Chocolate Ganache Without Cream

This milk chocolate ganache is made without cream! A combination of butter, milk, and chocolate chips are all you need for rich, fudgy homemade ganache. Note that because we're using milk vs. cream, it won't be as firm at room temperature as traditional ganahce. Makes enough to cover a 9x13 pan of brownies.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French, Frosting

Keyword chocolate ganache recipe without cream, ganache with milk

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 2

Cooling Time 30

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 93kcal

Author Melissa Rose

Ingredients

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (i.e. 12 ounce bag) *see notes section below for notes on certain brands; we found Ghiradelli or Nestle Toll House brands firmed up the best.
6 tablespoons unsalted butter chopped into small cubes
½ cup whole milk (you can also use 2% or 1% but the ganache will be less firm so you will need to refrigerate and/or freeze brownies so the frosting sets; see notes below)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Before you begin: Note that the ganache will not completley "harden" as a traditional ganache with heavy cream would. See notes section below for tips & tricks, as well as an alternate recipe using heavy cream.
In a medium-sized bowl, place semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 ½ cups) and chopped unsalted butter (6 tablespoons).
In a separate medium-sized bowl or large liquid measuring cup, heat milk (½ cup) in the microwave for 1 ½ - 2 minutes, or until it begins to bubble (it’s important that your measuring cup or bowl is at least 3x taller than the milk line, as it will expand when it’s heating and can easily overflow). You can also heat this on the stove; remove it once it begins to steam.
Use a hot pad to carefully remove milk from the microwave and pour over the chocolate chips and butter (do not stir yet!). Allow to sit for about 3 minutes, then use a whisk to stir until smooth and creamy. It may take a minute or two for it to come together; it often looks separated at first. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes before using.
Storage: Refrigerate, covered, and let the ganache come to room temperature before stirring and using again. You can microwave it in 10 second increments to reheat and add a splash of milk if needed.

Notes

Will the ganache harden? Since we’re doing a simple ganache using butter & milk, the ganache won’t be as “hard’ at room temperature as a traditional ganache would be.

Can I use 2% or 1% milk instead of whole milk? We knew you'd ask, so we tested the ganache with both! Both actually work just fine, but if you don't use whole milk, the ganache won't be quite as firm.

A note on chocolate chip brands: The brand you use in the ganache will impact how firm it will set in the fridge. We tested this ganache using 4 different common semi-sweet chocolate chip brands. Nestle Toll House was #1 in producing the firmest ganache, Ghiradelli #2, Hershey's #3, Costco brand #4. All are comparable taste-wise (see my critical taste test in the post above!) but do firm up a bit differently. Ghiradelli won the overall test for flavor & firmness.

Nutrition is just an estimate and calculated with an automated system; based on 24 servings.

Nutrition