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‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Easiest Fudge Recipe Gets a Spicy Kick

Ree Drummond adds a secret ingredient to her foolproof fudge recipe that gives it a spicy kick.

by Wendy Michaels

Published on April 24, 2022

2 min read

Ree Drummond’s chipotle fudge is an easy treat with a spicy addition

Drummond made the chipotle fudge recipe on an episode of The Pioneer Woman when she was creating a platter of delicious chocolate snacks for her daughter to take to school.

“I knew for Paige’s chocolate treat platter that I wanted to make some kind of fudge,” she explained. “I’m making a batch of the easiest fudge there is and I’m going to add a little bit of spice which is gonna be really nice.”

She added, “I’m going to turn my regular fudge into chipotle fudge and you won’t believe how simple it is.”

Drummond combined semisweet chocolate chips and a can of sweetened condensed milk in a glass bowl set over a pot of simmering water.

While the mixture was melting, Drummond chopped a chipotle pepper. “I love the trend of spice and chocolate together,” she said. “I’ve had fudge that’s made spicy by a little bit of cayenne pepper. I really like the smokiness of chipotles. I use them all the time when I cook, whether it’s for chili, soups — even salad dressings. Very rarely do I use chipotle peppers in sweets.”

The Food Network host added the chopped pepper to the bowl, as well as some adobo sauce from the jar of chipotles. “It really packs a punch, both flavor and spice,” Drummond noted.

She stirred the mixture as it melted then poured it into a pan.

Drummond shared an easy trick for making fudge

In a peppermint fudge recipe post on The Pioneer Woman website, Drummond shared an easy trick for making fudge. She lines an 8×8 inch pan with aluminum foil, smoothes it out, and sprays it with a cooking or baking spray.

Drummond spread the chipotle fudge mixture into a square pan and sprinkled it with sea salt then refrigerated the fudge for two hours before cutting it into squares. She lifted out the foil, peeled it off the bottom, and set the fudge on a cutting board.

“I like this trick whenever I’m making brownies or anything that I want to cut into neat squares,” she said. “It’s a lot easier to cut it out of the pan than in the pan.”

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.

Drummond’s fudge earns rave reviews

Drummond’s easy fudge recipe is a hit, based on the reviews left on the Food Network site, including, “Easy as it gets and yummy. Sweet with a kick.”

Another reviewer raved, “So decadent! I thought that the chipotle would be too strong and overpowering. It’s actually the perfect amount of heat. You first get the super fudgy chocolate, cut just a little bit by the salt (a must), then a slow mellow heat from the chipotle.:

Some reviewers loved the recipe but amped up the number of peppers and sauce for even more heat.