Here’s a Christmas riddle for you. What do you get when you cross sweetened condensed milk, chocolate and a few other things? A sugary, holiday, confection better known as…FUDGE! As we all know, fudge comes in many flavors and varieties and everyone has their favorite. From peanut butter to white chocolate covered cherry, and everything in between, there is always one… or more… to make the holidays merry and bright!

It seems a band of merry little mischievous elves from all across the country have been getting into the holiday spirit making Christmas fudge and a complete mess in the kitchen. Nikki, Lacey, Kim and Melissa are at it again and have some really spectacular fudge recipes to share with you! We hope these will help make your holidays extra special.

Merry Christmas!

Kim’s Super Easy Salted Caramel Fudge

I wanted to make fudge so I found this super simple recipe.http://realmomkitchen.com/9393/super-easy-chocolate-fudge/. The only problem was it was the week before Thanksgiving and the store was completely sold out of sweetened condensed milk! Right next to that empty spot on the shelf was Nestle’s La Lechera Dulce de Leche caramel. I thought, well, why not! So I adapted the recipe as follows and it was a HUGE hit at our house. It did not last very long at all! Slight hints of caramel and sea salt shine through the fudgy chocolate. Yum!

Kim’s Super Easy Salted Caramel Fudge

Ingredients:

• 1 (14 oz) can Nestle’s La Lechera Dulce de Leche caramel
• 1 (12 oz bag) semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp canola oil (if needed for smoothing out while melting chocolate)
• Sea salt

Directions:

Line a 9 x 9 inch pan with aluminum foil and grease with butter. Set aside.
In a large sauce pan, add the dule de leche, chocolate chips, and butter. Cook over low heat, stirring often to avoid burning. Cook until mixture is melted and well combined adding oil if needed. Remove from heat and add vanilla; stir until combined. Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Tap few times to remove air bubbles. Sprinkle sea salt on top. Press lightly on the salt with the back of a spoon to embed it into the fudge. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours. When set, remove from pan using the foil and cut into pieces.
Store fudge in fridge for long storage. Just remove from fridge an hour or so before serving to soften.

Nikki’s “Unscrewupable” Marshmallow Fudge

I have a bit of a problem with following instructions. It’s not that I have a problem with authority, or I don’t trust recipes, it’s just that I don’t pre-plan and I lose patience quickly. So when I wanted to make fudge for my cookie trays I needed a recipe that was super simple and super flexible because I wanted fudge now, and I wasn’t going to the store first! I (of course) consulted my good friend Mel of Front Porch Gourmet, and luckily for me as fabulous as all her stuff looks she likes it easy and her recipes are basic, delicious, and hard to screw up. She gave me her basic fudge recipe and I adapted it to what I had on hand, and have since tweaked it many times and have never had it turn out bad. This is my kinda recipe!!

Ingredients:

• One 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• One 12 oz bag plus 1 cup chocolate chips (I used a bag of bitter sweet chips and a cup of milk chocolate chips. I did NOT measure. I DID sample several chips for quality control. You should too!)
• 1 tsp vanilla (I used about half a capful. I don’t know of this is 1 tsp. I have used a full capful, and I have forgotten to add it altogether and believe me when I say: it’s delicious no matter what!)
• 2 cups of mini marshmallows, divided. I used about half a bag. Ish. It was a bag I found in my cabinet so I can’t promise it was a half a bag, it could have been more, very likely it was less, my home is full of snackers)

Directions:

The most important first step, and the only one you MUST do: line your pan with plastic wrap or parchment paper, leaving a good amount of extra on the sides for easy gripping/lifting. Do it. It will make your life soooo much easier when serving! Or don’t do it and eat out of the pan, that’s ok too, just not as pretty. Sprinkle some of marshmallows over the bottom of the pan, maybe 1/4-1/3 of the total. I did not measure this, just grabbed a handful and sprinkled. Now, throw your chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk into a pot and put it over medium heat mixing pretty much constantly.

Once the condensed milk is incorporated into the chocolate, but before the chips are all the way melted down add your vanilla and half of the marshmallows (this is not an exact science and nothing bad will happen if you do this sooner or later). Stir in the marshmallows until they’re slightly melty, you want to see the streaks of marshmallow throughout the fudge. When it looks pretty and you don’t see chunks of chocolate left dump it over your marshmallows in the pan, spreading it out evenly then top with remaining marshmallows, pressing them down slightly so they stick. Do not completely scrape the pot out, fudge takes several hours to set up in the fridge and you’re gonna want to sample your delicious creation. Just let it cool a bit, burned tongues are no bueno!

Once your fudge has set up in the fridge (I like to leave it in there about 4 hours, overnight is fine too) lift up gently on all sides of the plastic wrap to release it from the pan then pull it all the way out, peel off the plastic wrap and place on a cutting board. Cut into bite size pieces (or giant pieces I don’t judge) and store in the fridge. Pull out about an hour before serving on a cookie tray to soften a bit, or just eat straight from the fridge it’s tasty either way!

Lacey’s Mint Fudge

As seen www.artsyfartsymama.com/2013/03/3-ingredient-mint-chocolate-fudge.html

Ingredients:

• 14 oz can condensed milk
• 14 oz package of semi sweet chocolate chips
• 10 oz package of Andes mint chips
• Sprinkles {optional}

Directions:

Line glass pan {8×8 pan for thick squares or a 9×13 pan for thin squares} with tinfoil and lightly grease. Pour the chocolate chips and Andes mint chips into a large, microwaveable bowl. Add condensed milk and mix well. Microwave for three minutes. Stir until smooth. Pour evenly into pan. Add sprinkles {optional} and refrigerate to set. Pull the sides of tinfoil or turn pan upside down to remove the fudge from the pan. Carefully pull tinfoil off the fudge. With a sharp knife, cut into squares and serve. I was able to get 25 one and a half inch pieces from an 8×8 pan.

Lacey’s Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 jar marshmallow creme
• 1 bag white chocolate chips
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter

Directions:

Bring the sugar, cream butter and salt to a rolling boil for about four minutes, stirring the whole time. Whisk in the white chocolate, peanut butter and marshmallow cream until smooth. I used my kitchenaide mixer for this part. Way easier. I’m not going to re detail the task of putting it in a pan- the other elves here has done it for me. You know what to do!

Mel’s Basic Chocolate Fudge

Adapted from: http://realmomkitchen.com/9393/super-easy-chocolate-fudge/

Mel’s Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge with Walnuts

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 14 oz. Sweetened condensed milk
• 10 oz. jar maraschino cherries chopped, liquid reserved
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup shaved dark chocolate
• 1 cup chopped walnuts * optional

Directions:

Combine sugar, milk, and cherry liquid in a heavy pot and bring to a boil. Stir constantly until mixture reaches soft ball stage, 234-243 degrees. Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients except dark chocolate. Stir with a wooden spoon until chips are completely melted and mixture thickens. Add dark chocolate and lightly stir. Pour into a buttered jelly roll pan and cool.

For more great recipes check out Lacey’s blog, Cured Confection! This chick cures her own meats and I can’t even tell you what she can do with old furniture! I can’t wait for my “sample shipment”. Of the meat of course 😉

I like fudge. Bon appetit from the four chicks y’all!