Easy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Fudge

A while back I wrote a post on how easy fudge recipes were popping up everywhere and I wanted to put a couple of them to the test and so I had started with one that used condensed milk and this one using nothing but peanut butter, icing sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips.

It doesn't get any easier then this. Peanut butter could be replaced with any nut butter or something like Nutella, if you happen to like Nutella, I don't.

There is something to be said by proper fudge that uses a thermometer and takes time and patience, but sometimes in a world that is busy and full of other complicated things why not let something be easy and delicious! Like this chocolate chip peanut butter fudge!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Fudge

250g creamy peanut butter
228g of salted butter
1 tsp of vanilla extract
450g icing sugar
100-150g chocolate chips, milk or dark

Prepare an 8 inch or 20 cm square baking tin by lining it with tin foil leaving it to hang over the top. In a heavy bottom sauce pan melt the peanut butter and butter together over a low/medium heat mixing until it's melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extra. Sift in the icing sugar and fold into the peanut butter until fully combined, then fold in the chocolate chips before pressing the fudge into your prepared baking tin and using the spatula smooth it out, cover with the excess tin foil and leave to chill in the fridge for approximately 2-4 hours or until firm. Cut into whatever size squares that you'd like.

This easy fudge is great to eat, but it's also makes a great gift to anyone who loves peanut butter!!

*Check out other fudge recipes I have tried Caramel Biscuit Fudge (easy) and Rum & Sultana Fudge (proper fudge)
*recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction blog

Caramel Biscuit Fudge aka Twix Fudge

The blogging world has changed. Years ago people followed and read blogs all the time, but not any more. First because the world wide web is saturated with blogs. Blogs of fashion and beauty, food and parenting, gaming and movies the topics are endless. Then we have the internet aka social media outlets feeding our need for instant gratification with short videos showing us how to make ... well anything and everything!

Of course I am in the foodie world so my social media channels are full of short videos making fun recipes and one of the things that keeps showing up is fudge. How to make fudge with only 4 ingredients or by just using this or that! So, I thought I would give a few of these recipes a try. See if these simple recipes are that simple and to see if they taste like the fudge that takes forever......

So, I started with this recipe from Sally's Candy Addiction by Sally McKinney and Sally's Baking Addiction blog - One of the blogs I follow like a groupie.

Caramel Biscuit Fudge

1 can of sweetened condensed milk (from 14 oz can)
2 tablespoons caramel sauce
546g white chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
⅛ teaspoon salt
140g Twix Bites

Line 8-by-8-inch pan with foil, leaving overhang on sides to remove fudge later.
In medium saucepan over medium heat, combine condensed milk, caramel and white chocolate. Stir constantly with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat before stirring in vanilla and salt. Cool mixture 10 minutes.
Slowly and carefully fold in chopped Twix bars (to keep chocolate swirl intact). Pour and spread mixture into prepared pan. Cover pan with foil and refrigerate 4 hours or store at room temperature overnight.
Remove fudge from pan using foil as handles. Use sharp knife to cut fudge into 64 1-inch squares (if fudge has been refrigerated longer than 4 hours, let fudge sit at room temperature 20 minutes before cutting).

* for more delicious recipes like this check out Sally's blog (link above) and if you want to know more about her book Sally's Candy Addiction you can check out my review here! 

Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, & Fudge Muffins

Whenever some one says to me that they would like to start baking, but don't know where to start or what to try first I always suggest muffins. Muffins are one of the easiest things to bake as you just mix all the dry ingredients together and then the wet ingredients. They also almost always use oil instead of butter and therefore usually turn out soft and fluffy!

Muffins are also a great thing to bake with children for the same reasons above! These delicious Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, and Fudge muffins were created last Sunday morning by my two girls.

Sunday's are our lazy days and they wanted muffins for breakfast. They couldn't agree on chocolate chips or fudge pieces so we put both in! We were all ready to go and we had all our stuff out ready to go when I realised we didn't have eggs!! I know!! To avoid disappointed we ran to our corner shop in our jammies!

Both girls were like "What?!?! We're going to walk there in our jammies?!?!" They were shocked and horrified, but at 7 o'clock in the morning (they are early risers) it was only the guy working there who saw us!

So, for lazy Sunday mornings or something to do over the summer holidays bake these tasty peanut butter muffins and add whatever you want to them!!

Peanut butter, chocolate chip, & fudge muffins

150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g caster sugar
pinch of salt
90g peanut butter
100ml sunflower oil
1 large egg
175ml milk
chocolate chips
fudge pieces

Heat the oven to 200C line the cupcake/muffin tin with paper cases.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into a big bowl, add the the sugar and salt - mix together.
In a smaller bowl or jug mix the peanut butter, oil, egg, and milk together. The peanut butter won't fully incorporate, but that's okay!
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold in until just combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and fudge pieces. I guesstimated them about 50g of chocolate chips and about 25g fudge pieces.
Spoon into the paper cases and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Until the sponge springs back after being lightly touched, if in doubt use the skewer test.

notes: recipe adapted by my 8 & 6 from 100 Magnificent Muffins and Scones by Felicity Barnum-Bobb 

Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, & Fudge Muffins

Whenever some one says to me that they would like to start baking, but don't know where to start or what to try first I always suggest muffins. Muffins are one of the easiest things to bake as you just mix all the dry ingredients together and then the wet ingredients. They also almost always use oil instead of butter and therefore usually turn out soft and fluffy!

Muffins are also a great thing to bake with children for the same reasons above! These delicious Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, and Fudge muffins were created last Sunday morning by my two girls.

Sunday's are our lazy days and they wanted muffins for breakfast. They couldn't agree on chocolate chips or fudge pieces so we put both in! We were all ready to go and we had all our stuff out ready to go when I realised we didn't have eggs!! I know!! To avoid disappointed we ran to our corner shop in our jammies!

Both girls were like "What?!?! We're going to walk there in our jammies?!?!" They were shocked and horrified, but at 7 o'clock in the morning (they are early risers) it was only the guy working there who saw us!

So, for lazy Sunday mornings or something to do over the summer holidays bake these tasty peanut butter muffins and add whatever you want to them!!

Peanut butter, chocolate chip, & fudge muffins

150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g caster sugar
pinch of salt
90g peanut butter
100ml sunflower oil
1 large egg
175ml milk
chocolate chips
fudge pieces

Heat the oven to 200C line the cupcake/muffin tin with paper cases.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into a big bowl, add the the sugar and salt - mix together.
In a smaller bowl or jug mix the peanut butter, oil, egg, and milk together. The peanut butter won't fully incorporate, but that's okay!
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold in until just combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and fudge pieces. I guesstimated them about 50g of chocolate chips and about 25g fudge pieces.
Spoon into the paper cases and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Until the sponge springs back after being lightly touched, if in doubt use the skewer test.

notes: recipe adapted by my 8 & 6 from 100 Magnificent Muffins and Scones by Felicity Barnum-Bobb 

The Bundt that started it all: Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Dotty and Dave Dalquist started Nordic Ware in 1946 from their basement in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the 1950’s they introduced America to the Bundt pan, but it wasn’t until the 1966 Pillsbury Bake Off that made them a hot commodity.

Thanks to one Ella Helfrich who entered the Bake Off with her recipe for a Tunnel of Fudge Cake baked in a Bundt pan.

The saying that no one remembers who came second isn’t exactly true. If you look at the list of winners for the Pillsbury Bake Off you won’t see Ella’s name. Because she came second, but her recipe has become somewhat famous inspiring all sorts of molten chocolate cakes.

If you caught it above that Nordic Ware was started in Minneapolis, Minnesota then you will have probably guessed I managed a visit to their factory store while with my sister in the city.

It has been up graded from a basement into a massive factory.  The store was my kind of place. It was full of any and every kitchen appliance you could ever want. I would have happily moved in. I wish I had had a bigger weight allowance for my suitcase!

Even though I didn't pick up a Bundt pan, I did pick up a copy of Classic Bundt Recipe Book that has a lot of traditional recipes including one for the Tunnel of Fudge Cake.

Originally it was made with a Pillsbury chocolate frosting powder, but they discontinued it so a ‘from scratch’ recipe was created.

Aren't we glad it was?!

I used my new traditional Bundt pan that I have never used before! I felt that it was fitting that the first time in the oven was to bake the cake that made it famous! It turned out a little lighter then I expected. It seems a bit more milk chocolaty then dark chocolaty. However it still tastes delicious! 

I have adapted it to grams from cups. When cups are used it can vary by how the individual fills said cup. So, this is how I made it.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake:

370g (1 ¾ cups) granulated sugar

256.5g (1 ¾ cups) unsalted butter, softened

6 large eggs

310g (2 cups) icing sugar/confectioners’ sugar

395g (2 ¼ cups) plain flour/all purpose flour

70g ( ¾ cups) unsweetened cocoa powder

225g (2 cups) walnuts, toasted & chopped

Heat the oven to 180C/350F, then grease (butter) and flour a 10 inch or 12 cup Bundt pan. Or use a cake release spray.

Beat the granulated sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Gently beat the eggs together and add them little by little beating well in between each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Gradually add the icing sugar and beat until just combined.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together in a separate bowl. Add about a third to the batter and fold in with a spatula or wooden spoon. Then repeat until all the flour is folded in. Lastly fold in the walnuts until well mixed. Spoon the batter into the Bundt and smooth it down.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is set and the cake is starting to come away from the edges. Cool in the pan for about 1 ½ hours before gently turning it out onto a stand or serving plate. Cool for at least 2 more hours or more.

Chocolate Glaze:

115g (¾ cup) icing sugar/confectioners’ sugar

30g ( ¼ cup) unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ to 2 tbsp whole milk

Sift the dry ingredients together. Then whisk in the milk until the consistency allows it to be drizzled on top!

notes: Please note that it's the nuts that make this cake work, you can substitute another nut! Find out more about Nordic Ware here! There is more on the Pillsbury Bake Off here. My favorite blog to find bundt recipes is on The Food Librarian because I like big bundts as much as she does! Don't forget to mark your calendars for the 15th of November because it's National Bundt Day!

Chocolate Pretzel Fudge Bites aka Mouth-Fulls

Chocolate Pretzel Fudge Bites is a bit of a mouth full to say and mouths will be full when you make these… maybe I should have called them “Mouth-Fulls” or something just as silly?

The salty pretzel covered with the sweetness of chocolate is a classic combo that a lot of people love.

Including Mr. Knightley; they are his favorite! I made these with him in mind.

Well, it started because I bought him Caramel & Pretzel Chocolate clusters at Marks and Spencers. They were pretty damn good!

I should know I ate most of them. I figured I better make it up to him, so I had a look in my cupboard…

I had the chocolate, pretzels, and Sainsbury’s mini Cornish Fudge chunks in my cupboard. As I’m in the process of using up things in my cupboard I thought why not!

Fudge and caramel are not they same thing, but they come from the same family of sweets.

They are easy to throw together and make a tasty chocolate treat! You could also use these as an egg nest during the Easter season. Just top them with some chocolate eggs. You could also decorate with sprinkles or use candy melts for different colors. A pretty versatile treat, it’s up to you. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pretzel Fudge Bites

200g milk chocolate

50g (more or less) pretzels, smashed

100g Sainsbury’s mini Cornish Fudge chunks

cupcake/muffin cases

Melt the chocolate using your preferred method. I melted them in a glass bowl over simmering water. Then add the smashed pretzels coating them completely before adding the fudge chunks. Mix thoroughly before spooning them into cupcake cases. I made 11 but it all depends on how you want to divide them up! Let them set before eating! 

notes: Mr Knightley is my husband, see the about me page to be disappointed that I don’t explain it further. I was shopping at M&S because I had a gift card. I bought Sainsbury's mini Cornish Fudge chunks prior to knowing I would use them in this recipe!

Pie, Pecan Pie

Originally this pie was intended to be made the same weekend that the Rum & Sultana fudge was. It was suppose to be the dessert for my Thanksgiving dinner that weekend. 

Anyway if you read my post on the fudge you’ll already know I didn't because I had tonsillitis. I had to cancel Thanksgiving. I had plans to host my American friend, who moved here early last year, and my friends who are half American.

I was feeling very sorry for myself that weekend. Not that anyone really wants to know, but my throat was so swollen I looked like I had no neck. It was awful!

Then I thought I would make it for Christmas dinner dessert, but because Christmas Eve was chaotic (long story) I didn't make it the day before and couldn't be bothered to make it the day of. A problem I had most of the holiday season. 

I had 200g of pecans sitting in my cupboard waiting to be used. There are numerous ways I could have used them up. However I thought I’d stick with the original plan.

So, as I finally get to the point, here is the Salted Pecan Fudge Pie I made for absolutely no other reason then because I could.

I’m not very good with pastry. I’m not terrible, but there is definite room for improvement. Needless to say I get a little anxious every time I make my own pastry. However I needn't have worried as it turned out well, as did the filling!

I do like pecans, they are probably my favorite nut. It's a wonder why I have never even tried a pecan pie nor made one before now. This particular version is super sweet and I don’t think I could manage more than a small slice. Overall though I was very pleased with my efforts! Enjoy!

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

50g golden icing sugar

a pinch of salt

135g butter, straight from the fridge, cubed (small)

1 medium egg, beaten

2-3 tbsp milk

Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg and milk (start with 2 tbsp and only add a third if needed) and pulse until the dough comes together. Lightly dust your worktop with flour and very quickly knead the dough into a ball. Handle as little as possible as not to melt the butter. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

Lightly dust your worktop with flour and roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick and line your tart tin with it. Make sure the edge of the pastry stands just a little bit above the rim. Trim the edges and prick the base with a fork. Chill in the fridge for another 30 minutes to help prevent shrinkage.

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180C/gas6 and place a baking sheet in the oven to heat up. Take the tin from the fridge and line with baking paper and baking beans. Place on top of preheated baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Once the time has passed remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the pastry is dry. Set aside.

Salted Pecan Fudge Pie

100g pecans, chopped plus 80-100g pecan halves

100g soft light brown sugar

125g butter

200ml double cream

1 tsp salt, flakes

2 medium eggs, beaten

3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed

Spread the chopped pecans evenly over a baking sheet and lightly toast, in the already heated oven, for 8-10 minutes. Watch them closely they can burn easily. Set aside.

Reduce the oven to 180C/160Cfan/gas4. Place the sugar, butter, and cream in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly before adding in the toasted pecans, salt, and eggs.

Pour into the pastry case and arrange the pecan halves on top in a circular pattern. Bake in the oven on the hot baking sheet for 25-30 minutes.

When the pie comes out of the oven gently heat the jam in a small saucepan and brush the top of the pie with the jam to give it a shiny glaze.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream or eat on its own!

notes: Thanksgiving is always the last Thursday of November, however since being in the UK I tend to celebrate the following Saturday: mainly because I like a relaxed atmosphere and after work and school is never relaxing. This recipe is from The Higgidy Cookbook by Camilla Stephens. I bought it for myself from The Book People, right before Christmas they had a deal a day and I got it with some other cookbooks and books for the girls. 

Rum & Sultana Fudge

We all know this is suppose to be Rum & Raisin fudge, but in my attempt to use up stuff in my overflowing baking cupboard I thought I would use month-out-of-date sultanas.

At the end of November I posted a review of The Vintage Sweets book by Angel Adoree. In that review I wrote that I intended to make the Rum & Raisin fudge for my girls school Christmas fete.

Then over night I developed tonsillitis and the fudge never materialized. It wasn't the only thing that I had planned to make that didn't get made last month. 

I have a lot of catching up to do. Plus, as I already mentioned, I need to clear out my baking cupboard.

I let the sultana’s soak over night, because they aren't as soft as raisins. They are however smaller and didn't need to be chopped.

The first time I ever attempted fudge I gave myself, what looked like a third degree burn. It was pretty bad, so please be careful when working with hot sugar!

I didn't burn myself this time, which was a bonus. That and it turned out smooth and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! So, here is the recipe so you can try it out yourself!

Rum & Raisin Sultana Fudge

50ml dark rum

100g raisins, chopped or sultanas

100g butter

397g can sweetened condensed milk

125ml milk

450g demerara sugar

Soak the raisins/sultanas in the rum and set aside. Then line a square 20cm (8in) cake tin with nonstick baking paper.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large nonstick saucepan and dissolve the sugar over a medium heat. Remove any sugar crystals by placing a lid on the saucepan for 3 minutes. The condensation should run down the sides of the pan taking the sugar crystals with it, if there are any stubborn crystals use a pastry and warm water to wipe them away.

The mixture should be boiling, bring it down to a simmer. Attach your sugar thermometer to the side of the pan. Stir the mixture constantly until it reaches the softball stage, 116C/240F.

Take the pan off the heat and let it cool down to 110C/230F. Then beat it with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes until the mixture is very thick and resembles smooth peanut butter. Angel tells us that this step is vital to make the fudge thick.

It does get quite thick and tough to mix at that point mix in the raisins and any rum that wasn’t soaked up. My sultanas soaked up a lot of rum because I left it overnight, you’ll have more the less you soak it.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth it down with a spatula and leave to sit for at least 3 hours before cutting into squares.

If you like this recipe in my next post I will be giving away a copy of the book! So, stay tuned!

notes: The Vintage Sweets book by Angel Adoree was provided for the review! 

I called them "wonderful" so they said Wonderful - if you insist

Fudge is a wonderful thing.

I have nothing to back that up with except that it is. Those who disagree well, go right ahead. I think fudge is loved by many and doesn’t need to defend itself against the non-fudge lovers.

Muffins are also wonderful.

Mostly eaten for breakfast where I come from they don’t get the spotlight very often. They are just so easy to make and so versatile that I am surprised we don’t see more of them.

When I had decided I wanted to make muffins, I had also decided I didn’t want a breakfast muffin. You know the fruity or oaty or disguised as healthy muffins. First I thought toffee or caramel or something like that.

The "something like that" turned out to be fudge. Fudge has a lot of cousins in the confectionery world! Such as toffee, Scottish Tablet, caramel, taffy, butterscotch etc... They are all made in a similar manner with similar ingredients and turn out similar when set. However they are not the same!

I choose Thornton’s Vanilla Fudge because it is one of those treats I buy myself whenever I’m in town. Their fudge and their chocolate covered Brazil nuts so good! I happened to have some sitting in my cupboard, kind of random, but not really in this house! So, into the muffins it went! The fudge not the chocolate covered Brazil nuts there weren't any of those left! 

Vanilla Fudge Muffins:

300g self-rising flour

1 tsp baking powder

115g golden caster sugar

100g Thornton’s Vanilla Fudge or other flavor, cut up into little pieces

125ml milk

100ml sour cream

1 medium egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract or paste

60g butter, melted

Pre-heat the oven 200C/gas6. Line a muffin/cupcake pan.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl before adding the sugar. Then add the chopped up fudge. In a jug or medium bowl lightly beat together the milk, sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Then gently stir in the melted butter before pouring into the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined and spoon or using an ice cream scoop fill the lined pan.

Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool a while before devouring. Everyone knows muffins are best eaten warm!

I’m glad I settled on fudge for these muffins as they came out wonderfully! They are definitely not breakfast muffins!

notes: I’m sorry I didn't go into how fudge/toffee/caramel etc… are different. If it were something you’d like to find out buy a bunch of all the different confectioneries and have fun comparing and contrasting! Thornton's is a great place to start! I do recommend using good quality fudge like Thornton’s Vanilla Fudge or whatever flavor takes your fancy! Chocolate covered fudge or run raisin would go well in these muffins too! The fudge used for these muffins was provided for me; please see my contact/policy tab above for more information. Recipe was adapted from Baking Magic by Kate Shirazi

Highland Bakery Tour!

I sometimes wonder how I can call myself a food blogger when I cannot manage to take a picture of all the stuff I eat – especially the sweet stuff. I mean realistically no one would want to see my breakfast, lunch, and dinner including all snacks and drinks although, such a project might make an interesting artistic project?

Looking through my photographs, of my recent stay in Scotland, I didn’t take pictures of half of the things we did, but like a million of one day. Talk about over compensation. Needless to say after all this pointless reflection is that I didn’t get a picture of all the bakery’s and treats I tried. Sorry about that. But here is a quick overview of where I went and what I had.

Harry Gow:

dream ring: pretty tasty fresh cream in a light airy pastry

not sure what this was called, but it was a bad dry meringue thing

mini Victoria sponge: was delicious light fluffy cake with fresh cream & jam

Something Sweet:

Irn Bru icream!! What!?
And some blue stuff that was nothing to shout about.

The Storehouse of Foulis:

I had this perfect genormas meringue with a cup of chai tea.

The Cromarty Bakery:

Yummy coconut tart. Perfect after the lobster I had for lunch! ;0) 

Sweet Treats:

sorry for the poor lighting, but it was more Irn Bru ice cream
better then the one above

Irn Bru fudge: so sweet you can only eat a little at a time

Deas Bakery:

lammington: yum! I also tried a raspberry tart and a ginger and toffee tart
no pics though they were all very good

Lastly I got to try Arbroth Smokies at the Highland Games! Delicious and a good time at the games!

notes: (to self) attempt a picture food log, first see if I can keep it up and second if it gets a following. All bakery/sweet shop names are linked! PS The Cromarty Bakery is hiring!! ;0) I have a few things I want to try to make that has been inspired by my visit to the Highlands. If you haven't already seen them I did make some Cranachan Cupcakes that are inspired by a traditional Scottish dessert.