Summer just wouldn’t be summer without hot fudge sundaes. Am I right?
Every time I see a McDonald’s on the side of the road I’m tempted to stop by and grab a hot fudge sundae. I know what you’re thinking. So gross – not even real food, right?
Right. I have no idea what’s in that fudge sauce – or the ice cream for that matter – but my guess is that it’s nothing good, so usually, temptation isn’t too hard to resist.
Besides, who needs McDonalds to satisfy their hot fudge sundae needs anyway? You can make your own sauce!
Healthy? No. But there’s no corn syrup or artificial this, that, or the other, so it’s a big step up.
And let me tell you, this homemade hot fudge sauce is good! The rich, chocolatey, fudgy, buttery flavor is to die for!
I actually made this recipe to serve with Garrett’s birthday gluten-free ice cream cake, but by the time it was cooled off enough to put in a jar, it was half gone (that’s why these pics are taken using a 4 oz. jar instead of 8 oz.).
And then once it cooled enough to stand up on a spoon, we just decided to go ahead and eat the rest for dessert.
My toddler is a serious chocoholic. I kept trying to find less accessible places to put the fudge sauce to cool, but she found a way to reach all of them. I blame the lack of hot fudge sauce at the birthday party on her. *cough*
Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce From Scratch
- 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, half and half or whole milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
- Mix first five ingredients together, and heat over low heat until butter is melted.
- Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
- Continue boiling for about five minutes. (For those of you with a candy thermometer, 225º turned out perfectly)
- Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Stir in vanilla.
- Let cool until lukewarm.
- Pour into a 8oz. or higher capacity tight-lidded container for storage, and let cool completely.
- Serve hot or cold over ice cream.
Enjoy!
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Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life says
This looks so good and I have everything on hand already! Making a chocolate sauce has been on my to-do list for a few weeks but I just haven’t gotten around to it. Have you tried using this one to make chocolate milk too? Or is it too thick? Either way, I’m definitely trying your recipe 🙂
Elise says
We made chocolate milk with it, but some of it settled into the bottom because it was so thick. I think it would work better if the fudge sauce was warm.
Fran says
I made this and it is delicious. Only issue is it got very hard as soon as it hit the ice cream. I read that using corn syrup keep a it from hardening. This taste wonderful but because it gets hard and chewy I am pa battering it in drops in ice cream.
Bj says
After making the first batch…we made it again and doubled the recipe. It turned out perfect.
I can see a long relationship building!
Thx for sharing your recipe and tips.
Elise says
Yay! Glad you like it!
Jess says
Do you think I could substitute the cream for condensed milk?
Can’t wait to try this!
Wendy says
First try at this recipe was disappointing. It was too sweet so I will cut sugar down next time. Also, despite using a thermometer and not going over 22R, the mixture developed hard lumps towards the end. I suggest stirring continuously while boiling. It was very thick so I thinned it down at the end with more cram and used a whisk however the lumps remained.
Pauline says
This was amazing! I go to McDonald’s just to have their hot fudge sundae. Now I can just make it for myself!