Caramel Potato Chip Fudge

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Thiscaramel potato chip fudge combines dark chocolate, gooey caramel, and potato chips to make a delicious sweet & salty, irresistiblefudge. This recipe uses a shortcut fudge base, which means there’s no need for a thermometer or endless babysitting at the stove!

This fudge is delicious, but it’s not one I’d recommend for making-ahead and freezing, because the chips will get stale. Be sure to keep the fudge at room temperature and in an airtight container after making it.

What is “Shortcut Fudge?”

it follows the basic recipe of mixing sweetened condensed milk with melted chocolate.
requires no boiling and no candy thermometer.
is endlessly versatile with a million flavor combinations.

Most of my fudge recipes use this shortcut fudge base. It’s so quick and easy, and the texture always turns out perfectly smooth and creamy.

It’s not that I don’t love traditional fudge. I’ll admit that nothing compares to traditional, stovetop homemade fudge! In fact, my great-grandma’s Homemade Chocolate Bit Fudge is my all-time favorite fudge recipe. But a dependable shortcut recipe, like this one, is great to have in your back pocket for a rainy day.

Caramel Potato Chip Fudge Ingredients

Have you ever made this ? If you haven’t, you really should– it’s amazing. This fudge recipe has very similar ingredients and follows the same general pattern as the Pralines & Cream Fudge recipe.

✓ Sweetened Condensed Milk: A 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk serves as the foundation for the texture and consistency of the fudge. I really like working with sweetened condensed milk, because it’s incredibly versatile and very forgiving.

✓ Chocolate: You can use normal chocolate chips to make this fudge. But I’ve found a lot of success in using Ghirardeli Candy Melts instead. I like the consistency of the fudge better (it’s silky smooth), and it firms up quickly without refrigeration. Which is important for this recipe. because any kind of chilling will accelerate the absorption of moisture into the potato chips (they will taste stale faster).

So if you have access to Ghirardelli candy melts (Amazon, Target, Walmart), I strongly recommend using them as the chocolate in this recipe!

✓ Caramel: I took another shortcut and used store-bought caramels to make the caramel sauce for this fudge. But absolutely feel free to make your own sauce! This is my go-to recipe for really smooth and luscious homemade caramel sauce.

✓ Kettle Cooked Potato Chips: Ok, this part is important. Are you listening?Kettle. Cooked. Potato. Chips. Kettle cookedcrinkle chips are even better. But if you can’t find those, just stick with the regular kettle cooked potato chips. These chips are thicker and crunchier than your regular, run-of-the-mill potato chips. Which means it will take longer for the moisture from the chocolate and caramel to penetrate the chips and make them soggy.

Since there are so few ingredients, each one has a crucial role. So be careful if you choose to make any substitutions!

How to Make Caramel Potato Chip Fudge

If you can turn on the stove, you can make this caramel potato chip fudge.

1 | Prepare an 8×8 baking dish by lightly misting with nonstick cooking spray and lining with parchment paper.

2 | Place the caramels in a microwave safe bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of water. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Heat for another 30 seconds if needed. Set aside.

3 | In a medium saucepan, melt together the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk over LOW heat. Stir constantly until smooth.

4 | Spread the chocolate mixture in the prepared baking dish.

5 | Pour the caramel over top of the chocolate. Sprinkle 1 1/2 c. of the crushed potato chips over the caramel.

6| Use a knife or skinny rubber spatula (like a jar scraper) to swirl the chocolate, caramel, and potato chip pieces. Sprinkle remaining potato chips and sea salt over top.

7 | Let cool at room temperature for at least 4 hours or overnight.

More Fudge Recipes

Maple Cream Fudge
Cake Batter Fudge
Samoas Fudge
Watermelon Fudge
Cookie Monster Fudge

Caramel Potato Chip Fudge Recipe

Yield: 32 pieces

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes 5 seconds

Ingredients

3 cups melting chocolate or chocolate chips
14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
11-ounce Kraft caramels, unwrapped
2 tbsp water
2-3 cups kettle cooked potato chips, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon sea salt