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This foolproof peanut butter fudge with marshmallow cream is quick and easy with just 5 ingredients – it’s creamy and soft with so much peanut butter flavor! Fudge can be finicky – so use my tested recipe to make it perfectly!
This is the old fashioned peanut butter fudge you’ll remember from your childhood – that creamy soft texture and peanut buttery flavor from scratch – like the kind you get on vacation. This is the BEST peanut butter fudge recipe – it’s easy with only 5 ingredients. It’s fantastic fudge, made with marshmallow cream. You don’t need any butter or confectioners’ sugar for this recipe and it has so much amazing peanut butter flavor. Plus – it’s freezer friendly!
Why this recipe works:
- Unlike other recipes, you don’t need a candy thermometer to make this fudge. No special equipment needed! You only need a saucepan and a baking dish.
- You only need four ingredients and about 10 minutes to make it! It’s a great recipe for the holidays when you need a batch of something sweet on short notice.
- This fudge starts to set immediately and is ready to slice after an hour in the fridge.
- I’ve tested this numerous times and it always works as long as I follow the directions.
Ingredients Needed
- Granulated Sugar instead of powdered sugar
- Milk: use whole milk, no substitutions
- Marshmallow Cream: also called marshmallow fluff – no substitutions
- Peanut Butter: use a regular processed (shelf-stable) peanut butter like Skippy or Jif. Do not use a natural peanut butter.
How to make Peanut Butter Fudge
- Combine sugar and milk in a 3-quart saucepan on a stove-top.
- Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Make sure it is at a ROLLING boil. Once it starts to boil, boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
- Immediately stir in peanut butter and marshmallow creme until blended.
- Immediately spread into a prepared 9×9-inch pan lined with aluminum foil or parchment; cool to room temperature. Then chill until firm.
Variations
- You can stir in chocolate chips or chopped nuts after stirring in the vanilla.
- We also love making chocolate fudge and easy fudge with sweetened condensed milk or 2 ingredient fudge with frosting.
- Instead of peanut butter try making my Oreo Fudge (or stir in some Oreos after the vanilla).
Expert Tips
- Be sure to have all your ingredients ready to go when you start – making fudge goes fast!
- This easy peanut butter fudge sets very quickly and is ready to slice after it’s chilled for an hour. In fact, as soon as you pour the mixture into the dish you will notice it will start to firm up almost immediately.
- I do not recommend making this in the microwave.
- You can rescue soft fudge by mixing some powdered sugar. But if this fudge is cooked properly you will not need to do this.
Storage
The best way to store fudge to keep it fresh is in the refrigerator. I recommend slicing it and storing the slices in an airtight container. Separate them with wax paper and the fudge will keep well for up to a week. This fudge can be frozen in an airtight container for up to one month.
FAQs
Grainy fudge usually happens because the sugar has not completely dissolved into the milk. Be sure to stir well and continuously while the milk and sugar boil to ensure it fully dissolves.
Chances are it didn’t set because it wasn’t cooked hot enough. It needs to stay at a continuous rolling boil for 3 minutes.
You can add some powdered sugar and mix and it should help it set up. How much powdered sugar depends on how thin it is. To offset the extra sweetness, add some extra salt.
Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (118ml) whole milk
- 1 ½ cups (400g) creamy peanut butter
- 7 ounces marshmallow creme (1 jar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line an 9-in. square pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Assemble all your ingredients because this recipe goes fast.
- Combine sugar and milk in a 3-quart saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once it starts to boil, boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
- Immediately stir in peanut butter, vanilla, and marshmallow creme until blended. Immediately spread into prepared pan; cool slightly.
- Refrigerate until firm. Using foil, lift fudge out of pan. Remove foil; cut into squares. Store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Use a regular store peanut butter, not a natural one where you have to stir it. You can use Skippy or Jif Naturals, but not a fully natural peanut butter.
- This fudge needs to be at a rolling boil for a full 3 minutes. It will reach approximately 234°F (soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer in this time. As long as the fudge is at a full boil before you start your timer you don’t have to use a candy thermometer.
- This easy peanut butter fudge sets very quickly and is ready to slice after it’s chilled for an hour. In fact, as soon as you pour the mixture into the dish you will notice it will start to firm up almost immediately.
- For this recipe, after the fudge has set, you don’t need to keep it in the refrigerator. I recommend slicing it and storing the slices in an airtight container. Separate them with wax paper and the fudge will keep well for up to a week.
- This fudge can be frozen in an airtight container for up to one month.
- This fudge cannot be made in the microwave.
I thoroughly enjoy peanut butter fudge, and this recipe looks so easy and the fudge looks so yummy . . . I can’t wait to make some!! However, I am (like a few others have commented) seeing vanilla in the picture of ingredients but do not see it listed in the recipe. The comment was made the recipe would be amended to show that. I guess my question is . . . is the vanilla necessary? If so, please amend the recipe to show how much. Thank you!!
Hi Dorothy,
I see where reviewers have asked about the vanilla and you said you would correct the recipe I don’t see the corrected recipe so how much vanilla and when do you add it? Thanks for your recipes, Karen
Hi, Dorothy—I can’t wait to try this recipe, but I was wondering…since I love PNButter-Chocolate fudge the most, do you think I could add melted chocolate chips to your recipe? Or, would this totally mess it up? Thank you for your help—or from any of the Commenters, as well!🙏🏻
Umm…I noticed you said to reduce the powdered sugar in several of the comments, yet the recipe calls for granulated, excepting when trying to thicken fudge which didn’t set. So – which is the correct sugar?
I also saw an earlier comment asking when to add the vanilla, to which you replied at the very end. The problem is – there’s no vanilla listed or shown anywhere in this recipe.
Would you please be so kind as to clarify both of these, as I’d like to make a batch for our Thanksgiving dessert tray.
Thanks so much, from Terry the Confused 😂 in Alberta, Canada 🇨🇦
In the photos of the ingredients, it shows vanilla flavoring but it is not mentioned in the recipe. Also some of the reviewers say they used powdered sugar, but the ingredients list granulated sugar. Can you clarify? Thank you!
Sorry about that – the vanilla goes in at the end, I’ll edit the recipe. It’s granulated sugar – I have never used powdered.
Can I use marshmallows, if so how much?
I’m afraid that would be a different recipe – I haven’t tried it. Fudge is so finicky I don’t suggest substitutions.
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