Easy Dairy-Free and Vegan Fudge Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is dairy free fudge made of? ›

Easy fudge recipe without condensed milk

Instead of condensed milk, my recipe relies upon a concoction of cashew butter (I like to use Artisana in this recipe), coconut oil, arrowroot, maple syrup, and coconut sugar.

You have to control two temperatures to make successful fudge: the cooking temperature AND the temperature at which the mixture cools before stirring to make it crystallize. Confectionery experiments have shown that the ideal cooking temperature for fudge is around 114 to 115 °C (237 to 239 °F).

The main reason is that your Fudge has not reached the optimum temperature. If your mixture only reaches 110 or 112 degrees Celsius it will always be soft. That's why we recommend investing in a sugar thermometer. Another reason your Fudge is not setting is that the ratio of liquid to sugar is too high.

Evaporated milk is milk that has been cooked to reduce its water content. It is more stable than regular milk and it can be cooked at high temperatures without curdling, a real benefit to fudge.

Ryba's Vegan Chocolate Mackinac Island Fudge is a blend of two kinds of cocoa, powdered sugar, pure Michigan maple syrup, pure cane syrup, coconut oil, and cocoa butter, ensuring each bite is a taste of perfection.

This delicious fudge recipe is easy to make in the microwave with just 3 ingredients: chocolate chips, condensed milk, and butter. Add nuts, mini marshmallows, or candy before chilling to make this treat even more decadent, or try peanut butter chips instead of semisweet chocolate chips to make peanut butter fudge.

Grainy Fudge

To avoid this issue, swirl the pan instead of stirring it with a spoon. You can use a wet pastry brush to wipe down any sugar that sticks to the sides of the pot.

It's the size of sugar crystals that makes the knees of fudge lovers buckle…the smaller the crystals, the less they are perceived on the tongue and the more the fudge tastes smooth and creamy. Cooking, and beating after cooking, is the key to successful fudge.

Homemade Fudge Doesn't Always Set

If your fudge doesn't firm up after a few hours, you either have too high an amount of liquid to sugar, or your mixture hasn't reached the soft-ball stage. Using a candy thermometer can help home cooks avoid this problem.

How to make fudge thicker? ›

How can you fix soft fudge? Put it in a microwave safe bowl that is large enough that it won't boil over. Reheat it to the boiling point and cook for about 3 more minutes. Then you can beat some powdered sugar into it if this doesn't make it set.

Options for what you can do with your unset fudge:

OPTION 1) Depending on how runny it is, you can either use it as a frosting for cakes, or a sauce for ice-cream. OPTION 2) Freeze it overnight. Cut it into squares. Cover each square thickly in melted chocolate, ensuring no part of the fudge is exposed.

Regular Non-Dairy Milk (almond, oat, etc)

How to Substitute: Just as you do with regular fresh milk, cook the dairy-free milk on the stovetop until it has reduced by about 60%. To make the equivalent of a 12 ounce can of evaporated milk, simmer a quart of non-dairy milk or 32 ounces, until it reduces to about 12..

These items are essentially the same with one big difference: no sugar is added to evaporated milk. Sweetened condensed milk also has 60% of the water removed, but contains 40% sugar. Due to the big flavor difference, they cannot be substituted for each other.

Ingredients for Easy Fudge Recipe

Heavy Cream – Heavy Cream is preferred for this easy fudge recipe, but if you're all out, you can substitute regular milk instead. Just reduce the amount to only 2 tbsp of milk because of how much thinner it is compared to heavy cream.

Most dark chocolates, especially those with a high cocoa percentage (usually above 70%), are naturally dairy-free as they typically contain cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar, and sometimes vanilla and soy lecithin, but no milk or milk derivatives.

Dairy-less frozen desserts replace milk and cream with alternatives like coconut, soy, oat, cashew, or almond milk. Many other ingredients remain the same between the dairy and dairy-free versions. And, just like dairy ice cream, non-dairy ice cream can vary widely in terms of sugar, fat, and calorie content.

The regular Fudge Brownie Mix in a Pouch and the Delights Supreme Fudge Brownie mix do contain milk. All of the bar mixes, kits, milk chocolate, and salted caramel varieties of Betty Crocker Brownie and Bar Mixes also contain dairy. The other varieties of brownie cups mixes all contain milk.

Ingredients: nonfat milk, maltodextrin, sorbitol, polydextrose, cocoa processed with alkali, whey, palm oil, less than 1% of: tricalcium phosphate, cellulose gel, mono and diglycerides, cellulose gum, malted barley extract, salt, guar gum, aspartame*, polysorbate 80, acesulfame potassium, polysorbate 65, citric acid, ...