An easy vanilla fudge recipe that’s so festive and fun, it’s perfect for any occasion! No need to mess around with candy thermometers when sweetened condensed milk and white chocolate chips will do all the heavy lifting!
Well, 4th of July has come and gone, and while this summer is a unique one in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, my son had a baseball tournament.
I must admit, I’m not especially knowledgable with regards to baseball. In fact, I’m pretty much the baseball nitwit of my family. I never played when I was younger, and I didn’t enjoy watching the sport. So I didn’t.
Now I have two sons who play competitive baseball. My poor husband will ask me details about a game when he can’t make it – and he gets beyond frustrated that I can’t convey great detail about what happened that he didn’t get to see.
Thank goodness my boys are now old enough to convey and fill in the missing details for me!
Celebrating With Patriotic Red, White, & Blue Fudge
Even though spending the better part of the day at the ballfields was a wonderful taste of “normal”, we usually do fun outings to celebrate the 4th: Water World, an MLB game and fireworks, etc.
So this year’s July 4th festivities are quite a bit muted from the norm.
What does that mean in terms of celebrating the holiday? Well, of course, it means making a fun and festive dessert! Patriotic Fudge it is!
We are super fortunate to live on a hill which affords us a bit of a view of the surrounding area…
…so we spent the evening watching fireworks from the comfort of our living room while scarfing down this colorful and fun red, white, & blue fudge!
Easy Vanilla Fudge Recipe
Have you ever made fudge before?
Fudge is one of those desserts that seems really complicated to make. In fact, most people think it’s complicated and hard to make.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, it will impress your friends, which will be fun because they’ll think you slaved over it while you’ll know that’s at all true.
Fudge is one of my favorite things to make. And I CANNOT get enough of this white chocolate fudge recipe because it’s:
- a cinch to make
- only requires a few ingredients
- fun to look at
- super-duper yummy and full of vanilla flavor.
Feel free to add in any additional favorite ingredients (nuts, etc), but I love keeping it on the simple side by just adding festive red, white, & blue sprinkles.
This vanilla fudge recipe is a sweetened condensed milk fudge that makes for an easier-to-make-yet-equally-delicious fudge recipe. Seriously, it will make your mouth water!
Plus, it’s so dang festive that it’s perfect for any gathering – or to give as a homemade gift!
Can Evaporated Milk Be Substituted For The Sweetened Condensed Milk?
No…no…no…NO! Using sweetened condensed milk is my favorite way to make fudge because it allows you to shortcut the candy-making part of creating the sugar syrup.
Sweetened condensed milk is evaporated milk with (a lot of) added sugar. Since evaporated milk lacks the sugar content, it is not the same thing, and it’s not close enough to be substituted in this recipe.
How Do I Melt Chocolate in the Microwave?
What makes this an easy fudge recipe is to melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk (the shortcut ingredient).
Using your microwave is the easiest and fastest way to do this. Melting chocolate can be just a tad tricky, because if you overheat the chocolate and scorch it, your fudge won’t turn out well.
What Is The Best Method For Melting Chocolate in the Microwave?
With your ingredients in a large, microwave-safe bowl, put the bowl into the microwave and cook for 1 minute. No matter what, only heat your bowl contents until about three-fourths of the chocolate chips are melted. That’s the most important thing!
Do not fully melt the chocolate chips. Instead, stir well to use the residual heat to fully melt the chocolate chip mixture. This may take a small amount of time, but it will prevent you from overheating the chocolate and scorching it.
More Summer Desserts: S’mores Bars Variations That Will Blow Your Mind
How to Make This Patriotic Vanilla Fudge Recipe (aka Red, White & Blue Fudge)
There is no more festive dessert that you can make for Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day or ANY other occasion! Plus, it’s just SO darn good that you’ll get request after request for it.
Vanilla Fudge Ingredients
- 2 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk
- 1 c white cake mix, divided
- 4 c white chocolate chips, divided
- Red, white, & blue sprinkles
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract, divided
- Red and blue food coloring
- Foil-lined 2-quart glass baking dish
Patriotic Fudge Directions
Mix 1 can of sweetened condensed milk with ½ c white cake mix in a large glass bowl. Add 2 c white chocolate chips, and mix well.
Microwave the mixture for 1 minute, and then remove and stir well. If the chocolate chips are not completely melted, return to the microwave for an additional 20 seconds at a time until 3/4 of the chocolate chips are melted.
Be careful not to overheat, or you will scorch the chocolate chips. Add ½ tsp vanilla flavoring and mix well.
Divide the mixture evenly between two bowls.
In the first bowl, add blue food coloring to the mixture. Start with 5-6 drops, and add more until you get the desired tint of blue you would like. I added approximately 15 drops, as I wanted a brighter blue.
In the second bowl, add red food coloring to the mixture. Again, start with 5-6 drops, and add more until you get the desired tint of red you would like. Set both the red and blue mixtures aside.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the remaining ingredients. Let the mixture cool slightly, then fold in approximately ¼ c of red, white, and blue sprinkles.
You don’t want the sprinkles to melt, and for the colors to bleed.
Pour the blue mixture into the foil-lined baking dish. Make sure it is smooth, and evenly covers the dish.
Next, add the white mixture with sprinkles on top of the blue mixture. Again, make sure it is smooth, and evenly covers the dish.
Add the red mixture on top of the white mixture, and smooth evenly across the dish.
Sprinkle approximately ¼ c of red, white, and blue sprinkles all over the red layer. Using your hand, pat down the sprinkles lightly to get them to stick to the top layer.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until set. Remove from the foil pan, cut into bars, and enjoy!
There ya go! Isn’t it gorgeous?
I hope your family loves this easy vanilla fudge recipe as much as mine does!
What other types of fudge would you like to see on here? (Comment below)
More Delicious Desserts
- No-Bake Berry Cheesecake Parfait
- Addictive Homemade Fresh Whipped Cream
- The Very BEST (Healthy) Apple Crisp
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 12-24 servings | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 15 minutes | 2 hours |
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An easy vanilla fudge recipe that's so easy to make (and tastes so amazing) you'll want to make it all summer long. It's perfect for guests, homemade gifts, or to enjoy as a family.
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- 2 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk
- 1 c white cake mix divided
- 4 c white chocolate chips divided
- Red, white, & blue sprinkles
- 1 tsp Vanilla Flavoring divided
- Red and blue food coloring
- Foil lined 2 quart glass baking dish
- Mix 1 can of sweetened condensed milk with ½ c white cake mix in a large glass bowl.
- Add 2 c white chocolate chips, and mix well.
- Microwave the mixture for 1 minute, and then remove and stir well. If the chocolate chips are not completely melted, return to the microwave for an additional 20 seconds. Be careful not to overheat, or you will scorch the chocolate chips.
- Add ½ tsp vanilla flavoring and mix well.
- Divide the mixture evenly between two bowls.
- In the first bowl, add blue food coloring to the mixture. Start with 5-6 drops, and add more until you get the desired tint of blue you would like. I added approximately 15 drops, as I wanted a brighter blue.
- In the second bowl, add red food coloring to the mixture. Again, start with 5-6 drops, and add more until you get the desired tint of red you would like. Set both the red and blue mixtures aside.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the remaining ingredients. Let the mixture cool slightly, then fold in approximately ¼ c of red, white, and blue sprinkles. You don’t want the sprinkles to melt or the colors to bleed, which will happen if the mixture is too hot.
- Pour the blue mixture into the foil lined baking dish. Make sure it is smooth, and evenly covers the dish.
- Next, add the white mixture with sprinkles on top of the blue mixture. Again, make sure it is smooth, and evenly covers the dish.
- Add the red mixture on top of the white mixture, and smooth evenly across the dish.
- Sprinkle approximately ¼ c of red, white, and blue sprinkles all over the red layer. Using your hand, pat down the sprinkles lightly to get them to stick to the top layer.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until set.
- Remove from the foil pan, cut into bars, and enjoy!
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