Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Easy Chocolate Fudge With Pretzels 4.0 (179) This five-ingredient treat is simple-to-make and will satisfy everyone's sweet (and salty) tooth. Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 10 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Servings: 36 Jump to recipe Our recipe for easy chocolate fudge with pretzels calls for only five ingredients and couldn’t be simpler to make. The key ingredient is sweetened condensed milk, which creates the perfect soft, fudgy texture when combined with chocolate chips, butter, and vanilla extract. Chopped pretzels are both stirred into the mixture to lend a crunchy texture and scattered on top to hint at the iconic flavor combination. This recipe requires only about two hours of chilling before it’s ready to be cut into small pieces and will last in the fridge for two to three weeks. One bite and you’ll wonder why you’ve waited so long to make fudge at home. 20 Easy Candy Recipes Perfect for Beginners What Is Sweetened Condensed Milk? Sweetened condensed milk is a canned cow's milk product that has been heated to evaporate water, leaving behind a thickened, reduced liquid that's sweetened with sugar. It's shelf-stable and can last for years, making it a pantry ingredient that is so worth keeping on hand. We love using it to make dulce de leche, key lime pie, and the easiest no-bake cheesecake. In this fudge recipe, it helps to create a smooth, chewy texture and replaces the granulated sugar and heavy cream—and careful monitoring with a candy thermometer—that other fudge recipes call for. Note that sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk are not the same thing. While they are both reduced dairy products, evaporated milk is not sweetened and should not be used in place of sweetened condensed milk in recipes. When heating the chocolate mixture over the saucepan of simmering water, be sure to not use so much water that it touches the bottom of the bowl. You only need an inch or so to create enough steam to melt the chocolate. Directions Prepare pan: Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Melt fudge ingredients over simmering water; add pretzels: Place butter, chocolate chips, condensed milk, vanilla, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pot of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until chocolate just melts and mixture is combined and warm but not hot, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups pretzels. Transfer to pan, top with more pretzels; chill until set: Transfer mixture to pan and smooth top; press 1/2 cup pretzels on top. Refrigerate until set, 2 hours (or up to overnight, wrapped). Using parchment, lift fudge from pan and cut into 36 squares. Variations While we love the salty-sweet combination of chocolate and pretzels, there are so many other ways to make this fudge your own. Instead of the pretzels, swap in trail mix, your favorite chopped candy, or crushed cookies. More Fudge Recipes to Try: Chocolate Fudge 101 Triple-Chocolate Peppermint Fudge Simple Chocolate Fudge Marshmallow Fudge Quick Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.