This is a big plus to attending Thanksgiving on my side of the family: Marcella’s Fudge may be eaten before dinner. It is right there with the appetizers.
Most of us thought Marcella was a relative from the Old Country (Wisconsin). My sister, Janie and I only just asked this year… turns out Marcella was the wife of one of my dad’s co-workers from a long ago job. Well, THAT surprise inheritance just went *poof.*
Whenever our mom made Marcella’s Fudge, she’d leave a knife sitting right in the pan in the ‘fridge. We grew up feeling fully entitled to taking a chunk whenever.
Janie is the master maker of Marcella’s Fudge; she brings massive quantities to every function – with and without walnuts, cut into various sized pieces. It is creamy, dense, and melts in your mouth. None of us even bothers making it ourselves; Janie makes enough for all of us to take home leftovers. She is nice that way.
Every cook should have a good fudge recipe. Just make sure the walnuts you use are really fresh, incredible difference (we’re really proud of our California walnuts). Now that I’m not related to Marcella, I have no loyalty to keeping her recipe a secret. Here, take it!
Marcella’s Fudge
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2 cups sugar
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5 oz. can evaporated milk
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4 oz. margarine
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1 12-ounce pkg. chocolate chips
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1 tsp. vanilla
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3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional
Spray an 8 x 8-inch pan with nonstick spray. In a heavy saucepan, mix together sugar, milk and margarine. Bring to a boil. Boil exactly 6 minutes; stir constantly. Turn heat off. Beat chocolate chips into the mixture. Add vanilla; beat for 3 minutes. Add nuts, if desired. Pour into pan, chill.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Julienne — use semi-sweet chocolate chips. The milk chocolate would produce a much sweeter fudge, in my opinion. This is sweet enough. I scored a dozen pieces on Thanksgiving, snuck them out of the party without being noticed. YEA.
Saw this as one of your Best Recipes and still on the look out for an outstanding fudge recipe and want to make this for Christmas this year. Do you use semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips? Or what do you prefer?
thanks! you just saved me (and my family) from Chocolate overload!! I bought the bigger bag, but it seemed like too much. It’s cooking as I type! Thank you! Merry Christmas!
Hi Patti! So what size is a “large” bag of chocolate chips??? the regular bag or the 24 ounce bag?
Patti comments: Good eye! It’s the 12-oz, I just fixed the recipe, thanks for that. Marcella = bad recipe writer.
We may have to follow Janie’s lead & take this to OUR family gatherings…so everyone can GATHER ‘ROUND it!!
Thanks, Patti!
Nice, Patti – one even I can make. MB
Thanks Pattyi! Can’t wait to try this one!
Can I substitute peanut butter for chocolate chips, or do I need to adjust the margarine too??? If not, do you have a peanut butter fudge recipe. Thanks!
Patti comments: my family never strays from the original version, but I would bet you could use half chocolate and half peanut butter chips with success.
This fudge looks great! Question: do we beat in the chips with a spoon or a mixer? Thanks for posting this recipe. I would love to make this for my students.
Patti comments: wooden spoon.