Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: It’s easy to make your own ice cream topping. This hot fudge recipe tastes so much better than store-bought and all you need are a few pantry items. It’s perfect in a pinch when you need a quick dessert that everyone loves.
How long it takes: 10 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: saucepan, stove
Servings: makes 1 ½ cups
My mom used to whip up this quick sauce when unexpected guests happened to stop by or when she felt we all needed a quick pick-me-up dessert. With just a few pantry items, you’re on track to a rather wonderful (and just a bit indulgent) dessert that few people would turn down. It’s perfect on vanilla ice cream!
I bet you’ll be inspired to create your own variations and I’d love to hear about them! If you like the idea of homemade frozen goodies, be sure to check out my list of 14 delicious frozen desserts!
Fantastic Homemade Hot Fudge
Only 6 ingredients. You probably have everything you need to make this yummy hot fudge. The ingredients are simple and wholesome. Look in your pantry and fridge for what you need, just easy stuff like milk, butter, sugar, cocoa, etc.
No artificial ingredients. Take a look at the list of ingredients on a jar of a very well-known brand of hot fudge: Nonfat Milk, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Soybean Oil, Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Cocoa, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Fully Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Modified Corn Starch, Mono And Diglycerides, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Vanillin (Artificial Flavor). I don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum….but…yuck! We can do way better than that!
Three popular variations. After you’ve tried the “no-frills” hot fudge, you’ll want to try the variations (all included in the recipe!):
- Peanut butter hot fudge
- Black Forest hot fudge (with cherries)
- Mocha hot fudge
Ingredient Notes
- Sugar: Just plain white granulated sugar is all you need. This recipe is made without corn syrup, an ingredient that is added to many commercial hot fudge sauces (or even worse, high fructose corn syrup) and even some homemade recipes.
- Cocoa Powder: Use a good quality cocoa powder. It’s usually found in the baking aisle. Most cocoa powder is unsweetened, made simply from roasted cocoa bean particles that are ground into a fine powder. It’s rich in antioxidants, particularly polyphenols (Healthline).
- Flour: A couple tablespoons of all-purpose flour serves to thicken the sauce.
- Milk: You’ll love that this hot fudge is made with milk. Most of us always have milk in our refrigerators. Whole milk naturally makes the richest hot fudge but feel free to substitute 2% or even lowfat milk. I’ve tried them all and really, there’s not that much difference. Thankfully, this recipe is made without heavy cream which isn’t usually a staple in my house.
- Butter: Butter is the reason why you can use lowfat milk. It adds richness to the sauce and great flavor. I usually use unsalted butter but if salted butter is all you have, that works too. Don’t substitute butter flavored spreads that come in tubs. Definitely don’t use margarine.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: What would we do without our dear friend, vanilla? It’s an essential item in the kitchen.
- Add-Ins for Variations: Add peanut butter, sweet cherries, or espresso powder to enhance your hot fudge with exciting flavor sensations, but not all at the same time!
How To Make Hot Fudge Sauce
Ready to begin? Stir together the sugar, cocoa, and flour in a small saucepan.
Add the milk and butter, and over medium heat, cook and stir until the mixture comes to a boil.
Boil for a few minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
That’s it! Can you believe how crazy easy (and economical) it is to make your own hot fudge?!
Let the hot fudge cool just a bit before you spoon it on ice cream. It thickens up a little as it cools.
How To Serve Hot Fudge
Ice cream sundaes: Ready to make your ice cream sundae? I sure am! Get ready with the toppings! I like M&Ms, nuts (try these spiced pecans), crushed Oreos, crunchy oat topping, whipped cream, cherries, sliced bananas, strawberries …. Or just plain hot fudge! It’s really so good.
Turtle sundaes: Vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge and warm caramel sauce, along with a handful of toasted pecans. A turtle sundae is never slow to disappear!
Hot fudge brownies: Warm brownies topped with a scoop of ice cream and hot fudge. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Hot fudge and fruit: Skip the ice cream and drizzle the sauce over sliced bananas, strawberries, cherries, or raspberries. Fruit and chocolate, yum! It’s almost like a quick and easy version of chocolate fondue.
Hot fudge for breakfast: Why not?! Hot fudge sauce can take the place of maple syrup on pancakes and waffles. Try it on chocolate protein pancakes or banana pancakes.
A common mistake is overcooking or overheating the sauce which can turn it grainy. Cooling the sauce too quickly can also cause it to become grainy. It’s best to let it cool at room temperature until it’s completely cool before refrigerating it. Making hot fudge with cocoa powder rather than chocolate chips makes a smoother sauce, too.
Easy Hot Fudge Variations
- Peanut Butter Hot Fudge: Reminiscent of a Reese’s peanut butter cup, with swirls of creamy peanut butter in warm hot fudge, this variation is one of my favorites. Not a fan of peanuts? Substitute almond butter, cashew butter, or even Nutella (hazelnut plus double the chocolate!), or sunflower butter if you have nut allergies.
- Black Forest Hot Fudge: For all you cherry lovers, Black Forest hot fudge will be your new favorite. Plenty of fresh dark cherries are drenched in warm hot fudge. So good!
- Mocha Hot Fudge: Chocolate and espresso, a match made in heaven! Mocha hot fudge sauce is richly flavored with espresso powder, a perfect topping for ice cream. Espresso powder is instant coffee (you’ll find it in the coffee aisle of the grocery store) and is quite concentrated.
Refrigerate: Homemade hot fudge should be cooled completely at room temperature before refrigerating. Store it in a clean recycled jar or airtight container. It will keep for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.
Reheat: Microwave it gently (50%) in 10 second increments until warm. Do not overheat. Larger amounts can be heated on the stove in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Heating up hot fudge repeatedly can result in poor texture. To avoid this problem, simply warm up a small portion at a time, just what you’re going to use.
More Sweet Treats
Hot Fudge Recipe & 3 Variations
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder (sifted if lumpy)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk (whole milk is best but non-fat or 2% can be used as well)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Optional Variations: ½ cup peanut butter, 1 cup chopped sweet cherries, or 1 to 2 tablespoons espresso powder (see notes)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa and flour with a whisk. Stir in milk and butter.1 cup granulated sugar, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring continuously, and boil 2 minutes or until thickened.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Hot fudge thickens a bit more as it cools.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Notes
- Nutrition information is based on hot fudge without variations.
- Makes about 1 ½ cups (without variations).
- Storage: Cool completely before storing. Store leftover hot fudge in the fridge in an airtight container or recycled jar for up to 3 weeks.
- Reheating: Place the portion you want to reheat in a microwave safe dish and microwave on medium power (50%) in 10 second increments until warm. Do not overheat. Larger amounts can be heated in a small saucepan over medium low heat.
Variations:
- Peanut Butter Hot Fudge: Add ½ cup (more if you like) creamy peanut butter after you add vanilla, stirring until melted. Substitute almond butter, cashew butter, or even Nutella (hazelnut plus double the chocolate!), or sunflower butter if you have nut allergies.
- Black Forest Hot Fudge: Add 1 cup pitted, chopped sweet cherries to mixture when you add the milk and butter.
- Mocha Hot Fudge: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder to the dry ingredients, whisking well. It’s quite concentrated so start with the lesser amount.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Love the recipe! Followed it exactly, but used gluten free flour (Namaste) instead and it came out perfect! Thank you!
So glad to hear it worked well with GF flour! Thank you for leaving a review!
Can you replace the flour with something else to make it gluten free?
You could try a 1:1 gluten free flour – I haven’t tested it so I can’t tell you how it works for sure, but let me know if you give it a try!
I’ve made this hot fudge so many times and it turns out perfect every time. Love it!
Looks yummy! And as calorie laden as it surely is, still healthier than buying in a jar!
When I first met my husband, his favorite dessert was vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and M&Ms. He would love this!
Oh this looks amazing! No wonder you both loved it!
Just made my 1st ever batch of Hot Fudge Sauce, so glad you have blogged these this week. My kids are going to love their ice cream sundays this evening.
Lucky them!
They polished them off in no time with rasps and crispy m&ms.
Yummy.