Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets

We love Quick and Easy fudge. My 1st and 2nd daughters loved Spatulata when they were little. Big and small kids love sweets sometime, and especially around 3 o'clock you get a craving for something and usually it's your sweet tooth. These recipes are great because they set up within an hour after only spending around 5 min. to make! The beauty of them is you can mix just about any dried fruit, nuts, seeds or other hard candy. I love to experiment and taste the outcome.
I placed two recipes here for the vanilla lover too.
With all the different shaped molds and ice cube trays a person could have a party table setting ready in no time. All you need is pretty plates and trays with tons of sparkling water, fruit water or almond milk...
Let get into the kitchen and make some fudge.

Chocolate Fudge with M&M's

3-1/2 c. confectioners sugar

1/2 c. cocoa

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter or margarine, cut into pieces

1/4 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. candy coated chocolate

Combine and stir the sugar, cocoa and salt. Drop Butter into the sugar and microwave on 100% for 1-2 min. Until the butter melts. Stir in the milk until smooth then cook for another minute. Stir and pour in the vanilla and mix in the candies. Pour into the pan and spread out. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Cooks Note: Let me just say...sweetened condensed milk is one of the best inventions or innovations to make dessert making easy! Just because fudge uses dairy doesn't mean we can't convert it to Vegetarian or Vegan diets. Believe it or not it's really easy to make too. I love these kinds of projects and I'll set a day or days to do something, but this is so simple you can do it in minutes, once you gather all you need.

I'm including one of the Vegan recipes I found around the web to include the non dairy/vegan desserts.

Dairy-Free Sweetened Condensed 

For the Milk : 

*1 can (about 14 fluid ounces) canned (not low-fat) coconut milk 

*1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar (can be replaced with 1 1/4 cups (420 g) maple syrup, or 1 cup (336 g) honey) 

*1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
To make ... bring to a boil and allow to simmer fro 45 min. Until thickened.

Click the hyper link if you're interested in making your own coconut milk.

Cherry Vanilla Bean Fudge (Vegan option)

Ingredients

3 cups white chocolate chips

14 oz. sweetened condensed (non-dairy)milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp vanilla extract(optional)

1/2 cup candied cherries chopped

Line an 8 by 8 inch  with aluminum foil and set aside.
Melt the chocolate chips and the sweetened condensed milk in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, stirring regularly.
Once completely melted, stir in the vanilla bean paste, extract, and then the cherries.
Pour into the foil lined pan. Put in the refrigerator and let set overnight. Cut into square pieces and store outside of the refrigerator for up to two weeks in an airtight container.

Vanilla Fudge

½ c. butter

1 13 oz(one 12 oz. can, plus 2 Tbsp.) of evaporated milk

1 lb brown sugar

2 c. granulated sugar

⅛ tsp. salt

1 lb of confectioners sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

1. Combine butter with milk and brown sugar in a 6 qt pan, over medium.
2. Stir in the granulated sugar and salt as you bring the mixture to a boil. Test for the soft ball stage. When I reaches the soft ball stage take off the heat. let it cool in the pot for 20 min.
3. Beat in confectionery sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until thick.
4. use some butter spray to butter pan, use a 9 in. pan, and smear it all in.
5. Cool in the fridge. for at least 1-3 hrs.