Cinnamon Chocolate Fudge

Fudge is a Christmas season must!  If you are not a baker, give fudge making a try. It is easy and always a hit.  You could make up a variety of different fudges and put together tins for gift giving.  Check out my recipes for Grammy’s Christmas Fudge (my favorite) and peanut butter fudge.

This creamy fudge only has 7 ingredients, which are likely in your pantry.  The addition of cinnamon gives a nice spicy contrast to the richness of the chocolate. Eating cinnamon is supposed to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and dark chocolate had anti-oxidants, so this is basically health food.

Cinnamon Chocolate Fudge
Yields about 40 pieces (depending on size)

Ingredients:
1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
1 lb. bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
Line a 8 x 8” baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium glass bowl or stainless steel bowl, add all ingredients.  Place the bowl over a pot of simmering hot water.  Mix until the ingredients all melt.

Pour the melted mixture into the lined pan and refrigerate overnight. Cut into pieces the next day.

Source: Giada Di Laurentiis

Grammy's Christmas Fudge

It wouldn't be Christmas without my Grammy's fudge!  This fudge is a classic one from my childhood and always makes an appearance around Christmas time.  For as long as I can remember, it's always been one of my favorite things that Grammy makes.  I am so happy to share this with all of you today!

This fudge is everything that a good fudge should be: chocolatey, decadent, and thick.  It's just lovely. :)

A few years ago, I made a cookbook of family recipes, and it's always fun to go through it during the Christmas season.  My family has some good cooks and bakers!  There are so many different ways to make fudge, many of which often call for a candy thermometer.  This recipe pretty much involves melting lots of simple things together.

First, you'll bring sugar, evaporated milk, and butter to a boil.  By bringing it to a boil, this ensures that the sugar melts, and this will help you get that nice shiny sheen for the fudge.  Then, after the sugar, evaporated milk, and butter reach a boil, you'll then add the remaining ingredients one by one.  There are a few different types of chocolate to use here.  I used a bag of Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips, a large Lindt bar, and then some Ghirardelli unsweetened chocolate.  You'll also add some marshmallows along with vanilla extract.  Chocolate and nuts go well together, and if possible, toasting the nuts before adding them to the fudge mixture will help bring out their flavor more.  I used a combination of pecans, walnuts, and almonds.   If you don't like nuts, just omit them.

After the fudge finished cooking, you'll need to pour it into a large sheet pan.  I sprinkled some fleur de sel over the fudge, just because. ;)  Make sure to either butter the pan or line it with parchment paper to allow easy removal of the fudge.  The fudge will need a few hours to cool and harden at room temperature.  You could speed it up by sticking the cookie sheet in the refrigerator.  After the fudge cools, slice away.  I find that using a metal bench scraper makes cutting the fudge easy.  If fudge starts sticking to the bench scraper or your knife, I would suggest dipping it in hot water, wiping it with a dish towel, and then slicing it again.

This makes a lot of fudge - 5 pounds of it!  Fudge freezes very well, so you can keep some of the leftover fudge for you, too.

Make up a batch of this, add it to some cute Christmas tins or candy boxes, and spread the sweetness this season!

Grammy's Christmas Fudge
Yields 5 lbs. of fudge

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 2/3 cups evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
12 oz. chocolate chips
13 oz. chocolate bar of your choice
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
8 oz. small marshmallows
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups nuts, chopped (optional but recommended)

Directions:
Line a large sheet pan (at least a 3/4 sheet pan) with parchment paper and set aside.

In at least a 5 quart pot, cook the sugar, evaporated milk, and butter.  Boil covered for 5 minutes.  Then, add the remaining ingredients, one at a time, beating each well into the mixture.  After all ingredients have been added, remove from heat, and spread into the cookie sheet.

Source: Grammy :)

Apple Cider Caramels

How is Christmas baking coming along?  If you are looking for a break from the baking, but still want something sweet, consider these apple cider caramels.

These caramels are buttery, deliciously chewy, and taste like apple cider.  Though caramels require attention to detail, they were not too hard to make and are very fun to give away!

When it comes to caramels, this recipe taught me that continuous stirring and a candy thermometer are vital to successful caramel making.  In the past, I went more off timing and did not use a thermometer and did not have too much success.  It was worth digging through my deep "everything but the kitchen sink" drawer to find my candy thermometer for this project.

These caramels get the apple cider taste, thanks to boiled cider.  Boiled cider is concentrated apple cider, and I found it at King Arthur Flour.  If you are ever looking for any specialty items for baking, check out King Arthur Flour's site.  They have so many neat things (besides flours!), and I always love looking at their catalog when it arrives in the mail.  Additionally, they have wonderful customer service and really stand by everything they sell.  Back to this boiled cider, it adds true apple flavor to anything, and when you throw in some spices, you have that cozy apple cider flavor.

Add this caramels to a cute tin, and you have a sweet gift for the holidays!

Apple Cider Caramels
Yields 64 caramels

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
6 tbsp. butter, salted
1/2 cup boiled cider
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice

Directions:
Line a 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper and leave an overhang on opposite sides.

In a medium sized saucepan, heat the cream, corn syrup, sugar, butter, and boiled cider over high head, and bring to a boil.  Stir continuously to dissolve the sugar.  Reduce to medium-high heat and cook until the mixture reaches 245-248ºF on a candy thermometer, 20 to 35 minutes.  (Go to 245ºF if you want softer caramels.)

Remove the pan from the heat, and add in the salt and spices.  Then, pour the mixture into the pan.  Allow it to rest at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours before cutting it into 1" squares.

Source: King Arthur Flour

Oreo Truffles

It's been a few years since I made Oreo truffles for Christmas.  Last time I made them, people raved about them:

"These are the best truffles...did you use Godiva chocolate?"  

"How long did these take to make?  It must have taken you hours to master this chocolate flavor!"  

"The truffles taste like something from a fancy chocolatier!"

"These were probably so tough to make, which is good, because if they were easy, I'd be making and eating them all time."

Au contraire.

These are made with Oreos (or your favorite brand of sandwich cookie), cream cheese, and a bag of chocolate chips.  These three ingredients will bring you to holiday truffle bliss.

If you haven't tried or made these before, give it a try!  These truffles are simple to make.  I empty all of the cookies into the food processor, and the food processor does all the work and crushes them.  After the cookies are crushed, I add in a block of cream cheese and pulse until combined and smooth. I line a baking pan with wax paper, and then I use a melon baller (see, it has more uses than just scooping melon!) to make the truffle balls.  After that, I freeze the cookie balls for a few hours.  Freezing the cookie balls makes it much easier to dip them in melted chocolate.  Once the cookies are dipped in melted chocolate, I freeze them again so that the chocolate will set faster.

There are so many different flavors of Oreos/sandwich cookies these days, so you can have even more different flavors of truffles.  Trader Joe's Peppermint Joe Joe cookies work wonderfully for making peppermint bark truffles, just sayin'.

When you need a crowd pleaser, make these, but be warned that there will not be any leftovers.

Oreo Truffles
Yields about 30 truffles

Ingredients:
16 oz. package of Oreo or other sandwich cookies
8 oz. cream cheese
16 oz. chocolate chips (usually this amounts to one bag)

Directions:
Line a large baking pan with wax paper and set aside.  Empty cookies into food processor and crush until fine.  Add cream cheese and process until smooth.   Roll cookie mixture into 1" balls and place on the wax paper lined baking pan.  (A melon baller may help.)  Freeze or refrigerate for a few hours.    After the cookie malls are firm, melt the chocolate and dip the balls into chocolate, returning them onto the wax paper.  Freeze or refrigerate until firm.  Enjoy!

Source: The Oreo Elf

Peanut Butter Fudge

For this month's baking club, we decided to make Christmas treats!  It seems that fudge is made just during the holidays and not during other times of the year.  I, for one, always look forward to enjoying my grandma's deliciously addicting chocolate fudge at Christmas!  Maybe fudge is so irresistible since we only enjoy it once a year!

So, would you believe me if I told you that you could make peanut butter fudge with only four ingredients after four minutes in the microwave?  Well, check your pantry for the four magic ingredients, and get ready to believe it!

This fudge takes just a few minutes to prepare, and clean-up is a snap.  After the microwaving, it may take a little muscle to stir the fudge together (*cough, cough* consider it a bonus mini workout?), but it takes even more willpower to resist sampling the fudge until it is chilled.  Your patience will be rewarded!

This creamy fudge tastes like the inside of a chocolate peanut butter cup.  It has a soft, creamy texture with a mellow, perfectly sweet peanut butter flavor.  You could even try variations by replacing the peanut butter with Nutella or Biscoff Spread/Cookie Butter.

This recipe is easy to make and easier to eat.  It has gained a spot on my yearly Christmas "must make" list.  Add a "side of Nirvana" to your holiday dessert platter with this peanut butter fudge!

Make sure to check out the creative treats of my fellow bloggers over at the Deep Dish, the Orgasmic Chef, From My Sweet Heart, and the Squishy Monster!  Happy baking, and keep enjoying the sweetness of the season!

Peanut Butter Fudge
Yields 64 1-inch pieces

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
2 sticks of butter (8 oz.)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
16 oz. confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Line a 8 x 8" baking pan with parchment paper.  Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray, or grease with butter.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the peanut butter and butter.  Cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on high for 2 minutes.  After two minutes, carefully remove the bowl from the microwave and stir.  Re-cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on high for 2 more minutes.

Carefully removing the bowl from the microwave, and stir well to ensure all the melted butter is combined with the peanut butter.  Add the vanilla extract, and then stir in the confectioners' sugar using a wooden spoon.  The mixture will become difficult to stir and will lose its sheen.

Spread into the greased 8 x 8" baking pan.  Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of the fudge.  Refrigerate until cool, for at least 2 hours.

Cut into 1 inch pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.  Alternatively, you can freeze fudge.  Wrap in parchment and foil, and place in a freezer safe bag.  Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Source: Alton Brown via the Food Network

Turtle Bark

Christmas baking season is here!   

Every year, my mom, sisters, and I have a Christmas bake-a-thon with Christmas movies on in the background.  It's always so much fun and very special, and we'll brainstorm creations weeks ahead.  The bulk of the baking consists of different types of cookies, but we usually come with another sweet confection or two, like fudge, truffles, and bark.  What are you planning to bake for the holidays?

When I saw this Turtle Bark featured on Blue-Eyed Bakers, I could not believe how simple it looked, especially since the base of the bark is comprised of graham crackers.  It's hard to resist the chocolate caramel pairing, especially when crunchy toasted pecans are thrown into the mix.  The graham cracker base just adds that perfect cookie-like crunch.

For this bark, you make the caramel sauce, and the homemade caramel sauce is outstanding.  To extract the best flavor from your nuts, toast them for about ten minutes or so.  After the bark is finished, sprinkling some sea salt just helps deepen the chocolate flavor.

This bark is easy to make, but the hard part?  Waiting for it to chill before you can sample it. :)  After you sample it, you could put it in tins for gift giving.

Enjoy the sweetness of the season!

Turtle Bark

Ingredients:
1 cup whole pecans, lightly chopped
10 whole graham crackers (large rectangular size)
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sea salt, as desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Toast chopped pecans for 10 minutes.  Continue to leave the oven on.

Line a 9 x 13" pan with parchment paper, and grease the paper and sides of the pan using cooking spray.  Arrange the graham crackers in a single layer in the prepared pan, and use any smaller graham cracker rectangles or broken graham crackers to fill the gaps.

Combine the sugar, butter, and heavy whipping cream in a medium-sized heavy saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir occasionally.  Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla.  The mixture will bubble up, so don't be alarmed!  Stir in the toasted pecans.  Pour this butter mixture of the crackers, and spread evenly to coat.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbly.

While the pan cools, melt the chocolate chips on the stove in a heat-proof bowl over a pot of water at medium heat.  Stir constantly until melted.  Pour the chocolate over the caramel-pecan layer, and you can tip the pan back and forth until evenly coated.  Sprinkle immediately with sea salt, if desired, and refrigerate until cool and firm.

Remove the bark from the pan using the parchment paper, and cut into bars/bark using a sharp knife.  Store in the fridge, covered, to ensure the chocolate does not become too soft.

Source: Adapted from the Blue-Eyed Bakers, originally from Eat.Drink.Smile.