Gingerbread Fudge

This gingerbread fudge uses a reliable candy-thermometer method for ultra-smooth, old-fashioned texture, balancing rich molasses with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. Cook to 240°F (soft-ball), whisk in butter, vanilla, and spices, then chill for neat squares with true gingerbread flavor.

• Full of Christmas flavor – This robust spice blend is most popular in gingerbread cookie, gingerbread cake and gingerbread men, but really the flavors can be incorporated into anything. Like homemade fudge!
• Great for adding to cookie trays – Perfect for filling cookie trays and bringing to holiday potlucks, you are going to devour this easy gingerbread fudge and people will beg for the recipe.
• Classic texture – If you’re looking for that true fudge texture, we’re making fudge the old fashioned way with this recipe! Candy thermometer and all.

Traditional Fudge Making

Fudge is basically melted sugar, but the sugar needs something to dissolve into, you use light corn syrup, also a variation of sugar, and cream. The sugar melts and comes to the soft ball stage of candy making.

Slowly, the sugar dissolves and starts to lose the grainy texture and become smooth. While this all sounds simple, it is actually quite challenging.

For the best results, don’t rely on timing or your eyes, get a candy thermometer. Don’t stir during this time, it can separate and ruin the batch.

PRO TIP: Placing the bowl to cool on a cooling rack allows air to circulate around the whole bowl, helping the process happen faster and more even.

Next, you’ll want to remove from heat to stir in the spices, vanilla and butter. Let it cool before pouring into a pan. It’s HOT, so be careful!

Keep in mind that traditional fudge doesn’t actually have chocolate in it. You could use white chocolate chips, milk or dark chocolate, or even semi sweet chocolate chips or peanut butter chips, but it isn’t required and I don’t use it in my Gingerbread Fudge.

Recipe Essentials

With just a handful of ingredients, you’ll have everything you need for making this delicious gingerbread fudge. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.

• Heavy cream – Despite being used interchangeably quite often, there is a difference. Heavy cream has more milk fat than whipping cream. Heavy cream is better for stabilized homemade whipped cream and thickening sauces because it has a higher milk fat and thicker texture, but only slightly.
• Molasses – This is going to provide structure and also give you that true gingerbread flavor.

Variations

There are plenty of ways to make this gingerbread fudge recipe your own. Here are a few suggestions.

• Spices – Feel free to play around with the amounts and types of spices. Add more or less ginger or cinnamon to get different flavors.
• Pan size – You can choose the pan by how thick you like your fudge. The smaller the pan, the thicker the fudge and vice versa.
• Add ins – You might want to consider adding things like white chocolate chips or even chopped nuts to your fudge.

Test Kitchen Notes

I’ve tested this gingerbread fudge recipe so that you don’t have to! Here are some notes to take into consideration.

• Thermometer accuracy: Before beginning, check the accuracy of your thermometer. Test in boiling water (should read ~212°F); recalibrate if needed.
• Slice clean: To ensure clean cuts, warm a sharp knife, wipe between cuts; keep fudge cold while slicing.
• Flavor balance: Molasses has a bold flavor- the spices and vanilla help to add warmth to round things out. You can also add a pinch of salt to enhance the finish.

More Fun Christmas Recipes

Christmas treats are always the best! If you’re looking for some info, here are some of our favorites.

Recipes

Christmas Blondies

4.84 from 6 votes

Candy

Christmas Crack Candy

4.35 from 32 votes

Cookies

Chocolate Covered Sugar Wafers

4.63 from 8 votes

Gingerbread Fudge Recipe

4.70 from 10 votes

Make creamy gingerbread fudge with real molasses and warm spices- no thermometer needed. Clean-cut squares and storage tips.

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Cooling Time: 10 hours hrs

Total Time: 10 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Servings: 64 1-inch squares

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved! Rate this Recipe

Equipment

• Plastic Airtight Containers
• Heat Resistant Rubber Spatula
• 8×8 Baking Dish
• Offset Spatula
• Wire Cooling Rack
• Whisk
• Parchment Paper

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter , plus more for greasing the pan
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• ½ cup molasses
• ¼ cup dark corn syrup
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• Using a cold stick of butter, grease a large piece of parchment paper and then line an 8×8 square baking pan. Set aside.
• Place the 1 tablespoon unsalted butter in a large glass or metal mixing bowl. Set that mixing bowl on a cooling rack. The mixture will be super hot and you won’t want to touch the moping bowl after you transfer the mixture. The cooling rack allows air to circulate all the way around the bowl, cooling faster.
• In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the 2 1/2 cups sugar, 1 ½ cups heavy cream, ½ cup molasses, ¼ cup dark corn syrup and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt into a medium heavy saucepan. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved, making sure the liquid stays at a mild simmer.
• Increase to medium heat, bringing to a low boil. Do not stir or mix any longer. Attach a candy thermometer and continue to cook without stirring. Allow the candy thermometer to come to 240°F (soft ball stage) and continue to cook for 1 minute. This can take 10-15 minutes, so be patient. Also watch carefully because diary and sugar can overflow fast AND will burn the skin.
• In a small bowl, mix the 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon allspice, ½ teaspoon ground cloves and ½ teaspoon nutmegSet aside.
• Carefully pour the hot candy mixture into the prepared mixing bowl with the butter. Do not scrape the bottom of the pan in case any of the sugar scaled to the bottom.
• Whisk the butter, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract and spice mix into the mixture. It will be bubbly and hot. Be careful!
• Allow to cool at room temperature for 30-40 minutes before mixing well and then transferring to the prepared and lined square dish.
• Use a small offset spatula to quickly spread fudge to sides of pan and smooth top. Allow to further cool before covering and chilling in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. If you want to ass embellishments or sprinkles, do it now while fudge is still tacky.
• Lift the parchment out of the square dish and cut into 1-inch pieces.
• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
• If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.

Notes

Storage: You can leave your fudge out at room temperature or in the fridge in an airtight container. However, fudge does not need to be stored in the refrigerator, in fact, cold air can actually dry the fudge out. Keep in an airtight container for up to 14 days.

Freezing: This gingerbread fudge recipe can also be frozen to enjoy long after after the holiday party! When freezing homemade fudge, I like to double wrap it in freezer safe packaging to prevent freezer burn. 

I prefer to freeze fudge in a large block, rather than pre-cutting it. I feel this protects the inside better and ensures the freshest taste possible. 

Be sure to enjoy the fudge within two months. To thaw, bring it out to room temperature about 24 hours before you want to enjoy it. Store in an airtight container for freshness. 

Nutrition

Calories: 63 kcal, Carbohydrates: 11 g, Protein: 1 g, Fat: 2 g, Saturated Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 8 mg, Sodium: 24 mg, Potassium: 43 mg, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 11 g, Vitamin A: 87 IU, Vitamin C: 1 mg, Calcium: 10 mg, Iron: 1 mg

Calories: 63

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gingerbread fudge, old fashioned fudge

Did you make this recipe?I’d love to see your recipes – snap a picture and mention @savoryexperiments or tag #savoryexperiments!