This playful Christmas coal candy turns silky white-chocolate fudge jet-black for a tongue-in-cheek holiday treat that’s rich, creamy, and ridiculously easy. With a gentle, low-heat melt and an overnight chill, you’ll get smooth texture, sharp edges, and that perfect coal look—sprinkles optional.
Why This Coal Candy Works
No thermometer needed – Fudge and candy making are notoriously known for being finicky and difficult. For this one, no candy thermometer is needed and it’s super easy.
White chocolate flavor – With this recipe, you get a deep, creamy white-chocolate flavor in a fun “coal” look.
Make-ahead & giftable – With the clean cuts clean after chilling, this fudge is perfect for making ahead and gifting during the holidays.
What You’ll Need
You only need a handful of easy to find ingredients to make this Christmas coal candy. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Sweetened condensed milk – This easy fudge recipe uses a fudge making hack, sweetened condensed milk, unlike traditional fudge that melts sugar with sugar corn syrup. You don’t have to be as vigilant with the temperature or technique and it has a lot more forgiveness.
- White chocolate chips
- Unsalted butter
- Fine sea salt
- Vanilla extract
- Black food coloring
- Sprinkles
Test Kitchen Notes
I’ve tested this Christmas coal candy in my kitchen so that I can provide you with these helpful tips and tricks.
- Patience > heat: High heat can scorch your fudge or turn it oily or grainy; so patience is key when melting chocolate and making fudge.
- Jet-black finish: Start with a deep gray color, then whisk in tiny dabs of gel until it reaches the desired black color.
- Clean edges: To ensure clean cuts, chill your fudge overnight and use a warm, dry knife and wipe between cuts.
- Altitude: If you’re at a higher altitude, your melt may take longer- keep it low and steady for smoothest results.
- Grainy/oily: This generally means you overheated it. Rewarm gently off heat, then whisk in 1–2 tsp condensed milk or a dab of butter.
- Too soft: You probably just need to chill longer; next batch add a few tablespoons more chips or use a smaller pan.
- Streaky color: This just means you didn’t mix in the coloring enough. Whisk thoroughly off heat.
Perfect Pairings
If adding this christmas coal candy to a cookie tray, consider adding other fun cookies like Melted Snowman Cookies, Cream Wafer Cookies, Pignoli Cookies or Quick Sugar Cookie Fudge.
And if you have someone on your NICE list, consider making them these adorable no Bake Santa Cookies, Meringue Christmas Trees, Christmas Tree Cake Cones or even Homemade Hot Chocolate Bombs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fudge has some water in it and if it goes through extreme temperature changes, it will produce sweat.
Using either or milk or dark chocolate will give you a darker base so presumably you’ll use less black tint. I preferred the white chocolate so I had better control over the color.
The short answer is yes. But no more than anything else with food coloring or a lollipop.
More Easy Fudge Recipes
When Christmas rolls around, fudge is my go to dessert to both make and eat! Here are some of my favorites.
Christmas Coal Candy Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups white chocolate chips
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons gel black food coloring
- Black or silver sprinkles or sanding sugar , optional
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 square baking dish with parchment paper.
- Heat the 3 cups white chocolate chips, 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract in a heavy bottom sauce pan.
- Stir constantly until mixture is smooth, approximately 5-7 minutes. Keep over low heat, the process it slow, but if you turn up the heat you run the risk of scalding the mixture. It WILL melt… slowly. If you are at a high altitude, this may take longer than stated, be patient.
- Remove from heat and whisk in 2 teaspoons gel black food coloring. You may need more or less depending on the brand. See notes.
- Pour into parchment lined dish and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle with black or silver embellishments, if desired. Allow to cool fully before covering and chilling for a minimum of 8 hours.
- Lift parchment out of the pan and cut into 1-inch squares.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings.
Notes
Nutrition
I cannot wait to give this to my teenagers. They will LOVE it and have a good laugh. Thanks for a harmless and delicious Christmas prank. This is going to be the best!
Let us know how it goes!
You can use color gel by Whitley. It only takes a very small amount. Can be found at Walmart or even Michaels.
You can order it off Amazon too.
Where can the black or silver glittery sprinkles be found/purchased?
I got them at Michaels craft store, but you can also buy them on Amazon. Here is the link (affiliate): https://amzn.to/358AJsZ
Looks awesome but if you print the recipe is says you only need 3 ounces of chocolate and not 3 cups. So I made it with 3 oz and of course it did not set. So to repair it I melted the additional chocolate then added the previous mixture to it. Although I had sprinkled black sugar on top so it is not throughout the recipe plus what I added on top with the second try. It is in the fridge and looks better now.
We just noticed this issue and corrected it! So sorry and I hope the second batch turns out better!
Oh my goodness, this is not what I expected- half of 8” pan and really tough. Are you sure that you mean 3 OUNCES of white chocolate? When this failed, I went looking for other fudge recipes with sweetened condensed milk. They pretty much all called for 12 to 14 oz of chocolate or 3 CUPS of chips. Is this recipe right at 3 OUNCES of chocolate? It failed for me 🙁
I’m sorry to hear that Deborah- let me go back and test that out.
Unfortunately I had the same problem as one of the others who commented, my fudge never set up
Hi Chris, it was just one other person. Are you at high altitude as well?
Hi Chris and Marion- this is what I’ve come up with AND updated the recipe for anyone else having the same issue! I’ve made this a number of times and so have others with no issues, so I wonder if it is the brand of condensed milk you are using or if maybe the mixture didn’t come to right temperature, which can take considerably longer at high altitude.
The number one reason fudge doesn’t set is because it wasn’t cooked for long enough or at the right temperature. It must reach the correct temperature for the right amount of time to have water evaporate enough to set the way fudge should.
If you have already put it in the pan and it didn’t set, you can actually transfer it back to a saucepan, add a SMALL amount of water so it doesn’t burn immediately and go through the cooking process again to reach the right temperature for the right amount of time.
DO NOT allow your candy thermometer to touch the bottom of the pan. Then you are getting a reading for the hot metal, not the actual candy mixture.
The second attempt was done with a candy thermometer and I dont let it hit the pan …never., but I did get a sticky licorice texture this go round. The 3rd go round I added 2 c of marshmallows for a thicker mass and it set up so fast I almost didn’t get it in the pan. However I will keep trying out this recipe till it comes out right. (That is when I acquire more white cho.chips) .
Could you please give me the length of time you cooked it for for high altitude ,I wrote the recipe down but I have many foot notes on all of my recipes and all of my other fudge recipes are ancient but all have the mesurements and altitude conversion already in them. Oh by the way merry christmas.??
Hi Marion, thank you for this feedback. It is hard for me to test or write about altitude since I am not above altitude, I can’t test it. I feel terrible this isn’t working for you knowing that it has worked for so many others. What brand condensed milk are you using? I found one article with someone having a similar problem and they were using a generic milk. I used Eagle Brand. This is what I can find on the internet about altitude and fudge making:
To adjust the temperature to your altitude, deduct two degrees from the temperature required for every one thousand feet of altitude above sea level. For example, in the recipe that follows, if you live 5,000 feet above sea level, you would deduct 10 degrees from 234 degrees.
Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 1 to 3 tablespoons.
Increase liquid: for each cup, add 3 to 4 tablespoons.
Keep me posted- I am right here with you (in spirit!) But I am sure other high altitude dwellers will be grateful for your testing!
I made this but it didn’t set up like all of my other fudge recipes, I followed all of the directions, but I live in a high altitude and it’s only about a 1/4 in thick, what did I do wrong??? Its really sticky and wont come off of the parchment paper either . So I stuck the whole mess into the freezer hoping it will get hard enough tho cut.
Ah! I am so sorry, Marion. Let me do some research on the high altitude and making fudge. I live right at sea level so I am not sure about the conversions. It does take a while to set though. Did you grease the parchment paper really well?
Yes, but I bought the non stick parchment, I live at 5000 ft above sea level. If that helps, I’ll do some research as well , will try to stay in touch.
You are up there! I have it on my to-do list 🙂
Do you have to boil the mixture for 5 minutes?
The mixture really depends on the temperture, which can vary depending on your stove. This is just an estimate. The mixture needs to be smooth and creamy without any grainy pieces.
I use milk chocolate for this, it doesn’t need as much black coloring this way. 🙂
Very true!
I am loving how easy this is to make for teacher gifts!
Great idea!