This creamy sea salt caramel chocolate fudge is the best easy no bake dessert for holiday parties! Easily make a large batch for serving a crowd at Thanksgiving or Christmas with this recipe.
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Do you want a recipe for the most delicious, decadent dessert that takes less than 10 minutes of effort AND no baking? Then you’re in the right place! We’re sharing the easiest recipe for no bake chocolate sea salt caramel fudge that looks just as incredible as it tastes. It’s the perfect easy dessert for serving a crowd on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
What makes this sea salt caramel chocolate fudge one of the best no bake holiday desserts?
- You can quickly prepare it in the morning before you begin any other cooking and let it set during the day.
- This recipe makes about two and a half pounds of fudge – plenty for feeding a crowd!
- Made with milk chocolate chips, condensed milk, and store-bought caramel dip, this is the simplest recipe for the sweetest, creamiest homemade chocolate fudge you’ll ever eat.
Topped with a decadent layer of sea salt caramel, this chocolate fudge is the perfect blend of sweet and salty. It’s also melt-in-your-mouth creamy, as any good fudge should be. It’s truly the perfect no-fail dessert recipe you can be confident your guests will love – and be asking for long after the holidays are over!
Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Fudge Ingredients
Our sea salt caramel chocolate fudge is simply homemade chocolate fudge topped with a layer of caramel and sprinkled with sea salt. This recipe is easy to make using a few store-bought ingredients:
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Milk chocolate chips
- Vanilla extract
- Old fashioned caramel dip
- Sea salt (fine and coarse)
We recommend using condensed milk for homemade fudge rather than evaporated milk. Although they are similar, fudge is definitely better with condensed milk because it’s sweetened, where evaporated milk is not. Not only does this impact the flavor of the fudge, but also the texture! Since condensed milk is sweetened with sugar, it’s much thicker than evaporated milk – which gives this homemade fudge an extra creamy texture.
You can typically buy condensed milk in 14 ounce cans. This amount works perfectly with one large 24 ounce bag of chocolate chips, or two standard 12 ounce bags. However, you can easily scale this recipe to make more or less fudge depending on the size of the crowd you’re feeding! There are plenty of delicious ways to use leftover condensed milk if you don’t want to make a full batch.
How To Make Chocolate Fudge With Sea Salt Caramel
So how do you make chocolate fudge? Making your own fudge at home might seem intimidating, but it’s actually quite easy. Here’s how to do it:
- Grab a rubber spatula – this tool is essential for making homemade fudge! You’ll use it to scrape, stir, and smooth throughout the fudge-making process.
- Pour the condensed milk into a saucepan and let it warm up over medium heat. Use the rubber spatula to help scrape it out of the can!
- While the condensed milk heats up, lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round pan. We like to use a springform pan for easily releasing the fudge, but you can also use a well-greased cake pan.
- Add the chocolate chips to the warm condensed milk and begin stirring with the rubber spatula. It’ll be difficult at first, but the chocolate chips will start to melt quickly.
- Keep stirring as vigorously as you can to help the chocolate melt and combine with the condensed milk, scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan as you stir. This helps prevent any of the chocolate from sticking and burning, which ensures your fudge will have a smooth and creamy texture.
- Once the chocolate is fully incorporated, remove the pan from heat. Quickly add the vanilla extract and fine sea salt, then stir thoroughly to combine. Again, make sure everything is fully incorporated and the fudge has a smooth consistency.
- Finally, pour the fudge into the prepared pan. Use the rubber spatula to help spread it out, then smooth the top into an even layer.
- Set the chocolate fudge in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before topping.
To top the chocolate fudge with sea salt caramel:
- Spoon the caramel dip on top of the set fudge (leaving it in the pan). Use a rubber spatula to spread it out into an even layer, almost like you’re frosting a cake.
- Sprinkle coarse sea salt evenly over the caramel topping.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 more hours, or overnight. This will help the caramel solidify just enough so that slicing and serving the fudge isn’t too messy!
Tips For Success
The secret to perfect fudge is to move quickly and pay attention! Here are some tips for making sure your chocolate fudge turns out as best as possible:
- Once you add the chocolate chips to the condensed milk, start stirring and scraping as vigorously as you can.
- As soon as the chocolate is fully melted and incorporated, take it off the heat and quickly stir in your flavorings.
- Again, as soon as the extra ingredients are fully incorporated, scrape the fudge into your prepared pan and spread it out into an even layer.
You’ll notice the fudge start to slowly solidify as you remove it from the heat. If you work efficiently, it’ll stay fluid enough to pour into the pan and shape before setting.
Serving & Storing Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Fudge
This chocolate sea salt caramel fudge can be served like a cake for a beautiful dessert presentation on your Thanksgiving table! Carefully remove it from the pan once it sets and smooth out the edges of caramel with a knife.
To slice and serve, let the fudge warm up for at least 5-10 minutes at room temperature. You can also run a knife under hot water to help cut through cold fudge. Since this is a super sweet and decadent dessert, we recommend slicing the fudge into thin wedges for individual servings (definitely smaller than you’d slice pieces of cake). You can also cut out a larger piece, like a quarter of the circle, and then let your guests cut off small bites from there.
Homemade chocolate fudge topped with sea salt caramel will stay best in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, stored in an airtight container. So if you make more than your guests can eat, don’t worry! That just means more for you 🙂
Try the best chocolate sea salt fudge recipe you’ll ever taste below for serving at your next holiday gathering. If you love this decadent fudge, let us know by visiting again to leave a comment and a rating. We love getting your feedback on our recipes and can’t wait to hear what you think!
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Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 24 ounces milk chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup old fashioned caramel dip
- 1 to 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round pan.
- In a medium saucepan, warm the condensed milk over medium heat for a few minutes. Then add the chocolate chips and begin stirring, scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan as the chocolate melts. Continue stirring vigorously until the chocolate chips have melted and are fully incorporated.
- Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the vanilla extract and fine sea salt until fully incorporated. The fudge should have a smooth, creamy consistency at this point.
- Pour the fudge into the prepared pan. Use a rubber spatula to help spread it into an even layer.
- Set the fudge in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. After 1 hour, spoon caramel dip on top of the fudge. Use a rubber spatula to spread it into an even layer, almost like frosting a cake. Then sprinkle evenly with coarse sea salt.
- Set the fudge in the fridge for at least another 2 hours, or overnight. This will help the caramel dip solidify slightly so that the fudge is easier to slice and serve.
- To serve, carefully remove the fudge from the pan and smooth out the caramel around the edges with a knife or rubber spatula. Let it warm up at room temperature for at least 5 to 10 minutes, or run a knife under hot water to slice through the cold fudge.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.
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3 things:
1. New to your site/mailing list. You’ve got soooo many delicious-sounding things I want to make (yay, sweet potatoes) – thank you!
2. You two are absolutely adorable!
3. I can’t wait to make this yummy-looking fudge and will return to comment!
You’re so sweet! We hope you love our recipes and can’t wait to hear what you think!