Butter Pecan Fudge is wonderfully buttery and creamy with little bits of crunchy toasted pecans. It’s perfect for when you’re craving fudge, but not something chocolate and it makes a wonderful holiday treat for gift giving.
Each December I look forward to making fudge more than anything else. I love how rich and sweet it is. Sometimes all it takes is one little bite to satisfy my sweet tooth.
The ingredients for this Butter Pecan Fudge are pretty basic: butter, both white and brown sugar, whipping cream, vanilla extract, confectioners’ sugar, and of course pecans.
To ensure success, you’ll want to use a candy thermometer. You need to get the butter, sugar, whipping cream mixture to soft ball stage to get the flavor and texture right.
Once cooled, cut the fudge into little squares. It will literally melt in your mouth and all your friends will rave about it.
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Butter Pecan Fudge
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, cubed, plus butter for greasing pan.
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
Instructions
- Line an 8x8-inch pan with aluminum foil. Grease foil with butter.
- In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine butter, both sugars, cream, and salt.
- Bring to a rapid boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometerreads 234° (soft-ball stage). Remove from heat. Add vanilla to pan (do not stir).
- Cool, without stirring, to 110°, about 30 minutes.
- Beat with a spoon until fudge just begins to thicken.
- Gradually stir in confectioners' sugar until smooth; add nuts and continue stirring until fudge becomes very thick and just begins to lose its sheen. Immediately spread into prepared pan. Cool.
Notes
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Recipe Source: Taste of Home
Be Sure to Check Out These Other Fudge Recipes.
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Made this yesterday ,it came out great.. My husband loved it.
I just made this!! It came out prefect. Just waiting for it to cool now!!
Tried to make this, all the amounts were WAY off, came out completely dry, will not use this again!
Looks and sounds yummy my husband would love it .I’d like to try it and see if I can do it .
I made the butter pecan fudge and doubled the recipe. I let it set 30 minutes. It turned out wonderfully
I had the same issues others did. I let the mixture cool before adding the powdered sugar and it was just dry crumbs that couldn’t be mixed. I added a couple spoonfuls of cream and put it on low speed in my mixer and got it smooth, but who knows if it will be fudge texture when done. Something is wrong with this recipe.
I have made this recipe and variations of this recipe numerous times. Adding my own flavors like peanut butter ect. It has never flopped even when i used only cold water to determine if my fudge is at soft ball stage. This is my go to recipe for fudge. Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for giving your feedback Nadia. 🙂
I made this recipe exactly as written and the results were a disaster. By the time I had added 1 cup of the powdered sugar, the fudge seized. I added a little bit more cream and 1/2 tsp. maple flavoring and heated it up just a little on stove. That made it softer and then I added some of the rest of the powdered sugar, not all but enough to get it to a point that I could pour it into the bowl.
Loved the flavor of the fudge but would like to have a more exact recipe! I could give this 5 stars except for the fact that it did not work out using the given instructions.
I tried this recipe tonight…so excited! I followed the instructions to a T. Mine was too thick before even adding the sifted powder sugar. It would not blend. Came out very crumbly..I didn’t bother to add the pecans at that point. So sad.
I would just like to say thank you for sharing this it is one of my favorites it turned out awesome
Happy you enjoyed it Lily!
I attempted this recipe today. I think I did something wrong. I followed the recipe step by step but it turned out crumbly. I measured everything correctly and ised a candy thermometer. Somewhere between removing from heat and adding powdered sugar it went bad. I let the fudge cool to 110 degrees, but it hardened to the pan and I had to scrap it off. I don’t understand why let the fudge cool before adding everyrhing to it. Idk if it would’ve made any difference if I would’ve added the pecans, vanilla and sugar while it was still smooth and hot. Help!
Shelby, same thing happened to.me. It still tastes good so I am going to save the “crumbs” in the freezer foe the next time I make ice cream. I will add it to my ice cream mixture
Have you ever tried freezing this fudge? Wondering about making it a couple of weeks ahead!
I’ve never tried it but I think it should freeze well.
Do you think this would travel well? I want to mail some homemade fudge to a friend a few states away. Do you think this is too fragile or would it spoil in transit?
Thanks!
It will be fine Caitlin. Just make sure you store it in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry out.
Hi Christin, I made this fudge yesterday, my husband said it was the best fudge he has ever had! I was testing it out to sell at a christmas fair, could I double the recipe or is it best to make it in smaller batches?
Many thanks. Pia
I haven’t tried doubling it Pia, but as long as you have a big enough saucepan, I think it should work fine.
In my experience with fudge it doesnt work as well if the recipe is doubled.
How many lbs does this recipe make?
I made this fudge and added 2 tbsp. of dark corn syrup and only cooked it 6 min. It came out very creamy and was set up good next morning. I always add a little corn syrup to all fudge recipes and it makes it very creamy and not crumbly and dry.
Thanks for the wonderful tip Jeanetta! Will keep it in mind next time I make fudge!
Mine came out crumbly also, but I added more whipping cream and it came out smooth. Was able to stir it till it was thick, but it didn’t get hard. Was able to cut in squares but it is soft. Thinking maybe temp wasn’t cold enuf outside.
Came out totally unusable. Crumbly. Tasted great but I’m thinking I did something wrong!! HELP!!
Could you have added too much powdered sugar? It’s really important to measure it properly.
I could easily eat a couple of these. Nice change from the typical chocolate and pecans are so good. Thanks!
I love making fudge when the holidays arrive, too. Then I don’t feel as guilty when I eat the entire batch! 🙂 This butter pecan version looks SO good. My dad would love this, such a fun flavor!
I wish I knew how to adapt the butter pecan fudge for high altitude! It looks sooooo good!!
Maybe I’ll try it . . .
Has anyone made this recipe with success? My batch came outcrumbly as well. Darn!
Did you sift the powdered sugar before you measured it?
Yes! Sifted the confectioners sugar, used a candy thermometer cooled to the designated temperature etc.