3 Ingredient Cream Cheese Fudge

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.

3 Ingredient Cream Cheese Fudge

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.)
3 Ingredient Cream Cheese Fudge

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.

3 Ingredient Cream Cheese Fudge

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

Heather Baird
This fudge recipe only uses three ingredients, so it’s great when you need a sweet treat fast! Cream cheese gives this candy tangy flavor and luscious texture.
5 from 5 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 13 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 32 pieces

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.

Notes

This fudge can also be made with 2 lbs. of white almond bark with great results.
Keyword 3 ingredient desserts, christmas candy, hazelnut fudge, microwave fudge
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Anonymous
Anonymous
4 years ago

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!

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
4 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

Yes, absolutely! That would be so delicious.

Unknown
Unknown
4 years ago

Hi Heather can I use Cacao Butter in place of the whites chocolate? Thanks

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
4 years ago
Reply to  Unknown

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!

Nikki
Nikki
4 years ago

Lovely! Would this work with pistachios? I'm excited to try

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
4 years ago
Reply to  Nikki

Any nut!

Anonymous
Anonymous
4 years ago

I’m assuming that candied nuts (cinnamon sugared) would work here?

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
4 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

Yum-yes!

Kim
Kim
4 years ago

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?

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
4 years ago
Reply to  Kim

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!

Kim
Kim
4 years ago

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!

Becky
Becky
4 years ago

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.

Mary Laskowski
Mary Laskowski
2 years ago

5 stars
Wonderful! I used 2 bags of ghiradelhi baking chips and 1 bag of toll house white chips with walnuts.

Debbie Graves
Debbie Graves
2 years ago

5 stars
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

Debbie Graves
Debbie Graves
2 years ago
Reply to  Heather Baird

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

Lisa
Lisa
2 years ago

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.

Lisa
Lisa
2 years ago
Reply to  Heather Baird

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!

Alyssa
Alyssa
1 year ago

Could you freeze this and pull out later with same great taste

Robin Kramer
Robin Kramer
1 year ago

What about using Lilly’s chips and making it low carb?

Carmell
Carmell
1 year ago

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?

Lisa Fisher
Lisa Fisher
3 months ago

Does this fudge need to stay in refrigerator or counter top. How long does it last.