This Key Lime Fudge recipe has turned out to be a very popular fudge recipe. It’s sweet and delicious, and it has that tangy taste of lime that we love so much in key lime pie! Watch the short how-to video showing you how to make this fudge, and then you can scroll to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make it at home.
Key Lime Fudge
It’s not a typical fudge flavor at all. In fact, it’s not even chocolate! There’s white chocolate in the recipe, but we all know that’s not really chocolate. The white chocolate acts as a vessel for containing an amazing sweet lime flavor. If you’re a lime lover, then this fudge recipe is for you.
Key Lime Fudge is a nice fudge to make during the holiday season to place on holiday treat platters or for gifting to friends and neighbors. I think people like to see and sample something that is a little different. This is definitely different than your typical fudge recipe.
What are Key Limes?
Key limes get their name from the Florida Keys, where Key Lime Pies are abundant! They have a stronger scent and a thinner rind than the typical lime. The flavor is more tart and bitter.
Have you ever picked up a bag of key limes? They’re awfully cute. They’re tiny little things. You’ve gotta squeeze the heck out of them to get every bit of their juice, but it’s all worth it.
These limes present themselves nicely in sweet treats (like key lime pie!) since the sugar balances out that tart flavor and highlights the unique flavor of the key lime. I love them! And if you love them too, then you must try my Key Lime Pie Ice Cream!
How do you make Key Lime Fudge?
Evaporated milk, sugar and salt are heated together in a saucepan and boiled for 8 minutes. Once that mixture has boiled for several minutes, it’ll be piping hot. At that point, you’ll pull the pan off the stove and stir in marshmallows, white chocolate, lime zest and lime juice. All should melt nicely, and then you’ll scrape the fudge mixture into a pan to cool. Once cooled, it’s ready to be cut into squares and eaten!
Can you use regular limes to make Key Lime Fudge?
You can most certainly use regular limes for this fudge. They might give the fudge a slightly sweeter flavor, but all will still be good. Don’t skimp on the lime zest in this recipe since it gives the fudge a fabulous green tint, and it adds a good amount of lime flavor to the recipe too. Oh, and if you want to make the whole process of making this Key Lime Fudge a zillion times easier, then just buy Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice in your market’s juice section. It’ll work just fine for this recipe!
So if you’re wishing for a little “spring” in your life and it hasn’t quite arrived yet, treat yourself to some Key Lime Fudge instead. Or surprise gift your friends for the holidays with a little Key Lime Fudge!
If you’re as obsessed with lime as I am, you might also enjoy my Iced Lemon Lime Cookies or this Lime- Coconut Buttermilk Pie. Lime Sugar Cookies, Chicken with Lime Butter and Super Easy Lime Bars are delicious lime recipes too!
Key Lime Fudge
Ingredients
- One 5-ounce can 2% evaporated milk
- 1⅔ cups granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 large marshmallows, quartered
- 2 cups white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup grated lime zest (about 5 limes)
- 2 tablespoons key lime juice (5 to 7 limes, juiced)
Instructions
- Line an 8" x 8" square pan with aluminum foil; grease the foil with butter. It's not a good recipe for a 9-inch square pan as the fudge will be too thin.
- Combine the milk, sugar and salt in a large heavy saucepan (or better yet... a double boiler) over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and boil for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly at a boil (if you have a candy thermometer, you can bring it to the soft-ball-stage, but I don't use one). Remove the pan from heat. Add the marshmallows, chocolate, zest and juice, and stir until the marshmallows and chocolate are melted and the mixture is smooth. Scrape the fudge into the prepared pan. Tip the pan to make sure the fudge covers the bottom evenly. Cool completely, then cut into 1-inch squares.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These fudge bars look so delicious and so easy to make! I love the idea of making key lime fudge – sounds yummy!
Ripe key limes are yellow (and because the rind is so thin, almost impossible to zest) so I assume the zest is from regular limes?
Also the riper they are the easier to juice so if try to buy yellow ones. Unfortunately they package them in those green mesh bags which make it hard to tell.
Thanks Lori. I’ll try it this weekend. Perfect spring snack 🙂
This looks amazing!
Question: does the recipe actually call for 1/4 CUP of zest, or is this a typo? Especially wondering since five tiny key limes would hardly produce that much.
yes! Zest away!
We bought some key lime fudge when we were in the Keys a couple of weeks ago. Oh my gosh I love that place. The fudge was very good and so I have been wanting to make some. I make Key Lime pies when we have get togethers. Usually a special request from my great niece. I also always have a bottle or two of Nellie and Joes Key Lime juice in my fridge. Thank you for the recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for having this Key Lime Fudge recipe!!! I’ve made this fudge for Family and Friends for around 30 years or more. I recently had a request from my hair dresser for some and I couldn’t find my recipe anywhere, So I spent hours on the internet trying to find a recipe suitable to mine. and just when I was flustered and ready to quit, Your site stood out and made me so happy! I cooked a batch up and your quite the recipe saver. The only thing I changed was the adding of more zest. I tend to add more just because of the way it turns out. THANK YOU AGAIN and believe me, I will be returning for more of the recipes and my Friends and Family will be guided your way! HAVE A WONDERFUL YEAR and KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK IN THE KITCHENS!!!
Happy to hear!
Love key lime pie and cake and buy key lime juice from Kermit’s (Key West, FL). Was wondering if you could substitute one seven-ounce jar of marshmallow creme in place of the 12 large marshmallows? Also, are the marshmallows the regular size or are they the large (huge) size as I refer to the marshmallows as miniature, regular and extra large? I am surprised the recipe does not call for any butter/margarine, other than the evaporated milk what prevents the mixture from burning when boiling the sugar, milk and salt for that amount of time (8 minutes at boiling)? Thanks.
I’m not sure about the marshmallow creme sub as I have not tried that. Regular, large marshmallows- not jumbo. The recipe comes from an old Southern Living magazine… so I’m not sure about your last question. Good luck!
Annalisa-
A bag of chocolate chips is usually right at 2 cups and weighs 12 ounces.
I buy Nellie & Joe’s “famous” Key West Lime Juice. I find it right next to the concentrated lemon juice at Fry’s grocery store. It’s just as good as the fresh and it saves all that time squeezing!
Hey there! I changed the recipe just a tad… Instead of using 12 large marshmallows, I used a small container of fluff! I couldn’t find key limes so I just used limes… It’s delicious! So I guess you’d call it lime fudge? Anyways, I was very pleased with this recipe! Oh and I only boiled it for 6 minutes instead of 8.. Was scared to overlook bc my stove is a flat top and it can tend to over cook at times! When I’m able to get some key limes I will definitely try this original recipe! Thank you so much for this!!!