Peanut Butter Fudge

Posted: April 23rd, 2010 | Jessie | | Tags: baking beginners, candy, no-bake, peanut butter, unusual ingredient | 3 Comments »

I began baking in college, but it was after I graduated and had a real kitchen that I started baking a lot.   Inevitably when I meet a new person and start talking about baking they say, “I could never make all those treats.  I’d eat them all.”  I understand why people say that.  I love sweets too, but it would be impossible to eat two dozen cookies, a cake, and twelve muffins all in the same week, all by yourself.  It’s just too much food.  When you bake a lot you need to have friends, family, or coworkers to give all of the food to.

That’s where my office comes in.  I’m very lucky to work in an office that has between 30 and 50 people in it everyday.  That means that I can put out whatever I’ve baked the night before and it will be gone in less than an hour.  And no matter what it is, and no matter how bad I think it has turned out, everyone is so nice and thankful.  And it makes me want to bring them more sweets.  This recipe is the first thing I ever brought into work.  Everyone raved.  I never told them that there was Velveeta in the fudge.  At the time I’d only worked there for 3 months.  I thought they would be disgusted and think I was a weirdo.  This week I made it again.  And I told everyone was in it.  And they ate it anyway.  And raved.

This is another really simple recipe with very few ingredients.  And no actual baking.

Not exactly appetizing.

Definitely not appetizing.

Ok.  Once the peanut butter is added it looks much better.

Start mixing with a strong spoon.

At this point give up and mix it with your hands.

When it’s done it will look like Playdough.

Now just pat it into the pan.  And here’s another gross part.  You need to pat the top of the fudge with some paper towels to get rid of the excess oil.

Peanut Butter-Cheese Fudge

1/2 pound sliced Velveeta
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (16-ounce) boxes confectioners’ sugar

Lightly spray the bottom of a 9 by 2-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt cheese and butter together, then add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Empty confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl and pour cheese mixture over sugar. Stir until completely mixed. Candy will be very stiff.

Using your hands, remove candy from the bowl and press evenly and firmly into the pan. Because of the amount of butter in this recipe, pat top of candy with a paper towel to remove excess oil. Place the pan in refrigerator until candy is firm.

To serve, cut into squares.

This fudge is pretty crumbly when you cut it.  That means there are lots crumbs for the cook to nibble on.

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