2-Minute Quick Fudge

This rich, nutty 2-Minute Quick Fudge is so easy that children can make it all by themselves. Even better, its main ingredients are store cupboard and refrigerator staples: powdered sugar, cocoa powder, butter and milk. 

It’s perfect for slumber parties, unexpected midnight munchies and, especially important this time of year, it makes a great gift for neighbors and friends. Who doesn't like fudge?!

I miss the days when my daughters still lived at home and we’d have a fairly steady stream of overnight guests and sleepovers on the weekends. I was in my absolute element cooking and baking for a crowd. 

One of our favorite sleepover meals was homemade pizza. I’d make the dough and pizza sauce and set out all of the toppings. Each girl would get a ball of dough to spread out on a pan and top her own custom made pizza. It took awhile to make and bake them all so the pizza was both entertainment for part of the evening, and dinner. 

As they got older, I’d head off to my room to read after we ate, knowing that they were quite capable of baking up a pan of brownies and more on their own, if the munchies hit. The muted giggles and games and music from downstairs were joy to me. 

I originally created this recipe post for a sleepover theme blog event so I was determined to find a quick fudge recipe that children could make on their own with simple ingredients. No condensed milk or marshmallow fluff since a lot of folks don’t keep those in the cupboard. I didn’t want the stove involved either. Flames and unsupervised children should never mix. Unfortunately, most quick fudge recipes call for one or both those things. 

Until I found this one in my archives. I’d love to give credit where it’s due, but the source wasn’t in my notes. It did say that nuts were optional. I had scratched through Nuts to write Pecans. Because pecans are my favorite nut. And I added the mini M&Ms. 

The bottom line is, you can eat the base quick fudge all on its own. It’s perfectly chocolate-y and rich. Or you can add in whatever you like. Chopped candy bars, mint chips, peanut butter chips, mini marshmallows, other nuts? They’d all be excellent. 

2-Minute Quick Fudge

Technically, this does take just a bit longer than two minutes because you have to chop the pecans and measure all of your other ingredients out. It’s still super quick and worth it!  

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g powdered sugar

1/2 cup or 40g unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 cup or 60ml milk

1/2 cup or 113g butter 

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 cup or 57g chopped pecans, plus more for decoration, if desired

1/2 cup or 100g mini M&Ms, plus more for decoration, if desired

Method

Grease an 8 x 8 in or 20 x 20cm pan or line it with baking parchment across the bottom and up at least two opposing sides, so that the fudge can be lifted out of the pan by those ends. 

In a large microwavable mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa and salt in mixing bowl. 

Add milk and butter. Do not mix. 

Cook uncovered in a microwave oven on high for 2 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave and stir well to mix the ingredients into a lovely thick chocolate.

Add the vanilla, pecans and mini M&Ms.  Stir until blended. 

Pour or spoon the fudge into your prepared pan. 

Press it out evenly in the pan. 

Sprinkle on the extra mini M&Ms and pecans, if using. Press them down with a spoon so they stick into the fudge. 

If your kitchen is warm, you can put the pan in the freezer for 20 minutes to cool and set. My quartz countertop is cold this time of year so mine set up quickly without chilling. 

Cut into small squares with a sharp knife and serve. Store in an airtight container. 

Tip: If you are giving this fudge away as a gift, cut a piece of thick cardboard into a square. Cover it in foil and stack the pieces of fudge on top. Cover with cling film, ribbon optional. Voilà – a pretty gift package! 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for holiday sweets and treats. Check out all the links below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on a Farm and her able stand-in, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Christmas Tree Peanut Butter Blossoms from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• German Chocolate Caramel Bars from Palatable Pastime
• Homemade Jujube Jelly Sweets from Sneha’s Recipe
• Maritozzi from Culinary Cam
• Two-minute Quick Fudge from Food Lust People Love
• Vegan Air Fryer Churros from Cook with Renu

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Creepy Pumpkin Seed Brittle

Creepy Pumpkin Seed Brittle is a great seasonal party sweet and perfect for wrapping up to give as gifts for teachers, friends and coworkers. The crunchy pumpkin seeds toast and pop in the syrup as it cooks and caramelizes, flavoring the buttery brittle.

When my girls were quite young, we lived in a small oilfield town in Brazil where we were one of very few American families. Our neighborhood was just four or five blocks square, with the tiny little international school within its perimeter.

Halloween was not celebrated in Brazil, at least when we lived there, so if I wanted my daughters to experience that great American tradition as I had when I was little, it was up to me to organize it myself.

I started in early October by asking neighbors I knew to give out candy then I’d make a map of all the participating houses and pass them out at the beginning of the evening. 

Some participating houses had children so one parent would join the groups going from house to house, leaving someone at home to hand out candy. Others didn’t have kids but they got into the spirit with enthusiasm, decorating their front doors and more, to welcome the trick or treaters.

After trick or treating, everyone would come back to our house where we had decorated the backyard for a spooky Halloween party and set up a table with cupcakes, sandwiches, chips and punch. We’d bob for apples the old-fashioned way in a big basin of water, pass oranges or small balloons under chins and play other fun games. 

And, of course, the kids would sort out their candy, trading for their favorites and eating much of it in the process. It was a festival of sweetness and fun! Such a sugar rush! 

One of my favorite candies to make for a Halloween party was, and still is, peanut brittle. This week I made it seasonal, using pumpkin seeds to celebrate Halloween.

Your Halloween party guests will love it! Or make some as a gift for your favorite teacher or neighbor. Add a creepy chocolate spiderweb for decoration!

Creepy Pumpkin Seed Brittle

Like peanut brittle, pumpkin seeds brittle is simple to make but take the time ahead to butter your foil and put it in a heatproof pan before you start boiling the concoction, as per the instructions. I don't have photos of the in-between steps because there wasn't any time to stop to take a picture!

Ingredients

1 cup or 200g sugar 

1⁄2 cup or 120ml light corn syrup 

1⁄4 cup or 60ml water

1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1⁄4 cups or 180g raw green (hulled) pumpkin seeds (not toasted) 

2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus more for greasing the foil lined pan

1 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄3 cup or 66g semi­sweet chocolate chips for spider web ­- optional

Method

To make the pumpkin seed brittle, first line a large pan with foil and grease the foil liberally with butter. Set aside.

In a heavy pot, heat the sugar, corn syrup, water and salt over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Separate out a tablespoon of the pumpkin seeds and set them aside.

Stir in the remaining pumpkin seeds.

Continue cooking, stirring frequently until the pumpkin seeds start popping and the liquid turns caramel colored.

If you use a candy thermometer, you are looking for a temperature of 300°F or 149°C. Alternatively, you can drop a small amount into very cold water. It’s ready when it separates out into hard and brittle threads.

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter and soda. The syrup will froth up but just keep stirring till the butter is melted.

Pour the bubbling pumpkin syrup into your prepared pan.

Holding the pan securely, shake it from side to side and front to back, tipping it carefully this way and that so the pumpkin seed brittle spreads out. Quickly sprinkle on the reserved pumpkin seeds and leave it to cool.

To make the creepy chocolate spider web, melt the chocolate chips with a few quick zaps in a microwave or in a double boiler.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a number 3 tip with the melted chocolate. Pipe on a spider web following these instructions here.

Set the Creepy Pumpkin Seed Brittle out on your party table whole, then break it into pieces with a little hammer to serve.

Enjoy! 

It's Sunday FunDay and since Halloween is nigh, we are sharing Halloween party treat recipes. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime and her able helper, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the links below!

• Creepy Pumpkin Seed Brittle from Food Lust People Love
• Ghostly Candy Apple Concoction Bark by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Jack O’Lantern Cheese Bites by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Halloween Ghost Hardboiled Eggs by Sneha's Recipes
• Spider Web Pretzels by Amy’s Cooking Adventures

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

 

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Holiday Mint M&M Chocolate Fudge

This quick and easy Holiday Mint M&M Fudge recipe has two layers of both chocolate fudginess and holiday mint M&Ms. Change it up to add the chips or M&Ms of your choice. It's easy to make but hard to give away. You'll want to eat it all yourself.

So, Christmas Week comes to a close with this fifth and final day. Now the actual holiday baking of pecan pies and roast turkeys begins! I told a friend jokingly today that our Christmas dinner was already cooked. All organized! And she took me seriously. Truth is, I don’t have one thing done. Oh, sure! I’ve been making candy and baking cakes and muffins but those are just welcome extras. At our house, there’s got to be turkey and stuffing. Or baked Christmas ham with pineapple, brown-sugar-mustard glaze and those weird cherries that look so cool but that no one eats. Does anybody anywhere eat those?!

The first year I started this blog, I wrote about my grandmother who always made a variety of fudges for presents at Christmas time. It was kind of a competition between her and her sisters to see who made the best.  The two I remember best were a snow white divinity fudge and a chocolate pecan fudge, both of which I’ve tried to replicate.

I think my grandmother would have been thrilled at the ease of the fudge I've made for you today. No thermometers or tricks. Just boil, simmer, mix and pour.

Make sure you scroll on down to see all the Day 5 treats my fellow Christmas Week bloggers have made for you.

Ingredients
3 cups or 600g granulated sugar
2/3 cup or 150ml evaporated milk
3/4 cup or 170g butter
7 oz or 200g marshmallow creme
12 oz or 340g semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup or 9.9oz or 280g Holiday Mint M&Ms, divided in half

Method
Line a 9x13 in or 23x33cm pan with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray, below to help it stay in place and on top to help the fudge turn loose later.

In a large pot, combine your sugar, evaporated milk and butter over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often.

Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. It’s still going to bubble gently the whole time since that is the nature of sugary candy.

Remove the pot from the heat; add the marshmallow creme and chocolate chips, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Then stir in the vanilla and salt.

Pour half of the mixture into your prepared pan and spread it around.

Scatter half of the M&Ms over the fudge.

Spread the remaining fudge over the top. Shake the pan to help the fudge spread out in the pan.

Sprinkle the remaining M&Ms into the fudge. Shake the pan gently again. The hot fudge will continue to spread. Tap the M&Ms gently to make sure they are stuck into the fudge.

Allow the fudge to cool until firm. Cut into squares.

Store in an airtight container. This stuff makes excellent gifts if you can bear to give it away.

Still looking for Christmas inspiration? We’ve got you covered!

• Biscoff Chocolate Chip Cookies by Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
• Boozy Cherries by Cooking In Stilettos
• Caramel Corn Chocolate Chip Cookies by Mind Over Batter
• Chocolate Dipped Madelines by My Catholic Kitchen
• Chocolate Mint Fudge by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Gingerbread Fudge by Cravings of a Lunatic 
• Holiday Mint M&M Chocolate Fudge by Food Lust People Love
• My Mother's Lefse by Farm Fresh Feasts

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Mulled Wine Fruit Gums

For fans of those chewy little candies called wine gums, this is a Christmas version, full of the spicy flavors of mulled wine with cloves and cinnamon and nutmeg along with apple, pear, orange and lemon. Bonus: Your house smells divine as the fruit cooks down. Make these mulled wine fruit gums today!

This recipe is based on one from the current Jamie magazine (Issue 54, December 2014) but can also be found online here. I didn't want actual bits of fruit in mine so I changed up the method. If you want bits of apple and pear in yours, do not add the sugar until after the fruit has broken down. I took a quick shot, holding the finish gum, before cutting into squares, up to the light and look how pretty the color is.

Mulled Wine Fruit Gums

Ingredients
Vegetable oil or non-stick spray, for greasing pan
1 1/3 lbs or 600g apples
10 1/2 oz or 300g pears
2 1/4 cups or 530ml red wine
1 cup or 240ml orange juice
Juice of 1 lemon (about 4 tablespoons total, divided)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon whole cloves
2 star anise
3 1/2 cups or 700g golden granulated sugar
4 tablespoons liquid pectin

Plus 1 cup or 225g white finely granulated sugar, for dusting

Method
Lightly grease an 8x8 in or 20x20cm tin and line it with cling film, making sure to come all the way up the sides. I sprayed more non-stick spray on the inside of the cling film as well.

Measure your wine, orange juice and half the lemon juice into a heavy bottomed pot, along with the spices. Peel, core and roughly chop your apples and pears and put them directly into the wine pot.

Add in the golden caster sugar and cook over a medium high heat for about 35-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do keep an eye on it so it doesn’t boil over.

Strain the solids out of the pot with a heavy, heatproof sieve. Allow to drain completely, using a spoon or spatula to squeeze all the thick syrupy juice out.

Return the liquid to the pot and add the remaining lemon juice and the liquid pectin.

Boil over a medium heat until a candy thermometer reaches 240°F or 115°C or test for doneness by dropping a scant 1/2 teaspoon slowly into a glass of cold water. The syrup should form a ball as it hits the water. If it doesn’t, give it a few more minutes on the stove and try again with a fresh glass of cold water.

Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and leave to cool.

Once it’s cool, cover the surface with another piece of cling film and leave to set for at least 12 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to cut the squares apart, put your white sugar in a platter or pan with sides and tip the gum square into the sugar.

Coat it liberally with the sugar then use a greased knife or scissors to cut the squares, tossing the pieces in the sugar as you go along. I found that the scissors worked better than the knife, no matter how liberally I greased it.

As they are made, transfer the sugarcoated squares to a sheet of parchment sprinkled with a little of the sugar. This will give you more room to work at the cutting and coating.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Needing more sweet treats for Christmas? Have a look at today’s wonderful link list for inspiration:

• Coquito Cheesecake Flan by Mind Over Batter
• Egg Nog Pound Cake by My Catholic Kitchen
• Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls by Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
• Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Eggnog Icing by From Gate to Plate
• Mulled Wine Fruit Gums by Food Lust People Love
• Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies by Cravings of a Lunatic 
• Peppermint Spritz Cookies by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Scandinavian Fruit Soup by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Soft Vanilla Caramels by That Skinny Chick Can Bake

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