Dark chocolate Christmas coal fudge as some call it is easy to make! Like our other fun Cookie Mix fudge holiday dessert, kids and adults will love this one too. You can roll into balls to form that classic shape or slice into squares and enjoy just the same.
This dark chocolate coal fudge is so fun during the holidays. You can roll into balls to make it look more authentic or slice into different shapes. Just one quick easy dessert recipe we have on our blog that you’ll love. (affiliate links present)
Coal Fudge Recipe
This dark chocolate dessert is so good. You can call it coal fudge during the holidays and even add crushed candies to the top like our microwave peppermint fudge did. That is right, mashed candy canes add a nice touch to make it pretty but also a tasty twist.
Ingredients
- 5 cups of white granulated sugar
- Sticks of butter
- A can of evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk, that is thicker)
- 1 jar of marshmallow creme
- 2.5 c chocolate chips 1/2 dark , 1/2 semi sweet
- Vanilla extract
Peanut butter chips works too! Decorate with semi sweet on top for your favorite duo. This is perfect for making what looks like coal though…..
How to Make Christmas Fudge
- Prepare a large baking sheet with a piece of parchment or waxed paper on top. In a heavy bottom pan or Dutch oven, cook the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk together, stir constantly.
- Cook until the butter and sugar have completely melted. Continuing to stir, and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Cooking until it reaches the soft ball stage, use a candy thermometer to ensure it comes to between 235 degrees and 245 degrees. This takes approximately 11 minutes from the very start.
- Stir in black gel food coloring if you want it really dark black like coal until you reach your desired shade of black.
- Into the sugar mixture, stir in the marshmallow fluff, morsels, and vanilla extract until everything is completely melted and combined.
- Add additional black gel food coloring if desired. Pour the fudge onto the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly. Allow to cool completely at room temperature.
I made this fudge on a 11×15 baking sheet. A 9×13 baking pan can be used for thicker pieces if you preferred. I wouldn’t use a smaller one as it will be really thick and may not solidify for a while. Lift it off the baking sheet by gripping the sides of the parchment or waxed paper. Cut into squares. Refrigerate the fudge in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper so they don’t stick.
Microwave Directions
You could tweak this with other flavors of chips too. Peanut butter is terrific, or use white with jelly beans for an Easter chocolate fudge in microwave recipe. Just jump to recipe below and see what flavors you love best.
If you want it to be really super dark you can add black food coloring. For a dual flavor, peanut butter chocolate fudge is a good one too. Parchment paper or wax is best for the bottom of your prepared pan.
There are a lot of tweaks you could make to this Christmas coal candy beyond just dark too. Using white chocolate chips and all the same other ingredients works well too. You could make a layer of this with a second layer of our Grandma Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe to make a double duty bite of yum.
That would resemble more of our Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars which I am sure you remember as a child. You can jazz that up with different colored sprinkles on top for the holidays as well.
Fudge Dark Chocolate Fudge without Condensed Milk
You could cut this in half for a smaller batch. Use a 8×8 square pan for that and just half this Christmas fudge recipe. It saves quite well though so even if it is more than you think you could eat, I will show you how to do that below.
You need to heat it long and hot enough for the sugar crystals to dissolve and dark or milk chocolate to melt. Set on high medium heat 5 minutes is typically enough to reach this, starting from a rolling boil.
If you want to make it look like coal for Christmas you want to cool it almost completely but still a bit less, like playdough consistency. Cut a piece, and use your hands to form it into lumps of coal. Just roll into balls with your hands but then press with thumbs so they aren’t perfectly circular to look authentic.
A great dessert to make if you have guests coming over and you want to prep things ahead of time. Make a few other Christmas cookie recipes so you can offer a huge selection on your big day at the end of the year.
Christmas Coal Fudge
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 pan
Ingredients
- 5 c sugar
- 1 c butter
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 13 oz marshmallow creme
- 2.5 c chocolate chips, 1/2 dark , 1/2 semi sweet
- 1 tbsp vanilla
Instructions
- Prepare a large baking sheet with a piece of parchment or waxed paper on top. In a heavy bottom pan or Dutch oven, cook the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk together, stir constantly.
- Cook until the butter and sugar have completely melted. Continuing to stir, and bring the mixture to a boil, cook until it reaches the soft ball stage (between 235 degrees and 245 degrees). This takes approximately 11 minutes.
- Stir in some black gel food coloring (if you want it really dark black like coal) until you reach your desired shade of black. To the sugar mixture, stir in the marshmallow fluff, chocolate morsels, and vanilla extract until the chocolate is completely melted and combined.
- Add additional black gel food coloring if desired. Pour the fudge onto the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly. Allow to cool completely at room temperature.
- Lift the fudge off the baking sheet using the waxed paper. Cut into squares. Refrigerate the fudge in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper so they don't stick.
- Note: I made this fudge on a 11×15 baking sheet. A 9×13 baking pan can be used for thicker pieces.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
