other half of the condensed milk into the white chocolate.  Stir well to combine.
4. Heat again.  Microwave the chocolates for 15 seconds, and stir.  Continue this process until chocolate and condensed milk are completely smooth and melted together.
5. Stir in extracts.  Stir peppermint into dark chocolate and vanilla into white chocolate.
6. Add dark chocolate to pan.  Pour dark chocolate mixture into prepared pan, spreading into an even layer.
7. Let sit.  Let the chocolate sit for about 3-5 minutes.
8. Add white chocolate.  Pour white chocolate mixture on top of dark chocolate, spreading into an even layer.
9. Add peppermints and chill.  Sprinkle white chocolate layer with crushed peppermints and add pan of fudge to refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
10. Slice and serve. 

Additional cooking tips

• SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK – if there’s one ingredient you really don’t want to omit or substitute, it’s the sweetened condensed milk.  It’s what gives this fudge a great texture and creaminess.  Just be sure you’re buying sweetened condensed milk, and not evaporated milk!  They may be sold close to each other in the grocery store, but they’re not the same thing and won’t work the same in baking recipes.
• PARCHMENT PAPER – whenever I’m making fudge, or any kind of bars, I like to line my baking pan with parchment paper, with long enough ends that some overhangs, or at least comes up an inch or more up from the fudge.  This is so I can grab those sides and easily lift the fudge right out of the pan, without having to try and use a spatula to mangle get out a square.

Tips for melting chocolate

• Double Boiler Method – this is my preferred method for melted chocolate.  A double boiler is an actual type of pot, but most people don’t have one on hand, so I make my own makeshift one.  It’s easy, I promise!  Add a bit of water to a sauce pan and place a heat-resistant bowl on top (I use a glass bowl) so it just rests on the sides of the pan, but doesn’t touch the water.  Heat the water on LOW heat and add chocolate to the bowl on top.  Stir often and you’ll see the chocolate start to melt.  Keep stirring, and once you see just tiny lumps of chocolate, remove the bowl from the top of the pan.  Stir, and the residual heat will melt those last little lumps and you’ll have perfect melted chocolate.
• Don’t cook on full power – if you choose to microwave your chocolate, set your microwave to half power (or medium).  This lessens the chance of the chocolate heating too quickly and “seizing”.
• Heat slowly – melt the chocolate in 20-30 second intervals for the first minute, then in 15 second intervals after that, stirring after each cooking interval.  It takes longer, but trust me, it’s worth it.
• Add a bit of oil – one of my favorite tricks is to add a little bit (about a tablespoon or so) of vegetable oil to the chocolate before melting.  I don’t think I’ve ever had seized or scorched chocolate when following the microwave tips and this one!

Have you ever been melting chocolate (especially white chocolate) and had it go from luxuriously smooth and silky, to a thick, grainy paste?  It’s the bane of every baker’s existence!

Chocolate will do that for one of two reasons.  First, a bit of water got into your chocolate.  Water is the enemy of melted chocolate and will turn all it into a gluey paste, very quickly.

Secondly, it can be overheated and scorched.  This often happens when chocolate is cooked at too high of a temperature, and/or for too long.

Variations of this recipe

• TYPES OF CHOCOLATE – if you’re not a huge fan of dark chocolate, semi-sweet would be a good substitute.  I think milk chocolate might make this fudge overly sweet, but if you prefer it, it’s your fudge 🙂
• ALL DARK CHOCOLATE – I love the layered look of this fudge, but if you prefer, you can use all dark chocolate for a richer taste.
• ALL WHITE CHOCOLATE – subsequently, you could also use all white chocolate.
• DOUBLED – this recipe is very easily doubled, just use a 9×13″ pan.
• NO EXTRACTS – the core of this recipe is just 4 ingredients; dark chocolate, white chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and crushed peppermints.  If you don’t have vanilla/peppermint extracts on hand, you can omit them.
• OTHER TOPPINGS – in addition to the crushed peppermint, a drizzle of additional melted dark chocolate would be delicious, as would a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips or chocolate sprinkles.

Making peppermint fudge ahead of time

At its core, homemade fudge is a dessert that NEEDS to be made ahead of time.

The fudge needs time to set up, which will take about 2 hours.  That makes this a great holiday dessert since you can make it from a few hours, up to several weeks ahead of time!

Storage

Fudge should be refrigerated in an airtight container for about 3 weeks.  It can also be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for about 1 week.

Freezing

For longer storage, fudge can be frozen for up to 3 months.  I prefer to wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap, then add the pieces to an airtight freezer container.

Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before consuming.

Shop the recipe

• 8×8 baking pan – I use this exact pan for nearly all my fudge-making, and so many other baking recipes.
• Offset spatula – this handy tool makes it easy to spread the fudge into an even layer.

Be sure to scroll down to check out other readers’ comments for tips and reviews.

And don’t forget, if you’ve made this recipe, leave a comment and please consider giving it a star rating letting me know how you enjoyed it 🙂

Any nutritional information shared is an estimate, and is automatically calculated through a program.  If calorie count is important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer.  Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

 

The Chunky Chef is not a nutritionist and doesn’t provide full nutritional information for recipes as she wouldn’t want to potentially and unknowingly pass along incorrect information.

If changing the recipe serving quantity, the recipe plugin will change the ingredient values for you, but it does NOT change the written instructions, those are manually added and not subject to a slider. You will have to extrapolate that multiplication to any amounts listed in the instructions.
For example: if an ingredient calls for 4 cups, and you doubled the recipe, it will automatically change to 8 cups. In the instructions, if I say “use 4 cups of cheese”, you will have to realize that since you doubled it, you use 8 cups, not 4.