Hot Fudge Sauce

Hot Fudge Sauce is a delicious thick, smooth and rich chocolate sauce recipe with only five ingredients. It’s the perfect topping for a big bowl of ice cream. Go all out and top your hot fudge sauce and ice cream with nuts, whipped cream and a maraschino cherry! It’s perfect for a quick dessert over the holidays, when you have friends and family over or just because!

If you’ve been following along for a while you already know how much I love ice cream, especially homemade ice cream. But, until now, I’ve been holding out on you with the ultimate way to dress up a bowl of ice cream. Or, at least, what I consider the ultimate topping. This amazing hot fudge sauce! 

Since I was a kid I can’t resist topping my ice cream with a generous spoonful of this sauce. I really love it on banana split ice cream. Oh, who am I kidding? I love it on any kind of ice cream! Oh, and on dessert nachos too, you have to try them!

It’s so tasty plus it hardens when it hits the ice cream. Why do I love that so much? I just do. I think the only thing better than it on ice cream is adding some homemade caramel sauce, too. That is a very dangerous combination! And, while you’re at it, maybe add some crushed nuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top and really treat yourself!

Why You’ll Love this Hot Fudge Sauce

• You only need five ingredients to make the best hot fudge sauce! You’ll never buy the jarred stuff again once you try this.
• Hot fudge sauce only takes 10 minutes to make. It’s such a delicious and quick recipe.
• It’s velvety smooth, super chocolatey, and perfectly sweet. This hot fudge sauce is so much better than store-bought!

Ingredients for Hot Fudge Sauce

• Sugar – Regular granulated white sugar is all that you need to sweeten this hot fudge recipe!
• Cocoa powder – You’ll need some cocoa powder to make the most rich and fudgy chocolate sauce.
• Heavy cream – I love to use heavy cream in hot fudge sauce because it makes it really smooth and creamy.
• Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter in homemade hot fudge, both will work.
• Vanilla extract – Create depth of flavor in this chocolatey sauce with some vanilla extract!

How to Make Hot Fudge Sauce

1. Mix the sugar and cocoa together in a small saucepan. Add the heavy cream and stir to combine.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil and then boil it for one minute.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and then add the butter and vanilla. Stir until the butter is melted and serve right away.

This recipe is so easy! Five ingredients, three steps and you get rich and decadent hot fudge sauce.

What is the difference between hot fudge and chocolate sauce?

Hot fudge is thicker and richer than chocolate sauce which is usually much more thin. This is because it’s made with cream and butter while chocolate sauce is often made with water and/or corn syrup as a sweetener instead of sugar.

Do you need to refrigerate hot fudge sauce?

Yes, hot fudge sauce needs to be refrigerated. It will keep for up to two weeks as long as it’s stored in an airtight container.

How do you reheat hot fudge sauce?

You can reheat homemade it either on the stove or in the microwave in 15 second increments. Warm it slowly and stir frequently until it’s smooth and shiny.

Can I freeze hot fudge sauce?

Yes, you can freeze hot fudge in an airtight container for several months. You will want to first thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and then reheat it either on the stovetop in a medium saucepan or in the microwave. If the sauce is too thick you can thin it with some extra cream or milk.

How to Use Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce

Add delicious chocolate flavor to loads of different desserts by drizzling them in hot fudge sauce. It would be delicious on some pound cake or a chocolate lava cake, or drizzled over a banana split. You can even use some of this on top of cookies and brownies. Of course, you can make a hot fudge sundae with vanilla ice cream or one of these other tasty ice creams too:

• Nutter Butter Ice Cream
• Cake Batter Ice Cream
• Cookie Dough Ice Cream
• S’mores Ice Cream

Just writing this post makes me want more of this decadent ice cream topping! I’m telling you, once you try you will fall in love and it will be your go-to topping for all the bowls of ice cream!

More Chocolate Dessert Recipes

• Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips is super easy to make and is the most moist and rich chocolate cake.
• Make this No Bake Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake when you want a fancy dessert with low effort.
• Chocolate Bundt Cake is so yummy, and you can even drizzle it with some of this hot fudge sauce.
• Oreo Poke Cake is another fun treat that everyone will enjoy! It’s great for a summer time dessert.