Looking for a laugh or practical joke around the holidays? Give the gift of coal with this Christmas Coal Candy!
Coal for Christmas
This isn’t your typical stinky ore. No, it is a delicious vanilla fudge tinged black with sparkly glitter sprinkles. Not really a punishment, is it?
How did the folklore of coal get started in the US? Some beleive that the tradition of coal started in Holland in the 16th century.
In the days leading up to Christmas, children would leave out their shoes. The children would get coal for bad behavior, but if they were good they got a toy, cookies or candy.
Cookies, candy and toys before Christmas!? YES!
Sinterklaas
In fact, one of our closest friends is Dutch and his family still has this tradition. Sinterklaas (a version of Santa Claus) and his elves arrives by boat on December 5th for a big festival to kick off the season.
He wears a fancy red cape and is surrounded by his elves, the most famous is named Pete. Up until a few years ago, the elves wore black face paint to symbolize ash from sliding down a chimney, but the times caught up with traditional and now the elves just follow Saint Nick without their makeup.
It’s available streaming every year, totally worth watching to kick off the holiday season and also give the kiddos some cultural education.
Christmas Coal Candy
This easy fudge recipe uses a fudge making hack, sweetened condensed milk, unlike traditional fudge that melts sugar with sugar corn syrup.
If you want a traditional fudge recipe, or just want to see the differences, check out my Christmas Fudge Recipe– A delicious Almond Fudge made the old fashioned way!
You don’t have to be as vigilant with the temperature or technique and it has a lot more forgiveness.
While the definition of fudge doesn’t actually include chocolate, many folks automatically connect fudge with chocolate. For my Christmas Coal, I did use white chocolate along with black food coloring.
Black Food Coloring
I will not tell you that you only need a drop. You’ll need a good amount to achieve a black, and not gray, fudge. I topped mine with metallic gray sprinkles to give it a little bit sparkle.
I’ve now made this recipe several times to troubleshoot some common issues and with that, I’ve also tried several types of food coloring.
Gel in a Tube– Black gel worked the best for flavor and color. You’ll only need to use 2 teaspoons and you won’t get the bitter aftertaste. I did notice that going in it looks a little dark navy, but it will ultimately dry black.
Liquid– You’ll find this by McCormick. It looks like an extract bottle but is just black food coloring. You’ll need to use more of this, about 2 tablespoons, and it does give off a bit of a strong aftertaste.
Gel in a Tub– This works just as well as tube, but is a little harder to get out.
Couple of other common questions regarding the food coloring…
Activated Charcoal- I’ve also had folks ask if they can use activated charcoal or black cocoa to get this signature hue.
Also, both of these are a powdered form and adding a dry ingredient to this recipe would totally throw off the texture.
What does black food coloring taste like? Historically, black food coloring doesn’t taste great, but now days and using this recipe, which is admittedly heavy on the sweet stuff, you can’t taste it that much.
You can also use a stronger flavor, like licorice or peppermint, to mask it.
Will black food coloring stain my mouth? The short answer is yes. But no more than anything else with food coloring or a lollipop.
Where do I buy the sprinkles? These are the ones I use (affiliate) SPRINKLES!
Can I use Milk or Dark Chocolate? Using either or milk or dark chocolate will give you a darker base so presumably you’ll use less black tint. I prefered the white chocolate so I had better control over the color.
How to Make
To make this Christmas Coal Candy, start by lining an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. This helps the fudge to release from the pan much easier.
Next, heat white chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, butter, salt and vanilla extract in a heavy bottom sauce pan. Make sure you are (while still over the heat) stirring constantly until the mixture is completely smooth.
Do this over low heat to prevent scalding. Also, don’t stop stirring to prevent scalding. It might takes 5-7 minutes of stirring before the mixture it totally smooth.
READER TIP: Use milk chocolate or dark chocolate to reduce the amount of black food coloring needed.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in black food coloring. Depending on which brand you use, you might need more or less than I did. Just use enough to get it to the desired shade.
After the food coloring is evenly distributed throughout the Christmas Coal Candy mixture, pour it into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with black or silver sprinkles to give your fudge a glittery effect (and a nice crunch)!
I got an awesome suggestion from a reader to roll the chilled fudge into asymmetrical balls and then the sprinkles to get the shape of rocks instead of classic fudge.
Place in the refrigerator and allow to cool completely before cutting. This should take a minimum of 8 hours.
Once completely cooled, you can cut and serve (or prank)! This Christmas Coal Candy would be perfect to serve at any holiday gathering (especially an ugly sweater party!)
Imagine the look on your kids faces when you tell them to go grab a lump of coal. Priceless, I’m sure!
Flavoring
vanilla is the most classic, but feel free to be a little bold and use other flavorings.
- Black licorice
- Peppermint
- Almond
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Rum
Why Didn’t My Fudge Set?
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.
I’ve made this recipe multiple now (and today while it was raining and 98% humidity) and had no issues.
Storage & Freezer
But if you aren’t eating it right away, be sure to store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
How do you store fudge? I like to store mine in the fridge in an airtight container. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes or so before serving to come to temperature.
Can fudge sit out? Yes, you can let fudge sit out, it is cooked. Some folks don’t refrigerate it at all.
How long does fudge last? I would say 2-3 days before it starts to dry out.
Why does my fudge sweat? Fudge has some water in it and if it goes through extreme temperature changes, it will produce sweat.
How do you freeze fudge? Wrap the fudge well in aluminum foil or wax paper, then place in an airtight plastic freezer bag. Push out as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw at room temperature.
If you love fudge as much as I do, check out these other delicious fudge recipes:
- Christmas Fudge Recipe
- Easy Peanut Butter Fudge
- 10-Minute Rocky Road Fudge
- Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge
- Eggnog Fudge
- Maple Walnut Fudge
- Fantasy Fudge
Easy Peppermint Fudge Recipe
Nutella Fudge Recipe
Gingerbread Fudge
And if you have someone on your NICE list, consider making them these adorable no Bake Santa Cookies or Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies.
Christmas Coal Candy
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 white chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, unsalted butter, fine sea salt and pure 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 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.
My brother Loves black licorice so I used Anise oil instead of vanilla. I didn’t want to alter the licorice flavor by using milk or dark chocolate so I used the black candy wafers used for making chocolate and I did not need any food color. My brother thought it was the best gift in his box of goodies I sent him.
You have a section in this article labeled Storage & Freezer but then under that it doesn’t say anything about the freezer. How long can I keep it in the freezer? I want to make this today but want to be able to share and gift it in 5-7 days too.
Hey Jen- thanks for letting us know! We’ll add that right in. Wrap it well in aluminum foil or wax paper and place it in a freezer bag, releasing as much air as possible. Air is the enemy! Thaw at room temperature.
The bad thing about this fudge, and the reason I won’t make it, is that it will turn your mouth and teeth black.
Nothing a swig of water and brushing won’t fix. So does wine, and I still drink it 😉
I am definitely going to try this recipe. To lessen the chance of changing the texture, would dissolving black cocoa in two teaspoons of hot water (then letting it cool to room temp) have the same affect as using liquid food coloring?
It would be brown, not black. Not a deep enough color.
Using water in chocolate would seize the chocolate doesn’t matter if its hot or not, it makes the fudge clumpy. and if you are not using pure vanilla extract you are just using vanilla flavored water
I have black food coloring but itit’s not Gel. Can I use that? If yes, what amount differential if any?
Hi Norma, they all vary just a little. I’d just add it until it turns black. Start with 1 teaspoon.
Definitely going to try this recipe for the holidays this year!! Just wondering if it’s possible to use black cocoa powder?? I’ve used it to make black frosting for cakes. Just not sure how to add it so it’s doesn’t change the consistency of the fudge since it’s a powder. Any suggestions?
I haven’t tried it- I’ve clearly used regular cocoa powder, but not black. If you only think you need a tablespoon or so, you’ll be okay, but more than that will make it to doughy. It also will need to dissolve to not be gritty. Come back and let us know how it works!
This is such a cute and fun way to make Christmas treats! I love this! So excited to make these with my kids!