Sea Salted Brown Sugar Fudge

This easy, 4-ingredient Brown Sugar Fudge takes less than 30-minutes to make and is beyond delicious. Be prepared for requests to make it again and again!

This fudge! What can I say other than this Brown Sugar Fudge is beyond delicious! Oh yeah, and I would be remiss if I didn't give you a little warning too: it's almost impossible to just eat one piece! (Don't ask me how I know this and don't ask me to stand on the scale right now.)

I made a batch of this Brown Sugar Fudge right before Thanksgiving and filled my domed cake plate with the little fudge cups. I didn't say much, just left them out when family and friends were visiting. Every time I walked through the kitchen I noticed that one or two (or three or four) had disappeared. Long before the weekend was over, the fudge was gone.

My daughter Cait, sent me a text the following week, "Have you posted the fudge recipe yet?" It's definitely one of those sweet treats that, once you take the first taste, you know you need the recipe.

A super easy, four ingredient recipe

This Brown Sugar Fudge recipe comes together quickly and easily. You'll need a medium size, heavy-duty saucepan (I love this All Clad saucepan), a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, a candy thermometer and a couple of mini muffin pans.

The recipe begins by combining brown sugar and heavy cream in a saucepan and bringing the mixture to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, then attach a candy thermometer to the side of your pan. (It's easier to stir without the thermometer in place and you won't need it for the first five minutes.) Once the candy thermometer is in place you'll want to stay close as the temperature nears 240˚F. That will take about 3-6 more minutes.

When the thermometer says 240˚F, pull the pot from the stove, add butter and vanilla then stir, stir, stir. I've done the stirring by hand and with a hand mixer, they both work well.

As you stir, the fudge mixture will start to thicken a bit and get slightly lighter in color. That's when it's time to scoop it into mini muffin tins that have been lined with cupcake liners. The finishing touch is a tiny sprinkle of sea salt on each one and you're done with your part!

Great for entertaining and gifting

Give the little fudge cups about an hour to cool and they're ready to enjoy with family and friends, take to work or package up for gift-giving.

For gifting, you can keep things simple and just arrange the fudge on a paper plate covered with plastic wrap.
Add a ribbon and you're good to go!

I did come up with another a pretty and inexpensive way to package these little Brown Sugar Fudge cups for gifting that I thought you might enjoy. I found these cute little kraft paper boxes with a clear window.

They come in a package of 25 and each one holds four fudge cups perfectly. I like to tie the boxes with a pretty bow and add a gift tag. I also found the red gingham ribbon on Amazon and have used it for lots of Christmas projects this year. It's nice quality yet inexpensive and you get 50 yards on a roll.

Voila! A festive, delicious gift for all those extra people on your list. I made a printable PDF of the gift tags (shown in picture below). If you're would like to use this for your gifts, feel free leave a comment below and I'll email the PDF of the gift tags to you.

This Brown Sugar Fudge is wonderful for entertaining too. I like to arrange the little cups on a cake stand with fresh or sugared rosemary and some fresh cranberries. Set the plate or platter on a counter or buffet and let guests help themselves. Have some refills stashed away or there will be sad faces when the plate is empty!

Café Tips for making this Sea-Salted Brown Sugar Fudge

• As I mentioned above, you'll need a candy thermometer for this recipe. This is an item you won't use all the time but it's essential for certain recipes. Candy thermometers are not expensive and you can go basic or spend a bit more and get a thermometer with some extra functions. I've had this one for years and I love it. It gives a little beep when the candy is getting close to the set temperature.
• You'll need 2-3 mini muffin pans for this recipe. You'll get anywhere from 30-36 fudge cups from this recipe, depending on how full you fill the paper liners.
• This recipe calls for flaky sea salt. I love Maldon Sea Salt which is harvest off the coast of England and is used as a finishing salt. Just a little sprinkle adds delicious flavor and a nice little crunch.
• Don't use too large a pot for this recipe as you want the tip of the thermometer to sit in the middle of your mixture. If you use a large pot it will be difficult to get an accurate temperature.
• This recipe calls for brown sugar. I've used both light and dark brown sugar with good results. I actually like to use a combination, 2 cups light brown sugar and 1 cup dark. The dark adds a nice rich color.
• You can use a spoon or small heat resistant measuring cup to fill the paper liners or an ice cream scoop. I use a medium-size scoop for this Brown Sugar Fudge with great results.
• After cooking the fudge and beating it as directed, I like to set the pot back on the stovetop on a super low temperature. This will keep the mixture from firming up too much as you're scooping it into the little mini muffin tins.
• You can also make this fudge in an 8x8 pan. Grease the pan well and line it with foil with two edges of the foil hanging over the pan. Lightly grease the foil. After beating the fudge, pour it into the prepared pan and sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt.
• If you're using the small gift boxes shown above in the post, don't fill the cups too full or the window will get smeared.
• Here are the links again for the kraft paper gift boxes and ribbon pictured below. You can tie several boxes together with the pretty ribbon if you want to gift more than 4 fudge cups.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear other’s results and ideas for variations.

5 from 10 votes

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Sea Salted Brown Sugar Fudge

This easy, 4-ingredient Brown Sugar Fudge takes less than 30-minutes to make and is beyond delicious. Be prepared for requests to make it again and again!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Candy, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Servings: 36

Calories: 121 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup heavy cream
• 3 cups brown sugar packed (light or dark or a combination - see Cafe Tips above in the post)
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• flaky sea salt I love Maldon

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Line three mini muffin tins with 36 mini cupcake liners. (You'll get 3--36, depending on how full you fill the liners and the size of your liners. (I fill mine almost to the top and get 18.)
2. In a medium-size, heavy-duty saucepan, combine the cream and brown sugar over medium heat.

3. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Maintain a medium boil, stirring frequently until the mixture reaches 240˚F. This will take 8-14 minutes, depending on the heat.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Using a whisk vigorously whisk the fudge mixture for 5 minutes. It will start to thicken up slightly and get a bit lighter in color. You can also use a hand held mixer. Start on low speed and increase to high. Mix for 3 minutes, if using a mixer.
5. Pour or spoon the fudge into the prepared baking cups. I like to use a small ice cream scoop for this to keep my cups consistent.
6. Sprinkle each cup with a bit of flaky sea salt while hot. Allow fudge to cool completely before storing it.
7. Store the fudge in an airtight container at room temperature for one to two weeks, or freeze it for up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes

See Café Tips above in post for lots of extra tips and instructions as well as method to make this fudge in an 8x8-inch square pan.

Calories 121kcal

Fat 6g

Saturated fat 3g

Cholesterol 19mg

Sodium 26mg

Potassium 32mg

Carbohydrates 18g

Sugar 18g

Protein 1g

Vitamin A 204%

Vitamin C 1%

Calcium 22%

Iron 1%

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