I woke up one day last week craving peanut butter candy to take to work. So at 5:30 in the morning I headed to the kitchen to make some. There are two kinds of peanut butter candy. One is fudge because it is very soft and creamy and you need to keep it in the refrigerator. The other sets up firmer, does not need refrigerated but melts in your mouth. That is the kind I wanted. So I gathered my four simple ingredients, my pan, and a platter to pour it on to set up.
In case you want the recipe, it is 2 c. sugar; 2/3 c. milk, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 Tbls. peanut butter.
Before I get started, I cut off a little slab of butter from the stick and use that to "grease" my platter which is just an oval dinner plate like you might find in a restaurant. Size doesn't matter as your fudge will set up on any plate. The bigger the platter, the thinner your fudge.
First you mix the sugar and the milk in a medium sauce pan. You will think that a small will hold it all and it does, but it is harder to cook down and beat if you use a small pan.
Cook the sugar and milk mixture over medium heat on a small burner to prevent scorching.
You want to cook it till it reaches the soft ball stage. If you don't have a candy thermometer just drop a few drops of the mixture in cold water to see if it forms a soft ball. I prefer the candy thermometer and they are generally just a few dollars. You do not need to stand and stir the whole time, but you do need to stir occasionally to keep it from scorching and to keep it from boiling over.
While it is starting to cook, I go ahead and measure out my peanut butter.
I am a peanut butter nut so I like more than just a measuring tablespoon of peanut butter. I actually just use the big spoon in my silverware and scoop out a spoon full of peanut butter and put it in a little dish or measuring cup of some kind.
Then I pour my teaspoon of vanilla in with the peanut butter. For those of you who don't know this little trick, every vanilla company makes there bottle so that the lid holds 1 tsp. of vanilla. This seems the most normal quantity for any recipe that calls for vanilla.
You will see it starting to froth and foam as it gets closer to the soft ball stage.
Once it is done, remove from heat and dump in the peanut butter and vanilla. Stir it real good until the peanut butter melts into the heated mixture.
Continue to beat with a spoon until you see the candy starting to "set-up" on the side of the pan.
Immediately pour it onto the greased platter and let it cool. I usually set mine on a wire cooling rack so it can cool under the bottom as well and it will help it set up faster.
As it is starting to cool and set up, you can cut it into whatever size you want.
This fudge lasted around my house for just two days. It is really delicious and very habit forming. I hope you try it some day. I would love to hear back from you if you do.
