Brown Sugar Fudge

Brown sugar fudge, also known as penuche, is an old-fashioned candy with rich caramel notes and the nuttiness of walnuts or pecans. This decadent candy is a delicious addition to your holiday dessert table.

Good friends are one of the things that make the holidays wonderful. When good friends can come together to share good food…well, there is hardly anything better than that.

From the very beginning of this blog, my friend Kathleen has been one of my most loyal readers. Long-time readers may remember Kathleen as the source of these incredible banana oatmeal muffins and the best peach ice cream.

Probably close to 10 years ago now, I helped her make a few of her grandmother’s old candy recipes as a surprise for her mom. One of those recipes was this fudge. 

But instead of me regaling you with how perfectly rich and creamy this fudge is, or how my family thought they’d died and gone to Heaven when I brought this recipe to Thanksgiving, or how it really isn’t scary to make fudge at all (I have given you detailed instructions…you’ll do fine!), I thought I would let Kathleen tell you about why this recipe is so important to her and her family.

After all, I really do believe that it is the history of this brown sugar fudge (also known as penuche) that really gives it that something special.

Marge’s brown sugar fudge recipe

From Kathleen:

My grandma, Marge, loved everything about sharing her gifts with her family. Whether it was knitting someone a pair of socks, needlepointing a gorgeous ornament, or spending hours in the kitchen creating meals and sweet treats for her family, it was always clear that an immense amount of love went into anything that she touched. 

Going to her house around the holidays was always a highlight of the year. She lived in the countryside of Madison, Indiana; every year, the first stop I made once we arrived was to her breezeway that had a table full of wonderful treasures.

Without a doubt, you could always find a variety of treats, such as Sugar cookies, German Chocolate Cake, Mexican Wedding Cakes, and fudge. 

Every year, she would make four different varieties of fudge: divinity, chocolate, coconut, and brown sugar. All of these recipes were carefully hand-written in her own personal cookbook binder.

She would write “good” next to her favorites, and the Brown Sugar Fudge recipe was labeled as “real good” (very high praise, indeed). That one was always my mom’s favorite. 

My fondest holiday memories at her house are all of us gathered around the fireplace playing cards and eating plates of cookies and treats. They were simple holidays that immediately made you feel cozy and calm. 

Holidays are always hard after a loved one passes away. We make new memories while keeping some old traditions, but it’s never the same. After my grandma passed away in 2009, my mom experimented with making some of the fudges.

While my mom is an incredible baker, the fudge proved to be a worthy foe. After a year or two, she decided to suspend trying to recreate it.

In 2012, I recruited Stephie to help me make them as a Christmas surprise for my mom. Stephie was so patient with me and taught me all the steps of how to do it. (Side note – I cannot emphasize enough what a different a good candy thermometer makes.)

She and I spent the afternoon making all four types of fudge that we hadn’t had in years. It really felt like having a little piece of my grandma back, and it should go without saying that my mom was floored. 

We’ve made the Brown Sugar Fudge almost every year since. Now that I have my kids of my own, my mom spends the holidays baking with them and telling them stories about their Great Grandma Marge. They know that she loved to bake and feed her family, just like their grandma does now. 

And those handwritten recipes? They’ve been photocopied and made into full cookbooks for everyone in our family. Only a very few number of people outside of the family have one of these cookbooks, and Stephie is one of them. 

Our holidays and traditions have evolved and changed over time, but we still come back to these recipes every year. And I know that Marge would be absolutely chuffed to know that her recipes were reaching people far beyond Madison, Indiana. Sharing her food with others brought her immense joy, and my family is incredibly grateful that her recipes will continue to be cherished by families around the world.

How to make brown sugar fudge

There are some easy fudge recipes out there that use condensed milk or evaporated milk as a shortcut. This cuts down the time and energy and some of the seemingly finicky bits of making homemade fudge.

This is a more traditional candy recipe, made with some very simple ingredients.

Even though this brown sugar fudge does take a little while to make and requires a candy thermometer, the steps aren’t really that difficult. I’m going to walk you through it so even beginner candy makers can nail this recipe.

Ingredients you’ll need

Like many candy recipes, the ingredients for this recipe are super simple. You’ll need:

• 4 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts optional, but highly recommended

You can use light brown or dark brown sugar in this fudge. Light brown sugar is what we typically use and is most traditional, from what I can tell.

Dark brown sugar will yield a sweeter candy with more molasses notes.

Half-and-half is a dairy product sold here in the US that is a mix of whole milk and heavy cream. If you cannot find half-and-half where you live, use 3/4 cup each of whole milk (not reduced-fat milk) and heavy cream instead.

The nuts are technically optional, but highly recommended. You can use pecans or walnuts, whichever you prefer.

Making this recipe

To make Marge’s brown sugar fudge, start by adding the brown sugar, half-and-half, and butter to a medium-sized pot. When in doubt, use a pot bigger than you think you might need – you’ll be stirring this pretty vigorously later, so you want to make sure you have room to work.

Place the pot over medium heat and let the butter and sugar melt, stirring occasionally.

Clip your candy thermometer to the side of the pot. Make sure the tip of the thermometer is covered by the candy but is not touching the bottom of the pot, or else you won’t get an accurate reading.

Keep cooking over medium heat, allowing the mixture to boil, still stirring occasionally. Let the candy cook until it reaches the soft ball stage, about 230°F. 

Once it reaches this point, take the pan off the heat and let rest until it cools to 110°F. 

DO NOT STIR the candy during this period! I mean it, don’t even think about it. Stirring it will cause the sugar to crystallize and become grainy in an undesirable way. 

While the fudge cools, prep an 8×8-inch pan or baking dish by greasing it and lining it with parchment paper.

Once the candy is back down to 110°F, add in the vanilla and the chop nuts. Using a wooden spoon, stir the bejeezus out of it until the mixture thickens, loses its glossiness, and takes on a “creamy” look.

This is going to take 5-10 minutes and stirring will get more difficult as it cools, so prepare yourself now for the arm workout.

If stirring it by hand is inaccessible to you, you can try using an electric hand mixer and mixing on low speed for this step. (Do not use an electric mixer for this if your pot has a nonstick coating!)

Pour the fudge into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Leave it at room temperature for several hours or overnight to set.

Once the brown sugar fudge has set, remove it from the pan and use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut it into small squares.

Candy storage and gifting

Store your brown sugar fudge in an airtight container lined with waxed paper or parchment paper. Keep the candy at room temperature.

Do not be tempted to put it in the fridge or freezer! Even when kept at room temperature, it’ll stay good for a couple of weeks.

This fudge makes a great holiday gift and ships really well. Package it up in some small cookie boxes or small tins and you’ve got the perfect Christmas gift for neighbors or coworkers.