This 3 Ingredient Cream Cheese Fudge recipe is great when you need a sweet treat fast! Cream cheese gives this candy tangy flavor and luscious texture.
This might just be my favorite advent recipe so far. It’s so quick to make and the end result tastes like you’ve toiled over a hot pot of boiling candy. I will be making many batches in the next couple of weeks, because I want to share this revelation with everyone!
The idea for this recipe began when I decided to see how much I could pare down a favorite fudge recipe and still have excellent results. Just three ingredients will get you a fantastic 2 lb. pan of fudge if you use my best tips for preparation. The players: cream cheese, white chocolate, and nuts.
- To coax out the best possible flavor it is important to toast those nuts! (5-7 minutes in a preheated oven.) Use your favorite nut or mixture of nuts.
- Philadelphia cream cheese will yield the best flavor and consistency in this recipe. Store brands will work, but in this case, the name brand had the tastiest results.
- Baker’s white chocolate bars gave the candy a lovely texture and subtle cocoa butter note. Real white chocolate will yield the best pan of fudge. (More on this.)
This fudge is so creamy! And the toasted nuts give it such a lovely flavor and bite. I think the toasted walnut version was my favorite. Speaking of versions…
Testing… testing. And more testing!
This recipe was tested repeatedly! Here are the findings and photos of each iteration, L to R.
The first version was made with toasted walnuts and almond bark (vanilla candy coating). This was the most economical version, and tasted great. It had a distinct vanilla note, but the texture wasn’t quite as soft as the white chocolate version.
The second version was made with toasted pecans and candy melting wafers. This works, but it was not our favorite. The texture was a little too firm, and didn’t have the nice flavor the almond bark version had. But the toasted pecans were good, and overall it is still not the worst piece of fudge I’ve ever had.
The third version was the clear winner made with real white chocolate. You’ll need 2 lbs. of white chocolate, which is 8 four-ounce Baker’s chocolate bars. This could get pricey but fortunately most grocery stores have baking ingredients discounted around the holidays.
I plan to make this, plus my popular 3 Minute 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge recipe for my Holiday Open House this weekend. These recipes make it easy to have an abundance of delicious treats in no time flat! I hope you’ll give them a try.
Three Ingredient Cream Cheese Fudge
Equipment
- 8×8 inch square pan
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened (recommend Philadelphia)
- 32 oz. Baker’s white chocolate bars, chopped 32 oz. total, or eight 4 oz. bars
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 square pan with foil that overhangs all four sides of the pan. Spritz with cooking spray and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat cream cheese until fluffy.
- Place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat at 100% power for one minute. Stir and heat again in 30 second increments, stirring after each session until all candy is melted and smooth. (You may also melt in a saucepan on the stove top over low heat.)
- Pour the melted candy coating over the cream cheese and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl to make sure there are no pockets of cream cheese. Set a timer and beat for 7 minutes on high speed. The mixture will look lumpy at first; this is normal. When the mixture is smooth, fold in the chopped nuts, and spoon into the prepared pan. Spread out the mixture evenly, and into the corners of the pan. Refrigerate to cool and set at least 1 hour.
- Carefully lift the block of fudge from the pan with the edges of the foil. Peel away all foil. Cut the fudge into 8 strips and then cut each strip into 8 pieces, 1 inch squares. Store the fudge in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Hi Heather! Can this be made with dark/bittersweet/semisweet chocolate instead of white? I'd love to make it for a holiday gathering coming up. Thanks!
Yes, absolutely! That would be so delicious.
Hi Heather can I use Cacao Butter in place of the whites chocolate? Thanks
Hi! I think it would work, although I haven't tried it. I can't say for sure. I feel like you might have to store the fudge in the freezer since cacao butter sets softer that white chocolate. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out!
Lovely! Would this work with pistachios? I'm excited to try
Any nut!
I’m assuming that candied nuts (cinnamon sugared) would work here?
Yum-yes!
If I wanted to add tart dried cherries, roughly chopped, would I need to proportionally remove nuts, or would this recipe accommodate increased mix-ins?
Hi Kim, this recipe will definitely accomodate mix-ins. I'd say 1/2 cup of chopped dried cherries would be about right. Thanks for asking!
SO GOOD!!! I used toasted chopped almonds and the dried tart cherries (a cup, because Go Big or Go Home!) This was supposed to be for the neighbors’ cookie trays, but I don’t know whether it will last that long!
I made these with toasted pecans and I used quality Ghirardelli white chocolate bars so they were very expensive to make. They're very rich so a little goes a long way – making them great for numerous packages of varied Christmas sweets.
Wonderful! I used 2 bags of ghiradelhi baking chips and 1 bag of toll house white chips with walnuts.
This fudge is unbelievable. I made a mistake instead of 4 cups of the white chocolate I forgot the last cup and only put in 3 cups . It was still fantastic . I did toast the walnuts . I’m planning on making again with cranberries and next time I will remember all 4 cups thank you so much for sharing, so easy and so great
Hi Debbie,
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve completed a recipe, only to turn around and find an ingredient on the counter that was supposed to go in. That’s great that the fudge still worked! Thanks for reporting back!
Well Heather, I have now made 2 more batches. I made the white chocolate using dried cranberries , and I made a chocolate with the walnuts . I put the 4 cups in this time. Thank you so much for this great simple recipe. It is so versatile . It will be my go to one. I will definitely be following you.
Merry Christmas Heather
Forgot to spritz the foil with cooking spray! 😭 It’s chilling now…keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to separate the fudge from the foil.
Hi Lisa,
I hope everything went okay! I think the foil should have peeled off the fudge fairly easily. If you have a chance, let me know how you fared with the fudge!
Thank goodness, it peeled off with a little effort. I won’t make that mistake again. The fudge turned out delicious and was a huge hit with the family! I’ll be making it again for sure. Thank you!
Could you freeze this and pull out later with same great taste
Hi! You should be able to freeze without any trouble. Be sure to double wrap it.
What about using Lilly’s chips and making it low carb?
I don’t see why not – I think that’s a great idea! I might try it for my diabetic dad.
This looks fantastic! Do you think I could drizzle Nutella over the top of fudge and then swirl it in with a skewer…or do you think the fudge sets up too fast for that?
Hi! The fudge does set up pretty quickly, but if you are swift with your swirling I think it would work!
Does this fudge need to stay in refrigerator or counter top. How long does it last.
Hi Lisa,
It will keep on the countertop for about 5 days, but you can extend the freshness by keeping it air tight and refrigerating it. If you go the refrigeration route, bring the fudge to room temperature before serving for the best flavor. Refrigerated, it will last about 7-9 days.