Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprints

What combination is more classic than chocolate and peanut butter.   I'm always up for any cookie that combines my two favorite things.   Tonight I was up for something new, so I decided to take the classic jam thumbprint cookie and make it better.    The cookie has a bit of cream cheese to keep them moist and give them a lovely tang.   The filling is soft and gooey.   They are, in fact, perfect.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprints

2  cups + 2 T all purpose flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
3/4 c butter
2/3 c brown sugar
3 ounces cream cheese
1 large egg
1 1/2 t vanilla

Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside.   Cream the butter, sugar, and cream cheese together in a large mixing bowl.   Stir in the egg and vanilla.    Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.   This will give you a smooth, soft dough that holds it's shape.   Using a #60 food scoop, drop balls of dough onto a cookie sheet about 2" apart.  If you don't have the scoop, you will need to make 1.5" balls of dough.  It helps to keep your hands damp so the dough doesn't stick to them.  Once you have a full pan of cookie balls out, use a wet thumb to make a depression in each cookie.    Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.   While the cookies are baking, make the filling.

Filling:
2/3 c peanut butter
2/3 c powdered sugar
4 T butter

Beat the three ingredients until thoroughly combined.   Put the filling in a pastry bag with a large round decorator tip.   Alternatively, you could use a plastic bag and cut the corner off.  Remove from oven and redo the depressions by pressing a round metal teaspoon into the center of each cookie.   Immediately, squeeze about a teaspoon of filling into the center of each cookie.  Return the cookies to the oven and bake for an additional five minutes.   Remove from pan and let cool.

Don't let them cool too much before eating because they are fantastic warm.

Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

Many years ago I found this recipe in a magazine.  It was created to sell peanut butter and it does a very good job of it.  It's been a family favorite for three decades.  We love these cookies.  They are a bit more time consuming than a drop cookie, but that peanut butter filling makes it so worth the effort.

 Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

Dough:

1 1/2 c flour

1/3 c cocoa

1/2 t baking soda
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter
1/4 c peanut butter
1 t vanilla
1 egg

Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.   Cream the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.   Then make the filling by beating together in a small bowl:

1 c peanut butter
1 c powdered sugar

Shape 1 T of the chocolate dough into a flat, oval disc and wrap it around a 1 inch ball of the peanut butter filling.  Be sure to seal the edges so you can't see the filling.  You can add or pinch off dough as needed to make a smooth ball.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  The cookies should be about 3" apart.    Dip the bottom of a glass or flat measuring cup in sugar and flatten the cookies.   Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.   Do not over bake.  It's easy to do so watch them carefully.  They are done when the tops look somewhat dry and the dough is set.

Have fun and enjoy!

Dulce de Leche Swirled Brownies

 Remember my fudge brownie recipe?  Yeah, they're awesome.  You know what makes them even more awesome?  Caramel.   Specifically dulce de leche, a Mexican caramel that is pretty awesome.   You may also remember that "caramel in a can" fad that swept the internet a couple of Christmases ago.  Caramel in a can is basically dulce de leche.   It tastes lovely and it reacts well in other recipes, which makes it perfect for caramel swirled brownies.

Dulce de leche brownies:

1 cup melted butter
2 cups sugar
3/4 c cocoa
2 t vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 can dulce de leche 

Combine melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder.   Stir in the eggs and vanilla making sure the eggs are thoroughly mixed in.  Fold in flour, salt and baking powder.  If you are picky you can sift your flour, salt and baking powder together before you add them to the batter, but I never do and my brownies always come out perfect.  Just dump in the flour first; then put the salt and baking powder on top of the flour.  They'll all stir in just fine.   When the flour is mixed in, pour the batter out into a greased 9x13 pan.  Warm the can of caramel.  I like to put it in a microwave safe dish and heat it for a minute or so.   Then drop large globs of  caramel all over the batter.    You can either leave it like that or drag a knife through the caramel to swirl it around.   Sort of like the picture below.  The top row was swirled and the rest was left alone (I ended up swirling the whole pan.) 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let them cool completely.  I'm not kidding here.  I know it's rough but these taste so much better at room temperature.   You have to leave them alone for at least an hour.  Sorry.  I'm sure you'll be ok with it after you've had your first brownie.  

You're welcome.  

By the way, if you're looking for other ideas for how to use your caramel in a can (other than just eating it straight from the can) I'll be posting more recipes over the next month or so.  I'd rather do it faster, but my pants have reminded me that I'm not supposed to eat 3000 calories a day.  

Stupid pants.  

Nutella Cream Pie

Obviously I need to practice  my food photography skills.  I promise this baby is worth it no matter how bad that picture is.

Most Nutella pie recipes are variations of the standard peanut butter icebox pie.  It's a great pie of course, but sometimes it's nice to do something a little different.  A cream pie is more rich than an ice box pie.  The thickening agents are egg yolks and cornstarch instead of Cool Whip and cream cheese.  It's a creamier pie with a smooth, silky texture.

Start with an Oreo crust.  Crush 16 Oreos either by hand (or rolling pin) or with a food processor.  Stir in 2T melted butter.   Press into a 9" pie plate and bake at 350 degrees until the crust is set and you can smell the cookies.  This will take between 10 and 15 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack.

For the filling:
in a medium sized pan combine:
2 1/2 c half and half (or 3/4 c heavy cream and 1 3/4 cups milk)
2 T sugar
pinch of salt

cook until simmering stirring occasionally.  While the milk and sugar cook, whisk together in a medium sized bowl:
6 egg yolks.  Yes, I said six.
1/4 c cornstarch
2T sugar

When the milk simmers carefully pour a small stream of milk into the yolk mixture while you quickly whisk.  Continue pouring until you've added half the milk to the eggs.  Then pour the egg/milk liquid back into the pan with the rest of the milk.  Continue cooking over medium heat until it becomes thick and a few bubbles burst on the surface, about 30 seconds.  Remove from heat.

Stir in one at a time until smooth:
6T butter, chopped into smallish pieces (1/2" cubes if you feel like being precise.)
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
3/4 c Nutella
2t vanilla

Pour into the pie crust and smooth out.  Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the pie filling and put the pie in the fridge to cool for several hours.  Serve with whipped cream on top.

I do suggest you cut this pie into at least 12 pieces.  And then really, really enjoy yours.  It's awesome.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Have you tried one of those mock Oreo recipes before?  You know the ones with the "1 cake mix" in the ingredient list.  I don't know about you, but those don't taste like oreos to me.  Oreos aren't just any old chocolate sandwich cookie.  They have to be thin and crispy and with an intense chocolate taste.

Several years ago I found the perfect cookie make Oreo type sandwich cookies with.  It's a recipe from Martha Stewart that I adjusted to fit what I was looking for.

Intensely chocolate.  Crispy.  Perfect.  You can make yours into circles if you wish.  I was feeling lazy and a quick zip a few times with the pizza cutter worked great for squares.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies:
1/2 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1 large egg
1 cup cocoa powder  (yes.  1 full cup)
1/2 c + 2 T flour

Cream the butter and sugar.  Add in the egg.  Mix in the cocoa powder and flour.   Divide the dough in half and wrap each in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate the dough for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Using powdered sugar on the counter to prevent sticking, roll out dough to 1/8" thickness.  Cut with 2" cookie cutter and place 1/2" apart on cookie sheets.  Bake until you smell the chocolate, aprox. 12 minutes.

I do suggest you use parchment paper on your cookie sheets because these have a tendency to stick quite badly.

I used a basic American butter cream to frost the centers.  I have four rules for better butter cream:
1.  you should use at least twice as much butter as you do cream.  Meaning if you use 1/4 cup butter you should only use 2 T of heavy cream.
2.  Use lots of vanilla.  I like to use 2 t as a starting point.  I may add more later.
3.  Use salted butter or at least add a pinch of salt to your frosting.  You won't believe what a difference it makes.
4.  Beat the holy heck out of it.  I beat my butter cream for at least five minutes and as long as ten minutes.  This makes it fluffy and light and it makes sure the powdered sugar has time to dissolve so you don't get that raw taste.

You could also use a nice ganache (Martha used ganache with mint extract), or jam, or cream cheese frosting in your cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies For the Cheapskates

I adore cookies.  I love making them.  I love eating the dough.  I love the reaction my family has to a freshly baked batch of cookies.  I love eating a cookie straight out of the oven.  Cookies are Love.  (And my thighs and backside show how much love I have in my life.)

Here's the recipe, with a story to follow about the ingredients and how I cut costs without cutting flavor.


Cheapskate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup margarine
2/3 c vegetable shortening (butter flavor is nice too if you have it)
1/2 c white sugar
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2 t vanilla
2 eggs
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
3 cups flour
1 1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 to 3/4 c nuts (optional)

Cream the margarine, shortening, and sugars.  Mix in the vanilla and eggs until well blended.  Stir in the baking soda, salt, and flour.  Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.  Drop 2 T size balls onto ungreased baking sheets and bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 12 minutes.   Remove from oven when edges are golden brown and the very center looks just a little doughy.  Let rest on cookie sheets for five minutes, then put on cooking racks.  Try not to burn yourself eating them hot from the oven.


The story:
  My favorite cookie recipe over the last few years has been the chocolate chip cookie recipe from ATK.  It painfully calls for half a pound of butter and four eggs.  That's on top of the package of chocolate chips, nuts, and the other ingredients that all recipes call for.  That makes a batch of cookies cost around $7 these days.  As much or more than I budget for dinners.  Sadly, with the recent price hikes at the grocery store and the lack of paycheck hikes going on our household, I had to rethink our food budget and pricey cookie recipes just don't work for us anymore.

Something had to change.  My first step was to go back to my old favorite from years ago that called for margarine.  I can hear you screaming from here.  Yes, I know that butter is healthier and it's nicer and it makes babies happy and brings you kittens, rainbows and happy thoughts.  Butter is nice.  Butter is also $3 a pound for the store brand.  $4 a pound if you want something with actual flavor.   Margarine is 1/3 to 1/4 the price.  Since cookies aren't that healthy for you anyway, I don't sweat the margarine.

I also use Crisco.  Purists and foodies can leave now.  The rest of you stick around.

My second step was to stop buying chocolate chips at the grocery store.  I have my mom pick me up a huge bag of semi-sweet chips at Costco.  This is the industrial size bag in a brand I've never heard of before, Ambrosia.  They are good chips, no Ghiradelli's but we're trying to save money here.  When I get these chips I have to measure them out for each batch of cookies.  If I leave them all in the big bag, they get eaten (by my husband.  Not so much by me.  I'm a milk chocolate girl.)   Instead of doing 2 cup portions, a full 12 oz. size, I do 1 1/2 cup size portions.   It gets me several extra portions of chips out of the package. I promise, I don't miss that extra half cup of chocolate chips. Last time I had 17 sandwich bags of chips from one big bag. It worked out to be less than $1.50 per baggie.  That's about $3 less than brand name chips per batch. I throw the sandwich bags back in the resealable original bag and put it in the freezer for long term storage.  It's probably not the way you'd treat premium chocolate, but it's great for chocolate chips.

I also use imitation vanilla for cookies.  There's almost no difference in flavor in baked items between imitation and the real deal.  If you consume cinnamon you aren't allowed to pull the "imitation vanilla is made from tree bark" argument.  Food comes from all parts of plants.  I'm ok with that.

The ATK cookies are still part of my cookie line up, but they are reserved for special occasions and guests.  For the occasional after school snack, Cheapskate cookies are just fine.  I figure my less expensive cookies cost approximately $4 less to make than the ATK version.  They still taste like Love even without the butter.

Chocolate Legend Cheesecake

It was either that or "triple chocolate" and that's been done enough, don't you think?  Besides, my husband voted for "Chocolate Legend" and that's two votes right there.  He gets two because he loves me and because I liked his vote.  (If I didn't like his vote then he would have gotten 1/2 a vote.  That's the way it always works.  Doesn't it work like that in your house?)

This was a lot of fun to make.  Lots of extra stuff you don't find in a basic New York cheesecake.  To make this you need your favorite cheesecake recipe and some extra chocolate.  I used the New York cheesecake recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.


Chocolate Legend Cheesecake

16 Oreos
3T melted butter
1 recipe for New York Cheesecake
1 Giant sized bar of Hershey's Special Dark (or simmilar dark chocolate), roughly chopped
1  4.4 oz bar of good quality white chocolate (I used Lindt), roughly chopped
1/4 c heavy cream
1 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
3/4 c cocoa powder

Grind the oreos in a food processor until crumbs.  Add the butter and pulse for a second until blended.  Pour out into a spring form pan and press flat.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.   Set aside to cool.

Make the cheesecake as the recipe directs.  Be sure not to over beat.   Carefully fold in the cocoa powder and melted unsweetened chocolate.   Fold in the chopped semi-sweet chocolate.   Pour out into the spring form pan.

Heat the heavy cream but do not boil.   Pour over chopped white chocolate.  Stir until chocolate melts.  Drop by tablespoons onto the cheesecake batter.   Swirl with a table knife.

Bake and cool your cheesecake according to your recipe directions.   Just before serving you can decorate with white chocolate and milk chocolate curls.   Or not. 

The white chocolate ganache stays soft, a lovely contrast with the chocolate chunks and the smooth cheesecake.   It's perfect for Valentine's Day.  My whole family is looking forward to it.  Good thing for my waistline I have lots of people who have been begging for a piece all weekend.  Chocolate cheesecake makes a good just because present, right?

Don't Buy Boxed Brownie Mix

Make these instead!  This particular recipe for brownies is just as easy as making brownies from a box and it doesn't taste in any way like a cardboard box.

Our Favorite Fudgey Brownies

1 cup melted butter
2 cups sugar
3/4 c cocoa
2 t vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

Combine melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder.   Stir in the eggs and vanilla making sure the eggs are thoroughly mixed in.  Fold in flour, salt and baking powder.  If you are picky you can sift your flour, salt and baking powder together before you add them to the batter, but I never do and my brownies always come out perfect.  Just dump in the flour first; then put the salt and baking powder on top of the flour.  They'll all stir in just fine.   When the flour is mixed in, pour the batter out into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before you attempt to cut.

These take less than 5 minutes to mix together by hand.   This is the perfect brownie recipe.   You can make it from ingredients that are in everyone's pantry.  They are fabulously chocolatey and fudgey.  It's easy to mix together and it's pretty cheap to make.

Caramel Chocolate Popcorn

 Doesn't that look good?   It was.   Want some of your own?

Start with a great big bowl of popped popcorn, about 1 c kernels before popping.  We call this bowl "the popcorn bowl" because that's our favorite use for it. 

 Then you get to make the caramel.   Combine 3/4 c salted butter, with 2/3 c white sugar, 1/3 c brown sugar, and 1/3 c light corn syrup.  Cook over medium heat, stirring, until it starts to boil.

 Like this.   Let it boil for about 3 1/2  minutes. 

 Stir in 1t vanilla.  Then pour out over the popcorn.

 Stir it around.  Then spread the popcorn out over two large cookie sheets.

 Now you get to melt the chocolate.  I used milk chocolate and white chocolate chips because they drizzle so nicely, about 1 c of each melted in separate bowls of course.

 Melt in the microwave for one minute, stir, put it back for another minute, stir.  Repeat until the chips have all melted.  Then drizzle over the popcorn.

 Pretty yummy.    You can stir the popcorn a bit if you like or just leave it in the drizzled state.  

Sprinkle on about 3/4 c of roasted salted peanuts.   Let sit until the chocolate sets.   I put mine in the fridge because I couldn't wait.

This makes a great special treat for your family or even a valentine gift for friends and family.   Enjoy.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

 Have you ever made this before?  It's amazing stuff.  It's like a chocolate cobbler with a brownie like cake and fabulous chocolate sauce to serve with it.  It should always be served warm with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.

 In honor of my new January diet, this is a recipe I have made before so I didn't get step by step photos of the process.  I'm thinking you'll all be fine though.  It's super easy to make and unlike a lot of the recipes I've posted before does not require fancy kitchen equipment. 

Chocolate Pudding Cake
For the cake, in a medium bowl mix together:
2 cups Flour
1-½ cup Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
¼ cups Cocoa Powder
1 cup Milk
¼ cups Vegetable Oil
2 cups Nuts, Your Choice (optional)

Pour the cake batter into a 9x13 pan and spread it evenly over the bottom.

For the sauce, in a small bowl mix together:
¼ cups Cocoa Powder
2 cups Brown Sugar

Spread evenly over the cake batter and then pour 3-½ cups Hot Water over the whole thing.   Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40-45 minutes.  When it's done the cake will have risen to the top with a dry surface and a fully cooked but moist interior and the sauce will be bubbling at the edges.   This dish does have a sometimes boil over the edge of the pan.  It's a good idea to place the 9x13 pan on a rimmed cookie sheet to bake so it doesn't make too big of a mess in your oven.

Enjoy!

English Toffee

I adore Toffee.  It's the one candy I just can't stay out of no matter what.  Needless to say, I only make it at Christmas time.  

You might notice that this recipe has a lot of water in it.  Don't worry, your toffee won't have a lot of water in it when it's done.  The water all boils off before the candy finishes.   What the water does is lengthen the cooking time so the sugar has plenty of time to fully disolve.  That makes this candy very easy to make and it almost never sugars.   (By the way, this little trick works in any cooked candy recipe.  If you have one that sugars on you easily, add 1/2 to 1 c of water to the recipe and cook it as normal.  It will take quite a bit of the fiddly-ness out of the process.)

Toffee

2 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c light corn syrup
2 c butter
1 c water
 dash salt

 Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottom, 4 quart pan.  Stir it together with a wooden spoon just for a few seconds and then put the lid on.  Wash off your spoon.  Cook over medium heat with the lid on until the candy begins to boil and steam leaks out from under the lid.  Let boil for a few minutes with the lid on.  Remove the lid, clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan, and begin stirring.   Do not stop stirring until the candy is finished.  Stir always.  Stir lots.  Stir because if you don't this will scorch and the butter will seperate.  (If you are really concerned about scorching, turn the heat down to medium low.)   Cook until the candy reaches 300 degrees, hard crack.  This will take ages, so have a friend to talk to or a book you can read while you stir.  (yes, I read while cooking.  Doesn't everybody? No, I only ruin things every once in a great while and I never mess up my candy.)  

When the candy reaches 300, immediately pour out into a lightly buttered rimmed baking sheet (like this one).  Only pour out what comes easily out of the pan.  Do not scrape it out or you'll mess up your toffee.   You can scrape it out onto a separate buttered, heat proof plate, though.  That's totally legal and it cools off faster.  After you pour out the candy, you are going to have to smooth it out with a silicone spatula.  Gently push it around the pan until the candy is level and fills the whole pan.  Now spread a chopped Giant sized Hershey bar over the pan of candy (that's the 6.8 oz size).  Let it sit until the chocolate is soft and then spread it around with a spatula.   Now leave your candy alone until it's cooled off and the chocolate is set.    Then break apart into random sized pieces.


Enjoy!   Have a good time with this one.  And thank you very much for giving me an excuse to make that pan that's sitting on my kitchen counter right now.

Caramel Chocolate Shortbread

You want one don't you? Be careful. Once you've had one, it's very, very difficult to stop. This is one of my very favorite cookies. The chocolate, the caramel, the perfectly textured shortbread. Sigh. So lovely. It's perfect for gift giving and for cookie exchanges. It's also super simple to make.

The caramel is made from scratch, but don't let that worry you. It never sugars on me. I don't even have to take the precautions I normally take with candy. (Like sweating the pan, using clean spoons, not scraping out the pan, etc. ) It's simple and can be made while the shortbread bakes.

To start, dump 2 cups of flour, 1/2 c + 2 T brown sugar, and 1/2 c cold salted butter into the bowl of your food processor. It works best to cut the butter up into pieces first. Pulse until the butter is fully worked into the flour, about 12 pulses.
(If you don't have a food processor, you can do this by hand with a pastry blender. You might want to start with room temperature butter in that case.)

Dump the shortbread out into your oldest, ugliest 9x13 pan. Do not bake these in your brand new Williams-Sonoma Gold pan. These cookies are hard to cut and require a sharp knife. A sharp knife that will leave lovely cut marks in the pan. Please use a pan you won't feel bad about ruining when you bake these. Or you can line the pan with a foil sling. Whatever works for you.
So you've dumped it out and now you press it down firmly. Pack the shortbread down well with either your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup.
Now put it in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, you get to make the caramel layer. In a 3 qt pot, stir together 3/4 c salted butter, 1/2 c brown sugar, 3 T light corn syrup, and one can of sweetened condensed milk. Cook over medium heat until all the butter is melted and the candy is smooth.
Like this. Now turn the heat down just a notch.
This stuff scorches easily, so stir continuously making sure to cover the whole pan with your stirring pattern. If it scorches lightly, don't freak out. Just stir it in and turn your heat down a bit. Cook until the candy comes to a full rolling boil. Like this:
Boil for 6-8 minutes. This is a loose number because it doesn't matter that much. You want it to reach near soft ball, but the exact temp is not a big deal. If it's a little softer or a little harder it's ok. You just want it soft enough it's easy to eat and hard enough it doesn't drip on your fingers. There's a lot of leeway there.

The shortbread layer should just be finishing up around the time your caramel is getting done. When it's baked, it should be lightly golden brown.
(Yes, I know that's an ugly pan. My children do the dishes and there are some things that are worth comprimising on for the sake of not having to do the dishes myself. )

Pour the hot caramel onto the hot shortbread. Feel free to scrap every last drop of caramel out of the pan. It's lovely stuff. Don't let it go to waste.
Let it cool for 5-10 minutes and then put it in the fridge to finish cooling. I always protect my glass fridge rack with a hot pad under the pan. It works fine.

When the caramel is firm, melt 1 1/4 c chocolate chips and spread that over the caramel.
Use milk chocolate or dark chocolate your choice.
Isn't that lovely? When the chocolate is spread evenly, put it all back in the fridge for another hour or so to firm the chocolate. You can cut into squares as soon as the chocolate is hard, but it will be easier to cut if you let the pan come to room temperature before you cut them. I don't do that because I've already waited three hours for these cookies and I'm not patient enough to wait any more. You can wait. You're much better than I am at waiting for cookies, I'm sure.

There. The best cookies on the planet. You're welcome. Now go forth and wow the other bakers at your cookie exchange.

Caramel Chocolate Shortbread
1 c salted butter
2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar

3/4 c salted butter
1/2 c brown sugar
3 T light corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/4 c chocolate chips

Pulse first three ingredients in a food processor until the butter is fully worked into the flour. Dump out into a 9x13 pan and press firmly and evenly into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Meanwhile, mix the next four ingredients in a 3 qt sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until the butter is melted and the candy is smooth. Turn the heat down a notch or so and continuously stir until the candy comes to a full rolling boil. Boil while stirring for 6-8 minutes, until the caramel is very thick. Pour out onto the baked shortbread layer. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and then cool in the refrigerator until the caramel is firm. Melt the chocolate chips and spread over the caramel layer. Refrigerate again until the chocolate is firm. Let rest at room temperature for another hour before cutting. Cut into 48 squares. Serve. Try not to eat all of them yourself.

Chocolate Fudge-Step by Step

I am a fudge fanatic. I grew up helping my mother make old fashioned whipped fudge every Chirstmas. I can't hardly even stand the other shortcut not really quite fudge confections, you know, the fantasy fudge and the condensed milk fudge, and the melt this and that and call it fudge fudge. The flavor and texture are all wrong.

True fudge is a dying art so I have to share my family recipe every chance I get. Since it's chocolate that greases the wheels of society, I thought I'd start with the chocolate:


The cast of characters:
3 T butter
3 c sugar
1 1/2 C cream
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 T cocoa
2 t vanilla
1/4 c corn syrup
and a dash of salt
Put them all in a 4 quart pot over medium heat. Don't try and squeeze this into a smaller pan; it will boil over and make a huge mess all over your stove. Ask me how I know this.

Pretty soon it will all melt together and look pretty and smooth. Then it will start to boil. When it comes to a rolling boil, that is a boil that you can not stir down, put a snug fitting lid on your pot. Leave the lid on for 3-5 minutes. The lid will capture the steam rising off the candy syrup and wash down the sides of the pot. This is what they call in the candy making business "sweating the pan." It's very, very important. Do not skip the step unless you like fudge with sugar crystals in it instead of perfectly lovely smooth fudge. While you are sweating the pan, rinse your spoon off in the sink. You want to get off any sugar crystals that may be clinging to it. Don't skip this either.

After a few minutes of sweating the pan, take the lid off and begin stirring again. You will also want to put a candy thermometer in the pot at this time. Don't let these intimidate you. It's just a thermometer and we use them because candy follows some very basic laws of chemistry. It changes texture at specific temperatures so if you cook it to the same temperature you get the same results every time. The thermometer lets us measure this temperature exactly so we can get consistent results even without having made a hundred pots of candy.

Cook the syrup to 238 degrees Fahrenheit. This is soft ball stage for those of you who are familiar with the candy stages. When it reaches temp, immediately pull the pot from the stove and pour out the syrup into the bowl from a stand mixer. Only pour out what comes easily; do not scrape out the pot with either the spoon or a spatula. I'm serious. Stop. Leave it there. Your pot should look like this:
See all that candy left in the pot? Let the kids eat it or something. This stuff is the most likely part of the syrup to contain sugar crystals or be cooked to a different temp than the rest of the batch. If either is the case, adding these dregs to the rest of the candy will ruin it.

So then your mixing bowl looks like this:
See how the syrup is thick and starting to form a thick skin on top, clinging to the bowl and all that? Now you add 2 t vanilla. Put the bowl on your mixer and walk away. You're going to let it sit for about an hour or so. You want the syrup to be about 110 degrees. You can use a clean thermometer, but I just test it by holding my hand to the side of the bowl. When it's no longer too hot to rest my hand on the outside of the bowl, it's ready to beat.

Using your mixer beat it on medium speed with the flat beater. If you are using a Kitchen Aid, speed 6 is just right. About five minutes in it will look like this:
See how it's still dark and glossy? It's starting to thicken, but it's still not done.

This is done:

Notice how it's lost its gloss? It has almost a frosting like consistency at this point. The color has also lightened to a nice milk chocolate. Keep in mind, however, that when you stop the mixer some of the gloss will come back. It should look like this when it's done:

Still a bit glossy and definitely gloopy, but not runny. If you like nuts, now would be a good time to stir in 3/4 of a cup of walnuts or pecans.

Scrape the fudge out into a 8x8x2 baking pan that has been coated with either butter or butter flavored cooking spray. Pat the top smooth. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and push the wrap down so it completely touches the surface of the fudge. Then you have to let it cool. I like to put mine in the fridge because it firms up pretty quickly that way and I can eat it sooner.

When it's firm, cut it and serve. Or sneak it behind everybody's back and tell them it's not ready yet. I won't tell.
Doesn't that look good? The fun part about fudge is there are so many different flavors, all of which can be made with slight changes to this basic recipe. How many flavors? So far I've come up with eight. I'll post those later.

Chocolate Fudge

3 T butter
3 c sugar
1 1/2 C cream
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 T cocoa
1/4 c corn syrup
and a dash of salt
2 t vanilla
3/4 c pecans or walnuts

Combine all except vanilla and nuts in a 4 quart pot. Put a lid on the pot and cook over medium heat until the candy comes to a rolling boil. Let it boil for 2-5 minutes with the lid on. Remove lid and add candy thermometer. Cook and stir until mixture reaches exactly 238 degrees. Pour out into bowl of stand mixer; do not scrape out the pan. Just pour out the candy that comes easily and leave the rest in the pan. Let the mixture sit at room temperature until it reaches about 110 degrees. Add vanilla. Beat with the mixer using the flat paddle on medium speed. When mixture begins to lose it's gloss add nuts, then scrape out into buttered 8x8 baking pan. Let cool until firm. Cut and serve. Makes about 2 lbs.