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4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge

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This easy 4 ingredient peanut butter fudge comes together in just 10 minutes of hands-on time! It’s the perfect no bake dessert for the holiday season.

Peanut butter fudge sliced into squares.

We’re not professional bakers by any means (although we’re always baking new desserts and learning along the way). But, we’ve developed a few easy, reliable methods for making homemade confections that we like to stick to during the holiday baking season. After experimenting with homemade fudge last year and coming up with two delicious flavors (sea salt caramel chocolate fudge and white chocolate peppermint fudge), we’ve taken the same method and applied it to a brand new flavor this year! Introducing: our smooth and creamy 4 ingredient peanut butter fudge.

What This Recipe Entails

  • Ready in: 1 hour 10 minutes (10 minutes of work and 1 hour of chilling!)
  • Serves: About 60 pieces
  • Great for: Holiday gatherings, family parties, or just for having little treats around the home.
  • Flavor profile: Sweet peanut butter fudge.
  • Why we love it: It’s just so easy to make and is a great little dessert to have around the holidays. We love putting it in a container on the counter for easy holiday snacking (no that isn’t healthy).

Ingredients

  • Sweetened condensed milk – This is the secret ingredient that makes our fudge extra sweet and creamy. 
  • Peanut butter chips – The only peanut butter chips we like to use are Reese’s – they have just the right amount of creaminess and sweetness. But use your favorite brand of peanut butter chips, since it’s the main flavor you’ll taste in this homemade fudge. 
  • Vanilla extract – Over the years we’ve come to the conclusion that vanilla is one of those ingredients we’re happy to pay up for. Whether you can get some local homemade vanilla or choose to go with our personal favorite store-bought version, Madagascar vanilla, we recommend using a good quality vanilla no matter what it’s for. 
  • Sea salt – Fine sea salt works best for this recipe to make a smoother and creamier fudge. But if you want some added crunch or salt crystals, a coarser sea salt would do the trick.
  • Chocolate shavings (optional) – If we’re serving a plate of fudge for a party, we like to dust some chocolate shavings over the top for a little fun garnish and some extra flavor. Who doesn’t love a little chocolate with their peanut butter?
Peanut butter fudge squares dusted with dark chocolate shavings.

How To Make 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge

This is our go-to method for any no-bake fudge since it’s quick, reliable, and easy for anyone to follow. Plus it only takes about 10 minutes of hands-on time. What’s not to love?

  1. First, line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper. To help the parchment stay inside the pan, you can lightly grease the pan with cooking spray first, and then press the parchment down into it. Make sure to smooth out any wrinkles so they don’t get stuck in the fudge later on.
  2. Next, add the condensed milk to a small saucepan and warm over medium heat. Once it’s lightly steaming, add the peanut butter chips to the saucepan.
  3. Then, stir constantly until the peanut butter chips have melted and combined with the condensed milk. Use the rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the saucepan as you stir, which will help prevent burning or clumping.
  4. Once the peanut butter chips are fully incorporated, remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the vanilla extract and fine sea salt and stir vigorously until incorporated. The fudge should have the texture of creamy peanut butter at this point.
  5. Next, scrape the fudge into the prepared pan and use the rubber spatula to spread it out into an even layer, about a quarter to a half inch thick. The fudge won’t entirely fill the pan – that’s okay! Just make sure it has the same thickness everywhere so that it sets evenly and you can slice it into equal-size pieces later on.
  6. Finally, set the fudge in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Then, slice into square pieces (about three-quarters of an inch wide and long) and enjoy!

We love making this recipe for serving a crowd at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even Easter since one batch of this recipe yields a ton of fudge, and it’s easy to scale. Give it a try this holiday season and let us know what you think by leaving a rating and a comment below! For more easy dessert recipes, check out our desserts & sweets page.

Expert Tips

  • Essential tools – A rubber spatula is super helpful when making fudge! You’ll use it to scrape, stir, and smooth the fudge at different stages in this recipe with minimal sticking. (It’ll even help you get all the condensed milk out of the can).
  • Keep stirring – Once you add the peanut butter chips, start stirring and don’t stop until it’s all melted and the fudge is a smooth and creamy consistency. Otherwise, the peanut butter chips may burn and clump together.
  • Slicing – Letting the fudge warm up on the counter for about 20 to 30 minutes before trying to slice it will make it easier to cut through. And using a sharp knife will help you cut clean squares.
  • Storing – Once you’ve set and sliced the fudge, we recommend storing it in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. It will stay fresh and creamy this way, whereas storing this fudge in the fridge can dry it out.
  • Presentation – If you want to add a little something extra to the presentation of this fudge, you can use a zester to finely dust the fudge with chocolate shavings before setting it in the fridge. This doesn’t impact the flavor of the fudge too much, but adds a little texture and interest to the plate.
A stack of peanut butter fudge squares.

Love this recipe? You may enjoy these other holiday dessert recipes, too:

Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

Peanut butter fudge.

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge

Nicole & Alex Langdon
This easy 4 ingredient peanut butter fudge comes together in just 10 minutes of hands-on time! It's the perfect no bake dessert for the holiday season.
5 from 2 votes
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Cook Time 10 minutes
Set Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 60 pieces
Calories 11 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 10 ounces peanut butter chips
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions
 

  • First, line an 8×8 square pan with parchment paper. To help it stay in place, lightly grease the bottom and sides of the pan with cooking spray, then press the paper into the pan and smooth out any wrinkles.
  • Next, add the condensed milk to a small saucepan and warm over medium to medium-low heat. Once it’s lightly steaming (after a few minutes), add the peanut butter chips to the saucepan.
    Stir constantly until the peanut butter chips have melted and combined with the condensed milk, using the rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the pan to prevent burning.
  • Once the peanut butter chips are fully incorporated and the fudge is smooth, remove the saucepan from heat. Add the vanilla extract and fine sea salt and stir vigorously until fully incorporated. The fudge should have the texture of creamy peanut butter at this point.
  • Then, scrape the fudge into the prepared pan. Use the rubber spatula to help spread it into an even layer, about a quarter to a half inch thick. The fudge won't entirely fill the pan – that's okay.
  • Finally, set the fudge in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before slicing into square pieces, about three-quarters of an inch wide and long.
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Essential tools: A rubber spatula is super helpful when making fudge! You’ll use it to scrape, stir, and smooth the fudge at different stages in this recipe. (It’ll even help you get all the condensed milk out of the can).
Stirring the fudge: Once you add the peanut butter chips, start stirring and don’t stop until it’s all melted and the fudge is a smooth and creamy consistency. Otherwise, the peanut butter chips may burn and clump together.
Tips for slicing: Let the fudge warm up on the counter for about 20 to 30 minutes before trying to slice it. Use a very sharp knife to cut clean squares.
Serving suggestions: This creamy no bake fudge is the best dessert for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even Easter and Valentine’s Day. For an extra-special presentation, try dusting the fudge with dark chocolate shavings using a zester.
Storing fudge: We recommend storing peanut butter fudge in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. This preserves its freshness and creamy texture the best.

Nutrition

Serving: 1pieceCalories: 11kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 0.3gFat: 0.3gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.01gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 14mgPotassium: 12mgSugar: 2gVitamin A: 9IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 9mgIron: 0.01mg
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If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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90% of Nicole’s thoughts are about food. She’s had a passion for cooking (and eating) for as long as she can remember! Growing up, she started cooking with her mom at a young age, learned family recipes from her Italian grandmother, took every opportunity to make cookies (so many bake sales), and always loved going out to restaurants to try new foods.

Nicole currently works part-time as a marketing professional for OmieLife while also working nonstop on The Candid Cooks. As a former mechanical engineer, Nicole has consistently found herself at the intersection of creativity and logical reasoning. She credits not only her passion for photography, design, and writing, but also her problem-solving nature and desire to learn, as the foundation on which The Candid Cooks was built.

Nicole’s hobbies include anything that gets her moving - mainly hiking, skiing, ice skating, and dancing - as well as reading fantasy novels and scrapbooking. Her favorite food is a big plate of nachos, as long as they’re cheesy enough!

5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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One Comment

  1. I’ve made this fudge in uncountable variations, though none of them peanut butter. In theory it can last a week — or even quite a bit longer, especially if you freeze it — but you can ask Alex how long it usually lasts at Thanksgiving!

    Reply