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I bought a candy thermometer a few weeks ago and over the weekend I finally busted it out and put it to work! We actually made a bunch of awesome treats (making candy is so much fun!), but my favorite was definitely this sweet and salty brown sugar fudge. It reminds me of weekends down the shore! Which is nice to reminisce on now that it’s starting to cool down around these parts.
Making fudge is a lot less scary than you may think, so don’t worry if you’ve never worked a candy thermometer before; you can do this! The most important part of the whole process is keeping a close eye on the temperature, and pulling it off the heat once it reaches its number goal. Simple stuff!
The hardest part? Waiting for it to cool in the pan! Patience is a virtue 😉
Salted Brown Sugar & Honey Fudge
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, divided
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan combine the sugars, honey, cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and vanilla bean. Place pan over medium heat and whisk until sugars are dissolved. Place a candy thermometer in the pan, and cook the mixture - stirring occasionally - until the temperature registers at 240 degrees (F). Remove pan from heat. Add the butter, stir until completely melted, then leave the mixture to stand - with the thermometer still in - until it's cooled to 120 degrees (F).
- Pour the fudge into a parchment paper lined baking pan (I used an 8x8 square cake pan), sprinkle with remaining sea salt, and let set for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. Cut into tiny squares and serve, or store in an airtight container. Fudge will last up to 7 days.
Looks like we both have fudge on the brains today! Yours looks awesome!
Come on now, these are totally ship-able! I’ll trade you for some Toot Sweet Caramels 🙂
Fudge is my weakness, love this salted goodness recipe!
I’m so scared of using my candy thermometer but you make it look so easy and tasty!!
Um, this looks amazing. I absolutely love this flavor combo! I had a bad experience making fudge and vowed never to do it again…so please send me some? 😉
Oh man, homemade fudge is the best! I love the sweet/salty action, definitely will have to try this soon!
I have never made my own fudge, but these photos make me want to whip up a batch immediately and sink my teeth into a big ‘ol chunk. Yum.
wow that looks so divine and heavenly….yum!!! xO!
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Love fudge and this salted brown sugar version sounds fabulous!
WOWWWWWW… you are killing me. I need to invest in a candy thermometer asap. The only time of year I eat fudge is when I go to the Jersey Shore, I love the vanilla walnut fudge. Love your version, anything salted is good.
ughhhhh this is something i’m craving right this second!!!
OMG yuuuuum! I need to invest in a candy thermometer and make these asap. I’m going to be in your neck of the woods this week! I’ll be there weds-fri for work. 🙂
Looks fabulous, I love salted sweet stuff! One question though regarding the salt. You say “sprinkle with remaining sea salt”. How much of the 1/2 tsp goes into the sugar/cream mix? I added about a 1/4 tsp and am hoping its about right. I’m just waiting to get to 240 degrees, waiting until it’s cool enough to eat is going to be tough!
I just sprinkled an additional 1/4 teaspoon on top 😉 I’ll add it to the instructions now! Let me know how it turns out! xo
Thanks for the info and oh my goodness, this IS fabulous, or at least the scrapings from around the sides of the pan are 🙂 I got a couple of tablespoons of fudge and sprinkled with some sea salt, just to do some quality control of course! It only took 10 mins to reach a palatable temp. I was afraid that I’d messed up at first as the consistency is very ‘caramelly’ when it’s hot. Once the fudge cools though, is has lovely sugary, melty texture. I hope that’s right! Another three hours before the rest of the family get to try some, I doubt there will be any left this time tomorrow.
Thank you for the recipe.
Yay! I’m so happy you love it 🙂
Instead of using no vanilla bean how much of vanilla flavoring would you use
Looks soooo good. Salty honey, brown butter? Yes, always.
So every time I have had fudge, it is a bit crumbly and crystallized. I’ve never made it myself though. Looks really yummy though!
Got to LOVE brown sugar, honey and salt! These are awesome and perfect gifts for the holidays (yea, I am a freak and already thinking like that!)!
Oh, dear…I am in trouble now! I am such a sucker for butterscotch, caramel, brown sugar goodness and all things salty-sweet. This fudge? Must make soon. Thanks for sharing, girl!
I’m not much of a dessert person but these look perfect!!!
Um, can you send some of these to me? They look perfect! I broke my candy thermometer…I need to make these as soon as possible. Thank you for sharing!
You know I love brown butter, this fudge looks like heaven!
Every time I start heating sugar to make caramel or candy I feel thoroughly petrified…but the end results is so worth those minutes of fear. Love this sweet salty brown sugar fudge! No way I’d be able to stop at just one (or five) pieces!
Oh my goodness, this fudge is perfection. And I’ve never made homemade fudge before!! Need to do this immediately. Awesome!
This would be the best gift for someone, wrapped in some cute boxes! You should start a fudgery haha… I don’t think fudgery is a word, but you should!!
I am guessing it is 1 1/2 cups brown sugar? Recipe doesn’t specify.
Ah yes! Sorry. The 1 1/2 brown sugar = 1 1/2 cups brown sugar. I’ll add that in now. Thank you!
This recipe is soooo good – the butter/brown sugar/salt combination is just right for our family, BUT
I’m disappointed in the texture; it’s very grainy. I’ve used a candy thermometer quite a bit so I don’t think temperature was the problem. I’ve read that too much stirring, or that scraping down the sides of the pan and mixing in the crystals that form there, can cause more crystallization . Any suggestions?
YUM! Homemade fudge is totally worth the candy thermometer investment 🙂
Oh wow, Ashley, this sounds incredible. Brown sugar is always a win – so caramely and rich. And in this fudge. Heaven. Pinned!
Just curious, but what sort of room do you live in that is between 140-120F?
That is just the temperature the thermometer should be before pouring it into the pan.
This is amazing! We must be on the same wavelength–I also just purchased a candy thermometer, and had no idea what to try first! Yum 🙂
I’ve never made real fudge before, just the microwave cheat kind. This looks totally worth the effort. I love the sweet and salty combination!
These look so simply delectable!
All I can say is…whooooaaaaa.
This fudge sounds totally incredible love that combination of the sweet and salty especially with the honey in there too!
I made this recipe today. Mine came out grainy and darker in color than yours. What did I do wrong? Did you use light brown sugar or dark? I put the vanilla bean into the mixture as I thought this is what was instructed. It is still in the cooling phase but doesn’t look creamy and didn’t when I put it into the pan. I took it off the heat at exactly 240F.
I just made these and the same thing happened to me. Even though I followed the directions and thought the sugar had dissolved as it cools the fudge is becoming more grainy. The flavor is great, just the texture seems off.
Hi Clarissa. Did you cook the sugar – stirring constantly – until it was completely liquified? The final result should be a snappy, flaky outer shell and a smooth brown sugar center.
Is the amount for the regular sugar 1/2 of a cup? It says 1/2 cups. Mine is about three hours into cooling and seems like caramel, not fudge. Not sure what I did wrong. I did not stir at all once it hit 240 and took it off the heat. I did stir alot when it was getting up to temp because it was bubbling so much. what do you think went wrong? or will I wake up and it will be fudge?!
Hi Anne. How did it come out? I’m not sure what the other commenters reference to in quantity, but the listed amount in the recipe is correct.
In October 2013 someone asked about the brown sugar amount…and it had talked about 1 1/2 cups brown sugar.
Hi Anne. Honestly, I have no idea why it turned out that way. The three times I’ve made this fudge it always comes out like, well, fudge. I am going to re-make this as soon as I can and get back to you on my results.
Can you check the sugar amounts? One comment says 1 1/2 c brown sugar, but now the recipe says 2 c brown sugar and only 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Mine cane out like caramel, and I thought maybe there wasn’t enough sugar to crystalize. I did not stir after removing from heat. Thanks!
It’s like a pan of caramel sauce. I think I can scrape it off the paper into a jar. What do you think went wrong? I really did follow the directions exactly.
I had the same thing happen. I am going to start playing around with this recipe to see if I can get it to come together like a fudge instead of a caramel.
Hi! This looks amazing! I notice you never specified whether it’s light or dark brown sugar and I know that can make a huge difference.
Also can vanilla extract be substituted since vanilla beans can be expensive and hard to come by (especially fair trade)?
I’m thinking about upping the honey content for mine just a bit because I’m making this for a book club meeting and the book has to do with honey.
Look forward to trying this!
I am completely unwilling to try to find a vanilla bean. lol How much extract would I need to use? any idea?
Mine turned out more like sticky caramel that can’t be cut into pieces, it’s definitely not smooth thick fudge. Don’t know what I did wrong!