Show your dad you think he rocks by making him these Cookies and Cream Fudge Rocks! These candy rocks are easy to make for dessert or a gift. Plus, they are perfect decorations for cakes, cupcakes, and more.
For Father's Day this year, I decided it would be fun to recreate something like the Cookies 'n Cream Fudge Garden Stone I recently made for Mother's Day.
At first, I thought I'd just make a new, more masculine-looking garden stone, but then I came across some crafts that used the phrase "Dad Rocks." I loved the idea of just making a pile of candy rocks with a cute sign that said, "Dad Rocks."
These edible rocks made with white chocolate fudge blended with OREO Cookies are super easy to make and look great on top of cakes, cupcakes, and more. For this project, I just piled them up.
UPDATE: I've used this fun recipe to make so many more projects including my original Fudge Garden Stone, Fudge Tombstones, Sweet Serenity Stones, Fudge Teacher’s Apples, Edible Rocks for Teachers, Fudge Conversation Hearts, and Cookies ‘n Cream Fudge Rocks.
I'll share the simple step-by-step process to make the fudge stones below. Be sure to check out all the ways my readers have used these candy stones to decorate prehistoric cakes, rock-climbing cupcakes, beach cakes, and more below the recipe card.
RELATED: Find dozens of easy fudge recipes on my other blog, HowToMakeEasyFudge.com.
Ingredients
- white candy melts or almond bark, melting wafers, or white chips
- sweetened condensed milk - Using sweetened condensed milk makes creating fudge super easy.
- salt - This ingredient is optional. Add it if you want to balance out the sweetness.
- Oreo Cookie crumbs - You can use any chocolate cookie crumbs.
- cocoa powder optional - You can add some cocoa powder to the fudge to add brown coloring.
- red food coloring, optional - Use this to add color to some of your fudge rocks.
To make the cookies 'n cream fudge on the stove:
You can make your fudge on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Stir the chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and salt if using together in a saucepan and melt it over low heat.
- Once the white chocolate looks like it's about 50% melted, it's best to remove the pan and set it aside for about 5 minutes to allow the residual heat to continue to melt the white chocolate before stirring until smooth.
Tips
I made this recipe three times before creating these edible rocks I used confectionery coating, melted it completely on the stovetop, and every batch has turned out fine.
A reader made hers using pure white chocolate and told me it was greasy.
To make the cookies and cream fudge in the microwave:
- Heat the white chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and salt for 45 seconds in the microwave.
- Let sit in the microwave for 3-5 minutes.
- Remove and stir.
- Heat for 15-second increments, resting for a minute then stirring after each, until melted and smooth.
Coloring the cookies and cream fudge.
- Divide the cookies 'n cream fudge among three or four bowls.
- Leave one bowl alone.
- Add most of the remaining Oreo cookie crumbs to one of the bowls.
- Add the cocoa powder to another bowl.
- Add one drop of red food coloring and the remaining crumbs to the last bowl.
- These are just suggestions; you could make your rocks any color you'd like.
Shape your fudge rocks.
- Pinch off pieces of fudge in varying sizes and roll or flatten them into different-sized rocks. You can make big boulders or tiny little pebbles.
- Arrange rocks in a pile or using any of the other methods I've listed in the post above.
If you'd like, you can copy this image and print the "Dad Rocks" clip art onto card stock. Cut it out and set it on your rock pile.
Variations
Scroll past the recipe card to see all of the fun desserts that my readers decorated using these edible rocks. They are all amazing.
Video
I made a video showing you how to make fudge rocks for Valentine's Day using a similar recipe and technique. Be sure to check it out below.
Recipe
White chocolate fudge speckled with flecks of OREO Cookies formed into rocks make fun treats for Father's Day, a rock climbers birthday, or a science fair bake sale.
- 24 ounces white candy melts, white almond bark, or white chips
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 pinch of salt, optional
- ⅔ cup Oreo Cookie crumbs
- ½ teaspoon cocoa powder optional
- 1 drop red food coloring optional
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Heat the white chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and salt if using in a medium saucepan set over low heat stirring often until 50% melted.
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Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
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Add ¼ cup of the OREO cookie crumbs and stir until smooth.
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Divide the fudge into 3 or 4 bowls and add varying amounts of the remaining cookie crumbs, cocoa powder, and red food coloring to achieve several different colors of fudge for your stones.
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Press a piece of plastic wrap down onto the fudge in each bowl and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, until it is thick and no longer sticky.
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Pinch off varying sizes of fudge, roll into odd shaped balls, and set aside to firm up.
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Display in a dump truck, on a cake, or in a pile.
Recipe Video
These edible fudge rocks will stay fresh for about 2 weeks. The exterior of the rocks may dry out a bit but the center will stay nice and soft. Store in an airtight container to keep the rocks soft inside and out.
My readers rock!!!
Below are pictures from my readers showing how they used the fudge rocks to decorate cakes, cupcakes, and more. I have been blown away by the creative uses of these chocolate rocks. I hope you are inspired by their creativity.
Shang made these Rock Climbing Cupcakes for her coworker's son. She designed a custom cupcake wrapper and flags for her fun cupcakes.
Holly created this cake for a Missouri Science and Technology geological engineering graduate. It featured fudge rocks and a rock hammer.
Sarah made these very realistic-looking rocks to give her daughter's teacher because Teachers Rock!
Kelly made these for her husband for Father's Day and she said, "they were yummy!" She did a great job with creating lots of nice variety of colored fudge rocks.
Marie added the candy rocks to this fun prehistoric cake for her grandson's birthday.
The fudge rocks make a great border around the entire cake.
How cool is this cake? Heidi hollowed out two large fudge rocks brushed them with some candy melts and sprinkled on colored sugar to create the geodes on this cake.
Heather created a cake with superheroes rescuing her daughter from a lake. She added fudge rocks around the lake and a path up to a mountain.
Nadine covered a round layer cake with fudge rocks to celebrate her son's 11th birthday. That had to be one tasty cake!
Julianne's husband apparently ran his jeep onto a pile of rocks while at the beach with their dog so she made him this hilarious birthday cake with lots of edible rocks. Check out the skid marks in the sand!
Barbara packaged fudge rocks in bags for her Sunday school kids so they could make their own altar of rocks like the Israelites did after crossing Jordan.
Tina decorated a prehistoric cake with fudge rocks, fondant dinosaurs, and a volcano that lit up. Her son loved his special birthday cake.
Jane created some very realistic-looking sweet serenity stones that are fudge rocks stamped with sweet messages like, "hope," "love," and "joy."
Angela created this amazing cake filled with candy shells, starfish, and cookies 'n cream fudge rocks for two sweet girls who were celebrating a birthday at the beach.
Athina admits that she is a history geek and she was excited to make these edible Anglo-Saxon runes. Her cookies and cream fudge runes could fool anyone. They look incredibly realistic. Everyone enjoyed eating them once they realized they were candy.
How fun is this? Carla and her rock-climbing daughter, Aidyn, made a huge pile of fudge rocks. Then they creatively packaged the candy rocks in cellophane bags and attached a clever card topper to the bag for Valentine's Day.
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Anonymous says
I l.o.v.e. this!! This will be a perfect gift for my daycare kids to make for their dads for Fathers Day! Thank you so much for the post!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
I hope the kids have fun making their rocks!
Mark Tucker says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I needed edible rocks for a friends cake and couldn’t find any. These turned out better than anything I could have bought. They couldn’t believe they weren’t real. Everyone wanted to eat one. And they taste great!
Beth Klosterboer says
You are so welcome. I'm very happy to hear that your friends loved the fudge rocks!
Arcly says
This is a great idea for a gingerbread house.
Crunchy Con Mommy says
these look delicious! think it'd work with regular milk instead of condensed? (I'm lactose intolerant but can use lactose-free whole milks as a sub in a lot of stuff-I guess if I use condensed milk it'll be a good incentive for me to actually leave them all for my husband, lol)
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks! You can't just swap out regular milk for the sweetened condensed milk because you wont get the right consistency in your fudge. I did find two options though. Here is a dairy free white chocolate fudge recipe that would work - http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/dairy-free-white-chocolate-fudge-think-garnish-for-valentines-day/. This blogger also shows you how to make a sweetened condensed coconut milk for fudge - http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/really-nice-dairy-free-fudge/. I haven't tried either of these recipes, but based on her pictures, both of her fudge recipes turned out nicely.
Crunchy Con Mommy says
You are so sweet to go find those recipes for me! My son is allergic to coconut-blah-so I ended up adapting/combining/modifying like 3 different fudge recipes and using lactose free milk and just adding a little extra sugar and a little extra butter. I'm sure it's not exactly like yours, but it tasted good, and that's the whole point, right? Anyway, I'll put some pics on my blog and link to your post if that's okay!! (I went ahead and did it today because my husband is sick and I thought he needed an early Father's Day treat to cheer him up!)
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
I'm so happy you where able to create a recipe that worked for you. I'm lactose intolerant too and end up taking Lactaid all the time so I can eat things, but I do like it when I can just use a lactose free product instead. I look forward to seeing your recipe and the pictures of your fudge. Let me know when you post it.
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
I love this SO much. It's perfect!
Taerie says
What did you use to get the wording on the "rocks"
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Taerie, If you go to this post you'll see how the rocks with the inspirational sayings where created. https://hungryhappenings.com/sweet-serenity-stones-yes-another
Anonymous says
I am excited! I was looking for rocks for my grandson' construction cake. The candy I found either was not the right colors or to expensive. This recipe is perfect! I can make the size and colors I want. Thank you for posting this!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Candy rocks can be very expensive. This is a nice alternative and will taste great on top of a cake.
Anonymous says
I have the same idea too, using it for a cake (rock crawler cake with jeeps)! I've done relentless searches for anything that even resembles rocks. This is perfect!!! Amazing idea and thank you for sharing!!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks so much for featuring them on both of your sites:) I'm happy you like them!
Brenda says
You are so clever! I love it when food looks like something that is not food 🙂
BDJ says
Awesome! Could you use white chocolate chips?
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks and yes, you can use white chocolate chips!
jennfurr says
I used white chocolate chips (that's all I could get at the last second), and they were somewhat greasy. Adding more oreo crumbs helped though. The cocoa rocks turned out the best!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
It is possible that the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk got a bit too hot and the cocoa butter or fat from the chocolate seeped out causing the fudge to be greasy. Adding the crumbs and cocoa powder probably dried it out just enough to make it the right texture plus stirring it and allowing it to cool down helped too. I'm glad that worked for you. If you try the recipe again and have the same trouble, you could follow my tips for fixing greasy modeling chocolate in my Chocolate Tips page. I think the same techniques would work.
Kjia says
It definitely was a life saver for my cake, however, for some reason it came out really oily when I was working color into it and even before that… I’m not sure how to fix it or what I did wrong though :/ please help
Beth says
Hi Kija,
If the white chocolate gets too hot while you are making the fudge, it can become oily. This can happen while you are making the fudge if it gets too hot on the stove or in the microwave. It can also become greasy if you knead some color into it and your hands are warm. The best thing to do is to set the fudge aside and let it cool for 15 minutes. Then spread the fudge out on a cool surface (granite, marble, or metal) and let it rest for 1 minute. Then scrape it up. Then spread it out again, and scrape it up immediately. Keep doing this until the fudge cools off and the oil is incorporated back into the fudge.
I hope this helps.
jennfurr says
It wasn't the best quality white chocolate chips either... I've had issues with it not wanting to even consider melting in the past. Next time - GOOD quality stuff!
It was an early Father's Day gift; it looked great, tasted great, and the response from dad was priceless!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
I'm happy your dad loved it! That is so good to hear.
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Hi Jennfurr, well after reading your message I decided to try out this recipe using pure white chocolate (with cocoa butter) and I indeed had the same trouble you had. I fixed my fudge by adding a few tablespoons of cold heavy whipping cream, but it did change the thickness of the fudge. I added some new tips in the recipe to help solve this problem.
BDJ says
Awesome, so cute! Could you use white chocolate chips?
Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more says
this is just too cute! Love it.
CuteEverything.com says
Totally adorable! What a fun idea, I love that you suggested having it as a rock climber's treat, too!
Erin says
This is wonderful! LOVE it!!!
Isabel says
This is hilarious, I would probably use a cutout of the kids from the many pictures I have laying around in my photo box and add the flag message instead of this stranger dude.
Isabel says
Oh yes this is hilarious. I would probably use a cut out of the kids from a picture and add the flag instead of the stranger guy.
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
I think using a picture of the kids is a wonderful idea!
Sarah says
I'm going to make these for my daughter's teacher because she rocks!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
What a good idea. I'm sure she wont get that gift from any other student and will think it is really great.
Karen @ Sugartown Sweets says
Fabulous..yes, that's my adjective for these awesome treats! Hungry Happenings, you rock! ;o)
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks, Karen:)
Trish - Sweetology101 says
What an amazing idea!!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks, Trish:)
Tiffany Yang says
Hahaha.... This is fun! Not only for father's day, also for April fools day too! You are a generous 😀
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
I hadn't thought about Aprils Fools Day - great suggestion!
Missy says
Beth, this is ASTOUNDINGLY funny, cute, fun, and creative -- not to mention SO ORIGINAL. I am so going to make these. Thank you very much for the inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thank you, Missy:)
MissyB_in_NJ says
Beth -- I want to also give it to my kids' piano teacher, what would you suggest as a gift container?
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
It would be wonderful if you could find a box or container that had musical notes on it. You could buy a plain white cookie tin, and paint, "You Rock" on it and put musical notes all around it. Then, you'd get both uses of the phrase "you rock" into one gift. There is a "You Rock" lunch bag on Amazon, but it has a guitar on it. I'd love to see what you come up with!
MissyB_in_NJ says
I made them! They were delicious! And all the recipients loved them! I went with a metal pail I found at Michael's Craft store and Container Store. I used "free font" websites and used like Schoolhouse Rock and Hercules by Disney fonts to make my signs. I used different types of melts -- dark chocolate, reg. chocolate, and the white chocolate -- but it didn't look as good as your rocks. But still good! Love love love it! It was just the perfect gift! Gave them to my sons' teachers and music teacher too! Thank you thank you thank you for such an easy yet wonderful and ingenious gift. Everyone just shook their heads in wonderment over how cute, practical, and fun it was!!!!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Hi Missy, So happy to hear you made them and that the recipients enjoyed their edible rocks. I'm sure they looked great displayed in the metal pails. I'd love to see pictures if you took any.