2-Ingredient Vanilla Fudge Is The Luscious Snack You Deserve

If you have a sweet tooth, you know that satisfying it is a Sisyphean task. As soon as you've finished one bag of Milano cookies or a pint of Ben and Jerry's, you're on to the next. While these store-bought treats are certainly delicious, making your own desserts can be much tastier, and isn't near as hard as you may think.

One of the best and, it so happens, one of the easiest desserts you can make at home is vanilla fudge. All you need to do is mix 14 ounces of condensed milk with 12 ounces of melted white chocolate chips, put it in a pan, and allow it to harden in the refrigerator.

You can use whatever condensed milk you like, though it may be worth using fat-free since white chocolate contains a lot of fat. As for the white chocolate chips, you should use the best possible quality you can get, with the best white chocolates having a clean, slightly sweet, and milky flavor with light notes of cocoa and vanilla. Cheaper chocolates rely too heavily on sugar and added flavors, including stronger notes of vanilla that can make your two-ingredient fudge taste cloying rather than divine.

If you prefer more complex desserts, don't fret. There are plenty of ways to upgrade your two-ingredient fudge. The simplest upgrade is to split your condensed milk into two parts, mixing white chocolate into one part and milk or dark chocolate into the other, then loosely combining them to make streaky fudge or layering them together for a tiered look.

What if you prefer white chocolate over any other kind? If that's the case, there are some seasonings and extracts that go wonderfully with it. Nutmeg and cinnamon are perfect holiday flavors, for example, or you can add a few drops of a citrusy extract for a bold flavor or some rose water for a more delicate dessert.

If you'd like to add some texture, your favorite nut or nuts are a tried-and-true fudge addition. You can also mix in pieces of your favorite candy. M&Ms are superb for this for several reasons, including the crunch they add, the extra chocolate (and peanut, or pretzel, or caramel, or...) flavor, and especially because the colors of their shells get gorgeously streaky in the fudge as they melt while you mix them in.