You won’t believe how easy it is to make this decadent dairy free fudge. Find out how to make rich, chocolatey fudge step by step. This is a holiday recipe you’re sure to turn to again and again.
Every once in a while, I ask my readers what recipes they really miss now that they are living with food allergies. One time I had a reader share that she really misses fudge, and that she thought it was impossible to make a good fudge without dairy.
Well, I love a good challenge, and after a few tries, I came up with a recipe that’s super easy – it only requires three ingredients! That was a few years ago, and we love this recipe so much, we make it every year. It’s become one of our favorite allergy friendly desserts.
The coconut milk makes this vegan fudge silky smooth and absolutely decadent and delicious.
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Ingredients
- a can of full fat coconut milk
- dairy free chocolate chips
- powdered sugar
Sweetened condensed milk is often an ingredient in easy fudge recipes, so I wanted to come up with a good substitution for that ingredient. I found that using full fat coconut milk and whisking in some powdered sugar works very well.
I’ve tried this recipe with various brands of coconut milk, and it works the best when the coconut milk has guar gum in it, like Native Forest or Taste of Thai brand.
The gum seems to help the fudge solidify and hold its shape better. It will not set up right when you use a coconut milk without gum.
Specific Brands to Use
I prefer a dark chocolate fudge, so I use dark chocolate chips (the 85% bittersweet chips from PASCHA), or Enjoy Life Dairy Chocolate Morsels. Both work well.
Some chocolate chips contain extra oils and more sugar, and I do not know for sure how they would work in this fudge. The darker the chocolate the better.
This fudge recipe will NOT work with the Enjoy Life Mini Chips. Other readers have confirmed that milk chocolate chips do NOT work.
I use Taste of Thai brand coconut milk. This recipe has worked every time I use that brand. Native Forest Brand Coconut Milk also works well.
I prefer Wholesome brand powdered sugar that is made with tapioca starch, not cornstarch. (A reader confirmed that she made it with powdered sugar with corn, and also with tapioca starch, and the pan using cornstarch powdered sugar did NOT firm up).
If you deviate from these specific ingredients, you will probably not have success with this recipe.
You can’t use any other type of plant based milk. You can’t use melted chocolate bars. You can’t use regular sugar. If you try those substitutions, please know that your dairy free fudge will likely stay liquid and will not firm up into fudge that you can slice.
Step By Step Instructions
- Line a square pan with parchment paper.
2. Steam the coconut milk in the pan, then add the powdered sugar and stir. Add the chocolate chips, and stir until they melt.
3. Spread the fudge into the prepared pan. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
4. Use the parchment paper to pull the fudge out of the pan. Use a sharp knife to slice the fudge into squares.
Tips
- Line the pan with parchment paper so that it hangs over two sides. This will enable you to be able to pull the slab of fudge out of the pan and slice it into neat squares.
- Allow the fudge to cool in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours.
- Please use the ingredient brands that I suggest. I have tested this recipe many times. You need to use the brands suggested for the fudge to firm up and turn out correctly.
Watch the video below to see how easy this recipe is.
Taste
This fudge is decadent but not overpoweringly sugary and sweet. When I’ve eaten normal fudge in the past, it always tasted too sweet. The sugary quality was a bit too much for my taste buds.
This dairy free version is everything I think fudge should be – rich, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth, and very chocolatey.
More Dairy Free Chocolate Desserts
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Recipe
3 Ingredient Dairy Free Fudge.
Ingredients
- 13.5 ounces canned full fat coconut milk Taste of Thai brand or Native Forest brand
- ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar I use corn free confectioner’s sugar
- 3 cups dairy free dark chocolate chips – PASCHA 85% Bittersweet chips or Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 inch square pan with parchment paper so that there is an overhang on two sides.
- If your can of coconut milk has a lot of excess liquid on the top, pour that out before proceeding.
- Place the coconut milk in a sauce pan and heat over medium low heat, just until it starts to steam a little bit. Sift in the confectioner's sugar and whisk to combine. Do not overheat or boil.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir well until fully melted. This will happen quickly, don’t burn the chocolate.
- Pour into the prepared pan and spread out evenly with a spatula. Let it cool for about 30 minutes on the counter.
- Place in the refrigerator for two to three hours or until the fudge is firm.
- Use the parchment paper to remove the fudge from the pan, then slice into squares.
- Store in an airtight container the refrigerator.
Notes
- Native Forest or Taste of Thai full fat, unsweetened coconut milk
- Powdered sugar that is corn free, like Wholesome brand
- Dairy free, dark chocolate chips – Enjoy Life Dark Morsels or PASCHA brand 85% cocoa work well
Nutrition
Do you have a favorite recipe that you’d like to see an allergy friendly version of? Let me know in the comments!
Follow along:
Gwen
I used powdered sugar with cornstarch and coconut without guar gum, and mine set up. Note, if you’re using a coconut milk that separates into cream and water (which is everything that doesn’t use guar gum), then pour off half the water. Also, a pinch of salt in the batter or sprinkled on top is a game changer.
Gwen
coconut *milk*
Kelly Roenicke
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know!
Bae
Hi there,
This looks like a fantastic recipe. Is this also gluten free? I saw that you filed it under gluten-free, but just want to confirm. Thank you!
Kelly Roenicke
Yes, it is!
georgie @ georgieeats
This looks completely epic!!! I have put the ingredients on my shopping list for next week, cant wait!! Thanks for the inspo xxx
Claire
My husband loves fudge but he is pretty particular about it & our little girl can’t have dairy so I haven’t made any in a while because I don’t want to have something in the house that she would want to try but can’t. It would be awesome if this would work for both of them!! Does it taste coconut-y at all?? & is it chewy or more of he firm side?? If it is really chewy do you have any suggestions on how I might harden it up??
Kelly Roenicke
It does have a faint coconut taste, but not much at all. It’s mostly just really chocolatey. It is fairly firm. But please follow the directions and don’t try any substitutions, as you can see from the comments, it often doesn’t work with this recipe. :)
Emily
Hi! I want to thank you for mentioning the dairy free chips. My husband has loctose intolerance, but chocolate chips have never bothered him until this week. I said ‘don’t worry, I’ve heard there is dairy free chocolate from a receipe I found on pinterest.” Thanks so much for giving us hope! I had no idea that existed until I saw this. Can’t wait to try it.
Monique
What if I used coconut cream ?
Kelly Roenicke
Yes, that will work!
Fred
How long will dairy free fudge stay good? I’m making it for a friend and won’t get it for a week.
Kelly Roenicke
I would say to freeze it if you aren’t going to eat it within a week.
Amy
Does this recepe use dairy product? just saw at this page.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-PqaXnGyR/?hl=en&taken-by=churnitup
Natalie
a couple of questions:
does it taste really coconutty?
I recently made a dish with my own full fat coconut milk condensed and sweetened with maple syrup and it didn’t have a strong coconut flavor.
do you think I can use that here aswell?
thanks!
Dannielle
Why should these be stored in the fridge? Can they be left out all day then back in fridge as leftovers?
Kelly Roenicke
They will melt if left out all day, just due to the nature of coconut milk.
Danielle
I would love to have a dairy, egg, soy a d wheat free thumb print cookie. ?
Kelly Roenicke
Like with jam? I do have a coconut chocolate version here: https://theprettybee.com/chocolate-coconut-thumbprint-cookies/
Anon
Made this for a Gluten and Dairy Free work colleague…I didn’t have chocolate chips so just chopped up dark chocolate..approx 150g is 1 cup of chips. It set fine in the refrigerator overnight..everyone enjoyed it and couldn’t believe it gluten and dairy free
Kelly Roenicke
So glad that it was a hit! Thank you for letting me know!
Lisa
Love this recipe, I used enjoy life 69% cacao so I didn’t add any sugar. I’ve made them twice, one with walnut and once with natural peanut butter swirled in. My bible study devoured the peanut butter one I took to class. They have been a hit every time i share with others. Thank you for this simple healthier recipe. I might try to add sugar free crushed peppermints for Christmas next.
Kelly Roenicke
That’s wonderful to hear! Thank you for letting me know!
Danielle
Made this yesterday and it worked out perfectly! Used Wholesome Sweeteners powdered sugar (uses tapioca starch), Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips (they weren’t called morsels- must be a Canada thing- and the ingredients were named slightly different, but included only ‘cocoa mass’ and ‘brown sugar’) and Earth’s Choice coconut cream. Added a smidge extra sugar and chocolate than called for (basically just made my measuring cups heaping) and left out about 1/4-1/3 cup of the liquid from the coconut cream. It worked out perfectly- exactly the right consistency. It’s a bit bitter for my taste so I’ll try extra sugar next time and/or maybe add a vanilla bean…? Wish me luck. This was great! My husband thanks you :)
Laura
Hi!! Super excited to try this! I noticed Taste of Thai has two full fat coconut milks – one line is called Taste of Thai Kitchen (in a black and red can) and one is in a yellow and green can. You were very specific about this being the coconut milk that works so I wondered if you could specify which of the Taste of Thai coconut milks you used:) Thanks!
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Angie
I made this with regular powdered sugar that contained cornstarch and it worked great. Very creamy.
Eddie
I was very excited to try this out so I gathered the ingredients and made it. Following the ingredient list and instructions exactly, I noticed a few things. I noticed that it needed more sugar (for my taste) and also, it was too liquidy, so I added more chocolate until I ran out, I added 5 cups of chocolate chips before I ran out. My advice to others is that you limit how much coconut milk you add in the beginning, add little by little so it’s spreadable. The whole can made it way too soft, was like ganache. Will try again with my changes in liquid.
Valerie Harrold
I am so disappointed as I tried to follow your recipe to the T. Mine turns out like thick chocolate moose. I don’t know where I am going wrong. I am in Australia but was able to get the True Thai coconut milk. I followed a recipe for the confectioners sugar, and I used dark cooking chocolate. Help, this seems like such a great recipe.
Kelly Roenicke
I’m sorry to hear that! How did you make the confectioner’s sugar?
Louise
Hello Kelly, the pictures look delicious indeed. I made one batch this morning. I was face with some challenges so early in the morning.I live in Québec, Canada and the coconut milk can is 400ml. Ok a converter gives it at 13.526 oz. The chocolate Enjoy life 69% cacao is called Chips/pépites and a bag is 255 grammes or 9 oz. So, as 3 cups equal 24 oz., I would need 3 bags for this recipe. I had one bag so I completed the 3 cups with all the chocolate chips I had. I hope it will taste as good as it looks because it will be the most expensive desert I made so far. 3 bags of chocolate chips 21$, one can of coconut oil 3.75$ on sale.
Can’t wait to taste it!
Ps: quantities in weight an option?