Chocolate fudge is nowhere near guilt free. It’s full of fat and calories and doesn’t have much to offer as far as vitamins and minerals. Because a small chunk of the calories come from a particularly harmful type of fat, you should cut yourself a moderate 1-ounce piece and walk away from the rest of the batch.

By nibbling away on a small square of plain chocolate fudge, you’ll get nearly 120 calories from an ounce. Almost one-fourth of those calories, which is 27 calories, are from fat. Less than 3 calories, or 2 percent of calories, are from protein. The big calorie kicker in chocolate fudge comes from carbohydrates, primarily in the form of sugar. A whopping 75 percent of calories, or 88 calories, are from carbs.

You already know that you’ll get more calories by opting for a piece of nut-filled chocolate fudge. The calories only go up by about 10 calories though, giving you 130 calories from a 1-ounce square. What changes in this type of fudge is where the calories come from. The addition of nuts ups the calories from fat to over 48 calories, amounting to 37 percent calories from fat. Calories from protein goes up a bit, too. You’ll get 5 calories from protein in this type of fudge, or less than 4 percent calories from protein. About two-thirds of the calories -- 78 calories -- are from carbohydrates.

If you’re one who indulges in marshmallow-swirled chocolate fudge, you’ll get approximately 130 calories from a 1-ounce portion. Almost 45 calories in a gooey marshmallow-chocolate fudge square are from fat, amounting to 35 percent calories from fat. Just 2 percent of calories, or 2 calories, are from protein. The last 81 calories, or 63 percent of calories, are from those carbohydrates.

Chocolate fudge is rich in saturated fat, a type of fat often found in animal products, such as milk and butter. Because an overabundance of saturated fat in your diet can up your risk of heart problems, make sure that no more than 10 percent of your calories come from this bad fat, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 points out. Fats give you 9 calories from 1 gram, so if you follow an 1,800-calorie diet, you have to limit yourself to no more than 20 grams of saturated fat. Plain chocolate and nut-chocolate fudge each contain nearly 2 grams of saturated fat per ounce. That’s 10 percent of your saturated fat allowance for the entire day, based on 1,800 calories. Marshmallow chocolate fudge is even worse, with an ounce providing 3 grams of saturated fat -- 15 percent of the allowance for 1,800 calories.