There is an awesome sporting goods store in the Midwest called Scheels. I absolutely love going to this place when we go visit my in-laws. It's a sports lover's mecca, where they sell thousands of items, even in the women's section. Our local sporting goods store has a measly little section for ladies, and a pathetic rack (maybe two) of women's golf apparel. Clearly, the stores in my area are biased towards men.
Every time we go into Scheels, we head straight upstairs into their market section (yes, they have one of those). Scheels offers free samples of their house-made fudge, and I can't even tell you how many different types I've tried. Even Addie gets in on the sampling, and she always leaves that store happy.
I don't make fudge very often since recipes tend to make quite a bit, and our little family of three simply can't eat it fast enough. But, fudge is easy and fun to make, and I often get a craving when we're unable to head to Scheels for our fix.
The kind folks at Skyhorse Publishing sent me a copy of Abigail Gehring's Classic Candy cookbook. And lo and behold, there was a recipe for peanut butter fudge that I wanted to make for my husband and Addie. The cookbook also includes over 60 recipes, including candy bars, toffee, soft candies and even salt water taffy. The author even has a section in the cookbook that offers sugar substitutes and some advice on how to properly melt chocolate. I didn't actually try any of the fudge since I don't eat peanut butter, but my husband said it was slightly dry. I'm dying to try the salt water taffy to test my taffy-pulling skills (or lack thereof).
One thing to warn you about when making this fudge is to make sure you heat the sugar/milk mixture slowly over medium heat. The first time I tried making this, I had the stove too hot and my fudge got too hot. The result was a crumbly, ugly mess and I ended up throwing away that batch. Oops. This batch was still dry, even though I used a candy thermometer. I am pretty sure it was a user error (my bad) so don't let my mistake prevent you from trying these fun candy recipes.
And now onto the giveaway! I'm giving away one copy of Classic Candy to an Eva Bakes reader. All you need to do is enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. Please be patient since the widget might load slowly. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Easy peanut butter fudge
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup milk of choice (I used 1%)
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use all natural)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Generously grease or line a standard 8x8 inch baking pan and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the sugar and milk to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil for about 2 and a half minutes. If you have a candy thermometer, allow the mixture to hit soft ball stage (235 degrees F). Do not allow the mixture to go past soft ball stage or you will have a hard, dry and inedible fudge.
Turn off the stove, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until everything is well mixed.
Transfer to the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Allow the fudge to cool before slicing and serving.
Yield: At least 32 pieces of fudge (you can slice them as big or little as you want, so you could even get up to 64 squares)
Source: Classic Candy by Abigail R. Gehring, page 14
There is an awesome sporting goods store in the Midwest called Scheels. I absolutely love going to this place when we go visit my in-laws. It's a sports lover's mecca, where they sell thousands of items, even in the women's section. Our local sporting goods store has a measly little section for ladies, and a pathetic rack (maybe two) of women's golf apparel. Clearly, the stores in my area are biased towards men.
Every time we go into Scheels, we head straight upstairs into their market section (yes, they have one of those). Scheels offers free samples of their house-made fudge, and I can't even tell you how many different types I've tried. Even Addie gets in on the sampling, and she always leaves that store happy.
I don't make fudge very often since recipes tend to make quite a bit, and our little family of three simply can't eat it fast enough. But, fudge is easy and fun to make, and I often get a craving when we're unable to head to Scheels for our fix.
The kind folks at Skyhorse Publishing sent me a copy of Abigail Gehring's Classic Candy cookbook. And lo and behold, there was a recipe for peanut butter fudge that I wanted to make for my husband and Addie. The cookbook also includes over 60 recipes, including candy bars, toffee, soft candies and even salt water taffy. The author even has a section in the cookbook that offers sugar substitutes and some advice on how to properly melt chocolate. I didn't actually try any of the fudge since I don't eat peanut butter, but my husband said it was slightly dry. I'm dying to try the salt water taffy to test my taffy-pulling skills (or lack thereof).
One thing to warn you about when making this fudge is to make sure you heat the sugar/milk mixture slowly over medium heat. The first time I tried making this, I had the stove too hot and my fudge got too hot. The result was a crumbly, ugly mess and I ended up throwing away that batch. Oops. This batch was still dry, even though I used a candy thermometer. I am pretty sure it was a user error (my bad) so don't let my mistake prevent you from trying these fun candy recipes.
And now onto the giveaway! I'm giving away one copy of Classic Candy to an Eva Bakes reader. All you need to do is enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. Please be patient since the widget might load slowly. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Easy peanut butter fudge
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup milk of choice (I used 1%)
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use all natural)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Generously grease or line a standard 8x8 inch baking pan and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the sugar and milk to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil for about 2 and a half minutes. If you have a candy thermometer, allow the mixture to hit soft ball stage (235 degrees F). Do not allow the mixture to go past soft ball stage or you will have a hard, dry and inedible fudge.
Turn off the stove, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until everything is well mixed.
Transfer to the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Allow the fudge to cool before slicing and serving.
Yield: At least 32 pieces of fudge (you can slice them as big or little as you want, so you could even get up to 64 squares)
Source: Classic Candy by Abigail R. Gehring, page 14
No comments:
Post a Comment