Peanut Butter Fudge

I got this recipe from my friend Annalise’s blog (you can also see the link on the right). I made it once, loved it so much that I had to make it again. Especially when I was blessed with a quart jar of dark chocolate ganache from my dear friend Betsy!

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

5 large marshmallows

Bring to a boil over medium heat in a heavy saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the marshmallows melt. Stir often.

Remove from heat and stir in:

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

Spread into foiled and buttered 8” pan.

While fudge cools in fridge, prepare the ganache.

Heat 1/2 cup heavy cream in a saucepan until just simmering. Pour over 1 cup chocolate chips and let sit 1-2 minutes. Stir until smooth and glossy. (If you need to, you can microwave them for 15 seconds to smooth them out)

Remove fudge from fridge and smooth ganache on top.

Chill for 1-2 hours or until ganache is set.

Remove from pan and cut into small squares. Store in fridge for up to 1 week.

Easy Truffles

A friend inquired about a truffle recipe yesterday hoping that I had one that used cream cheese, powdered sugar and chocolate chips. Unfortunately I did not have a recipe. But I did a bit of searching, made a batch this afternoon with a few minor tweaks, and now I do…

6oz softened cream cheese

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

4 oz bittersweet baking chocolate

1 square of unsweetened baking chocolate (optional)

2 Tbsp heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar. Melt chocolate in microwave until smooth and glossy. Stir in vanilla. Stir in heavy cream (chocolate will thicken). Mix chocolate into sugar/cream cheese using electric mixer.

Chill at least 1 hour until firm. Quickly roll into balls and then roll in desired coatings. Coconut, chopped nuts, cocoa powder, crushed candy canes all make good coatings. Y0u can also experiment with different extracts and stir-ins.

Store in fridge.