Easy Hot Fudge Sauce
This rich, velvety, and easy hot fudge sauce is made with 4 ingredients in about 5 minutes. It’s so quick that I can whip it up any time we want to have a make-your-own sundae night at home. This rish chocolate sauce is perfect gluten free topping for ice cream, or even for swirling into brownies and drizzling into a glass for coffee drinks or cocktails!
Delicious Details
- Cuisine Inspiration: American
- Primary Cooking Method: Stovetop
- Dietary Info: Gluten-free
- Skill Level: Easy
Hot fudge sauce is a staple in our house because we love to celebrate special occasions with ice cream sundaes. New Year’s Eve starts with making our own gluten free pizza and ends with setting out bowls of toppings to pile on top of our scoops of ice cream. Do my kids want cake for their birthday? Nope, they beg for sundaes.
And, of course, the best part of an ice cream sundae is the toppings, like sprinkles, caramel sauce, and hot fudge sauce, which is where this recipe comes in. Thick, rich, velvety, and oh so chocolatey, it takes even a basic scoop of vanilla ice cream to the next level and satisfies the most intense chocolate cravings. You’ll never buy a jar at the store again!
Why This Is The Best Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe
- Just 4 ingredients. This recipe is made with heavy cream, cocoa powder, corn syrup, and chocolate chips. That’s it! Salt is an optional 5th ingredient. If you keep corn syrup on hand, you can likely make this hot fudge sauce anytime the craving strikes.
- Ready in 10 minutes. The best thing about this recipe is just how simple it is to make. Four ingredients, a saucepan, a whisk, and 10 minutes is all you need. Plus, it stores well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Rich & chocolatey. The combination of using both semi-sweet chocolate and cocoa powder means this hot fudge sauce is extra rich and chocolatey. That’s part of the reason it’s so good in a sundae, over a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Hot Fudge vs Ganache vs Glaze
I’ve had people ask me if hot fudge sauce and chocolate ganache are the same thing. The answer is no. Ganache is made with chocolate and heavy cream and, since it doesn’t have corn syrup, hardens when it cools. It’s used as a frosting or topping on many desserts.
Hot fudge sauce doesn’t harden like ganache, thanks to the corn syrup, and while it thickens when it’s cold, it’s meant to be served warm and drizzled over ice cream.
My chocolate glaze is a bit in the middle. It’s thinner than this hot fudge sauce, but it does contain the corn syrup to keep it soft and pliable, unlike ganache. It’s perfect for donuts and eclairs.
All three are similar and share ingredients; their uses are just a bit different!
Ingredient Notes
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this hot fudge recipe, why you need them, and possible substitutions. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
- Heavy cream: If you don’t have heavy cream, I have made it using milk or even almond milk. It doesn’t turn out quite as thick, but it is still smooth and delicious.
- Cocoa powder: I’m a classic Hershey’s Cocoa Powder kinda gal. Feel free to use your favorite.
- Corn syrup: If you prefer not to use corn syrup, brown rice syrup works just fine in this recipe.
- Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate: I usually use chocolate chips because I typically always have a big bag on hand. And it’s quicker to grab a scoop of chips than chop up a bar if I want to make this quick. But either works fine.
- Salt: Optional, if you like to pop the flavors a little more.
How To Make Hot Fudge Sauce
One thing I love about this recipe is that it takes less than 10 minutes to make! The printable instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- Whisk. Whisk the heavy cream, cocoa powder, and corn syrup together in a small saucepan until smooth.
- Simmer. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Then, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until it thickens slightly.
- Add the chocolate. Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the chocolate until smooth and melted. Add the optional salt, if desired.
- Enjoy. Allow the hot fudge to cool slightly and then use immediately or transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate.
Tips & Variations
- Make it boozy: Swap the heavy cream for Irish cream to turn this recipe into Five Minute Bailey’s Fudge Sauce. So good!
- Try it with coffee creamer: You can also swap the heavy cream with Irish cream coffee creamer or any other flavor of coffee creamer for a fun, flavorful twist. Pumpkin spice and hazelnut are super yummy! Just be sure to check the labels and ensure the creamer is gluten free, if needed.
- Use a small saucepan: Since this recipe doesn’t make a huge amount of fudge sauce, I like to use a 1-quart saucepan so that it doesn’t boil and burn too quickly.
- Whisk constantly: Be sure to whisk frequently as you heat the mixture so that it doesn’t burn. Whisking constantly also helps the chocolate melt faster when it’s added. I like to use this small whisk.
How Long Does Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce Last?
If you transfer it to a jar, such as a mason jar, and seal it tightly, it will last in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
Keep in mind that it will thicken when it’s cold, so you’ll need to warm it up before using. You can reheat it in the microwave, stirring every 15 to 30 seconds, or warm it over low heat on the stovetop until pourable.
Ways To Use It
- In an ice cream sundae: Drizzle it over your favorite ice cream (we love this No-Churn Cheesecake Ice Cream) and top it with some whipped cream and sprinkles.
- In ice cream cake: Let it cool a bit and use it as the middle layer of a Homemade Ice Cream Cake.It could also be used in Reese’s Ice Cream Cake and Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake.
- Add to other desserts: Swirl it through some Gluten Free Brownies before baking to give them a fudgy twist.
- Stir into drinks: Take your Blended Iced Coffee, Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, or milkshake up a notch by adding a drizzle of hot fudge sauce. Or add a little to your glass when you shake up an espresso martini.
More Recipes for Chocolate Lovers
Easy Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 2 oz. chopped semisweet chocolate
- pinch of salt , optional
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, whisk together 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 1/4 cup corn syrup until smooth.
- Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 3-5 minutes, until thickened slightly.
- Remove from the heat and add t1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips and an optional pinch of salt if desired. Stir until smooth.
- Cool slightly and use immediately, or store in the refrigerator. It will be thick once chilled, so you'll need to warm it in the microwave or on the stove.
Notes
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How long will homemade chocolate sauce last for in the fridge?
I’ve kept it for up to a week.
How can I make the fudge sauce without heavy cream. Can I use almond milk? Do you have any other suggestions?
Thank you.
Karen
Sorry I missed your question, but you can use almond milk, flavored coffee creamer, or really any type of milk. It just changes the thickness and consistency a bit, but it’s still delicious.
Superb!!!!
recipes sound great but you don’t give amounts of the 5 ingredients for the hot fudge
I’ve now made this twice… We all love it here.. 🙂
Oh great, thank you!
I have been searching for an old recipe and I have found several but not the one I have. My irritation here is that every one of the recipe blogs have way too much “chatter” and too much scrolling to find the recipe. I am commenting here because I am frustrated. What happened to just recipes and a photo or two? Too much scrolling wastes times.
I’m sorry that you feel that scrolling for a couple seconds in order to get your free recipe takes too much of your time. I’m glad that you had the opportunity to air your frustrations with all blogs here on my blog. There are actually a number of reasons for the length of our content, some of which is to provide additional useful information about the recipe and ingredients. In my case, I have started focusing on making sure my recipes are all gluten free, so I am adding a section to explain whether it is gluten free and what would need to be changed to make it gluten free. The other is that this is a blog, not a recipe website, so yes, many bloggers like to use their blogs to express themselves creatively in multiple formats, including writing. If you are interested in neither of those things, you’ll notice on my website, just below the recipe title, I have a button to click that will bring straight to the recipe in a fraction of a second. I hope that saves you time.
I looooooove hot fudge sauce SO much! This looks like a great one!
Thanks, Rebecca! I mean, what’s not to love about thick chocolate sauce on your dessert? 😉