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This Hot Fudge Sauce recipe is bursting with chocolate flavors that taste like you took hours to make but only took less than 10 minutes to make. This fudge sauce is going to be in your family for many years!
Here are some delicious options to drizzle this fudge sauce over: Fudge Brownie Ice Cream, Belgian Waffles, Chocolate Waffles, Strawberry Shortcake, and Triple Chocolate Brownies.
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Homemade hot fudge sauce is something I'm willing to bet that most of us didn't grow up eating. I know my first introduction was getting a hot fudge sundae with peanuts from McDonald's. Am I the only one?
It's also a favorite to buy from the grocery store because the chocolate syrup is easy to get our hands on, and warming it for a few seconds in the microwave turns it into hot chocolate sauce. But as I get older, I pay more attention to the label ingredients to know what I'm consuming, and a large majority of the ingredients are used for low-cost preservation of products.
What is hot fudge sauce made of?
A classic hot fudge sauce or fudge sauce is a chocolate sauce typically served as a dessert topping for vanilla ice cream, cakes, coffee, milkshake, and coffee.
Here's a list of ingredients from popular brands' hot fudge sauce. Ingredients include: Corn Syrup, Nonfat Milk, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Soybean Oil, Cocoa Processed with Alkali and Cocoa, Contains 2% or less of: Fully Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Mono, and Diglycerides, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Vanilla (Artificial Flavor).
I'll leave this here for you to research these ingredients and the pros and cons of each one. Remember, non-hydrogenated oils are not chemically processed, so what do you think fully hydrogenated means?
This is why making food from scratch is crucial because you decide what you ingest without being blindsided. The old-fashioned hot fudge sauce was a simple recipe made from chocolate, cream, and sugar.
Let me show you how to make the best hot fudge sauce with only seven ingredients and 10 minutes of your day.
Key Ingredients
Here are the key ingredients you'll need for your hot fudge sauce.
Chocolate Chips
It took everything in me not to use bittersweet chocolate chips here, but semi-sweet chocolate chips were a great choice. Use a chocolate chip with a minimum of 46% cocoa.
Heavy Whipping Cream
Heavy cream is going to add creaminess and body to our hot fudge sauce.
Sugar
A little sugar is needed since we're using semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Vanilla Extract
The vanilla adds a subtle floral note to the chocolate sauce.
Unsalted Butter
Adding cold butter gives the sauce a smooth and velvety finish.
How To Make The Best Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe
I want my hot fudge sauce to be easy, tasty, and a crowd-pleaser! It's really a simple recipe.
Mix semi-sweet chocolate chips and oil in a medium bowl, evenly coating the chocolate chips. The oil adds a glossy finished shine to the final sauce.
In a medium pot over medium heat, add heavy cream, sugar, salt, and vanilla, bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Whisk in unsalted butter, then pour over chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes; whisk until smooth.
Pro Recipe Tips & Tricks
Here are the best practices, techniques, substitutes, and flavor builders you'll need for a hot fudge sauce recipe.
- Adding oil to the chocolate is an important step. It keeps the chocolate from overcooking and helps it melt into a silky, smooth, shiny hot fudge.
- If you use salted butter, omit the salt from the recipe.
- Feel free to use bittersweet, dark, or milk chocolate chips for this recipe. You can use a chocolate bar or chips.
- I know some recipes call for cocoa powder, but you would need 3 tablespoons and 1 tablespoon of oil per ounce. We have 6 ounces in this recipe.
- You can use half-and-half or evaporated milk instead of heavy cream.
- A fork or wooden spoon will work if you don't have a whisk.
Ice Cream
I'm a big fan of making my own ice creams, like my homemade chocolate ice cream and vanilla ice cream. If you're going to pour this amazing chocolate fudge sauce over something, it minus well be over an ice cream that you made!
The best part is that all you need is sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and a few hours, and you'll have ice cream without using a fancy ice cream machine.
FAQs
Here are the top questions readers have about making a homemade hot fudge sauce
The only difference between chocolate sauce, chocolate syrup, and hot fudge sauce is that hot fudge sauce is creamier and thicker with a richer chocolate flavor than chocolate sauce.
Your homemade fudge sauce turned out grainy because you overheated the chocolate. That's why tossing your chocolate in some oil is a technique that home cooks don't know that professional pastry chefs and chefs know.
Hot fudge sauce will last for a month in the fridge and about 14 days in a cool dark place.
Yes, to extend its shelf life and have it ready at all times, keep your hot fudge sauce refrigerated.
Using the right amount of chocolate to heavy cream ratio will allow you to make a hot fudge that's thick, creamy, and loaded with a deep chocolate flavor.
The best way to do this without using cornstarch or arrowroot is to heat the cream, pour it over the chocolate, and let it sit for 2 minutes to melt the chocolate, then stir until smooth and thick.
The options are unlimited in what you can use hot fudge sauce on. You can stir it in your hot chocolate and drizzle it over popcorn, sundaes, cakes, candy, cookies, smoothies, brownies, and cheesecake, just to name a few.
Hot fudge sauce is best 2 days after but will remain fresh for 7 days in an airtight container in a cool dark place. A glass jar would be best. If you do, place it in the fridge.
To reheat the fudge sauce, place it in the microwave for 30 seconds intervals until the sauce melts and is pourable.
More Recipes
If you love chocolate as much as I do, then I know you'll love these recipes too!
- Deep Fried Cheesecakes
- Chocolate Pancakes
- German Chocolate Cake
- Brownie Sundae
- Affagato with Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream
- Gingerbread French Toast
Before You Begin
Before getting started, here are the steps I use to get organized.
Step 1: Gather all ingredients for the hot fudge sauce on the counter.
Step 2: Measure everything out.
Step 3: Follow the recipe and prepare your mouth for the best homemade hot fudge sauce ever!
Now that you know how to make your own hot fudge sauce, it's time for the best part—making a hot fudge sundae! This recipe is easy and only requires a few ingredients. All you need is vanilla ice cream, chopped nuts, whipped cream, and cherries. Leave a comment below and let me know how your hot fudge sundae turns out. Don't forget to leave a star rating for this recipe so others can find it easily too.
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📖 Recipe
Old-Fashioned Hot Fudge Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon oil
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix chocolate and oil, coating chocolate evenly.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, add heavy cream, sugar, salt, and vanilla, bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Whisk in butter, then pour over chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes, whisk until smooth. Keep fudge sauce in an airtight container in a dark, cool place for 7 days.
Notes
- Adding oil to the chocolate is an important step. It keeps the chocolate from overcooking and helps it melt into a silky, smooth, shiny hot fudge.
- If you use salted butter, omit the salt from the recipe.
- Feel free to use bittersweet, dark, or milk chocolate chips for this recipe. You can use a chocolate bar or chips.
- I know some recipes call for cocoa powder, but you would need 3 tablespoons and 1 tablespoon of oil per ounce. We have 6 ounces in this recipe.
- You can use half-and-half or evaporated milk instead of heavy cream. A fork or wooden spoon will work if you don't have a whisk.
Sara says
So good and so easy!!! I've made this twice in just a few days 😆
Dayna says
Quick, easy and delicious recipe
Brenda Stanley says
Hated it! Although easy and fast, it had little flavor and was a thin sauce. The oil isn’t necessary. Unfortunate
Kenneth Temple says
Hi Brenda! I'm sorry to hear about your experience, but I'm confident we can work through this. It seems there might be a measurement issue. First, oil is necessary to keep the sauce shiny and pourable. Without it, the sauce will thicken as it cools and will only be good for truffles. Second, if you ended up with a thin sauce, your measurements might have been off. If you don't have a scale to weigh the chocolate chips, 1 cup - 6 oz. As you can see from the photos, the fudge sauce is thick and coats a spoon very well. If you give it another try, I'm sure you'll get it just right.