Delicious and simple-to-make chocolate fondue with lots of fun dipping ideas!
The Best Chocolate Fondue
Growing up, chocolate fondue was one of my mom’s favorite desserts. With a family of 9, it was a simple dessert that brought everyone together. My mom, a big chocolate lover, always kept things simple in the kitchen—except for her fondue fountain.
Now, I’ve made a simpler version that doesn’t require any fancy fountains, just a microwave-safe bowl or pot.
This kid-friendly recipe uses a mix of semi-sweet and milk chocolate, giving it a sweet but not too sweet flavor. If you prefer darker chocolate, the recipe can easily be changed to your taste with different chocolate varieties!
Ingredients
- Chocolate: I love using a mix of milk and dark but you can use your favorite combo. Break into small chunks for even melting.
- Whole Milk: Start with 1/2 cup for thicker fondue and add more for thinner.
- Unsalted Butter: Leave it out for a stronger chocolate flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: Always use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Sea Salt: A pinch of flaky sea salt on top gives an extra pop of flavor.
How To Make Chocolate Fondue
- Prep dippers: Prep fruit, cookies, or other treats by cutting them into bite-sized pieces for easy dipping.
- Melt: Melt chopped chocolate with milk and butter in small bursts in the microwave or in a pot over medium-low heat.
- Right thickness: If the fondue gets too thick, add more milk to thin it out.
- Stir in flavor: Add vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt for extra flavor.
- Serve warm: If it gets too thick, microwave in 15-second bursts, stirring each time, until smooth again.
Quick Tips
- Use good, high-quality chocolate for the best fondue. Avoid chocolate chips—they don’t melt well and can clump up quickly.
- Make sure all dishes the chocolate touches are completely dry—water will cause it to clump up.
- Try different chocolate flavors for more fun!
Favorite Things To Dip In Fondue
A better question: What can’t you dip in chocolate? Everything tastes better with chocolate, so get creative! Here are some of my favorites:
- Fresh fruit: Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, bananas.
- Store-bought cookies: Oreos, Nutter Butters, Pirouettes (my favorite!), Milanos, Girl Scout cookies.
- Homemade cookies: These toffee pecan cookies are the best!
- Other treats: Pound cake, Rice Krispies treats, brownie bites, or big marshmallows.
Storage
Leftover Chocolate Fondue?
Store leftover fondue in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat, microwave in 15-second bursts, stirring in between, or heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until it regains its consistency.
More Dessert Recipes
- 7 Layer Bars with a graham cracker crust
- Lemon Cookies with a 2-ingredient lemon glaze
- Carmelitas readers favorite
- Chocolate Cheesecake with an Oreo crust
- Tuxedo Creme Brulee perfect for V-Day
Easy Chocolate Fondue
Ingredients
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- 1/2- 3/4 cup whole milk (depending on thickness preference, I use 1/2 cup)
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional (see note)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Flaky sea salt, for topping, optional
Dipping Ideas
- Fresh fruit: such as bananas, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, clementines, etc.
- Cookies: oreos, piroette cookies, milanos,
Instructions
- Start by preparing all of the ingredients/treats you will be dipping in the fondue. The preparation of the fondue goes quickly so you want to have all the treats and skewers (if using) ready!
- To make the fondue, in a small bowl, combine the chocolate, 1/2 cup milk or cream, and butter* and melt gently in a barely simmering water bath or microwave on Medium (50 percent) power for about 2 minutes.
- Stir until completely smooth.
- Add more milk if desired. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
- Serve this warm fondue immediately with whatever you’ve chosen to serve it with 🙂
- If the fondue gets too thick (or starts to harden), reheat in the microwave in bursts of 15 seconds stirring in between each burst for 10 seconds until melted and smooth again.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey! It’s super delicious, I have a sweet tooth and I can’t stop drooling over this.
So glad you are loving this Chocolate Fondue. Thanks so much for sharing Martha! 🙂
Delicious and ridiculously easy! I used 8 oz. (two 4 oz bars) Baker’s semisweet chocolate and 2 oz. of a Hershey’s Symphony milk chocolate bar- delish! We had this for our prom-at-home (my high school senior’s idea, since her prom was canceled due to the quarantine). My favorite things to dip were bananas, strawberries, and homemade coconut macaroons. First time visiting your blog- thanks:)
I’m so glad you loved this chocolate fondue! I absolutely love that you guys put on your own prom at home! How fun and sweet! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂
Simple recipe and easy to make. we made it and it was successful. We are going to do it again for sure!!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
So I always hate those recipes reviews where they tell you that they changed almost every single thing about the recipe, but it was delicious lol. I’m afraid I might be doing that myself. Sorry in advance.
So every Easter season, my best friend gifts me a chocolate bunny, and I gift her Peeps in return. This year it happened to be by mail.
I sought out a creative way to use a whole 10 solid ounces of milk chocolate and stumbled upon this here recipe. I didn’t have heavy cream, but I did have Starbucks Caramel Macchiato Creamer. So I substituted 1:1 creamer for cream.
It turned out divine! *insert rapturous music*
Thank you for the recipe that created the foundation of this creation that I am currently eating with a spoon! 😀
Haha, I loved this comment! So glad you enjoyed this recipe and was able to make it work with what you had. It sounds so amazing! Thanks Ashley! 🙂
will this work with white chocolate? can you add coco powder to make it a more bitter chocolate dip? (=0w0=))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
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I wouldn’t recommend that for this recipe
I wanted to try a chocolate peanut butter fondue. How much peanut butter do you think I should add? Would it replace the butter?
Hey Cathy, unfortunately I haven’t tried that yet so I’m not sure how it would work. I think it would work, but make for a very thick dip; you’d likely need to thin it more with other ingredients. If you do give it a try will you let me know how it turns out? Thanks for your comment! 🙂
When you say 8-12 servings, how big are you measuring 1 serving? 1/4 cup?
Hello CHELSEA
Very detailed recipe article, Now I’m ready to make this mouth-watering recipe. I’m also trying your waffle cake recipe it is also a wonderful recipe. Thanks for sharing
Delicious and easy.
So glad you enjoyed 🙂
Hola! When you say “water bath”…can you explain? Making con la familia for Valentines. Thanks much!
What she means is to put water in a small pot, let it simmer (barely) and then put a separate, smaller pot in the water with the chocolate inside the smaller pot. Hope this helps 🙂
I think it means that you take a big bowl and fill it with hot water and fill a smaller bowl with chocolate and put it on the bigger bowl.
use a double boiler – it works great for this