Peanut Butter & Jelly Fudge – Yea, I Went There
So, after reading that title you’re thinking one of two things: a.) This broad is nuts – or – b.) This broad is awesome. Hopefully it’s b but I’d totally understand if it were a. See, I get weird cravings (nope, not preggers) and urges to throw random stuff together and see if it works. Peanut butter & Jelly isn’t random in theory but in fudge? I’ve never heard of it. I’m sure if you Google it there will be recipes because I’m not as creative/original as I’d like. I’m not going to Google it though, that’ll just burst my bubble – that one shard of hope that I am original. So yea, if you do Google Peanut Butter & Jelly Fudge please don’t tell me there’s a gazillion others out there.
Peanut Butter fudge is my all time favorite fudge. I love fudge period, but when peanut butter is involved I would give up a kidney for it. Grandma Goldie (the hubsters grandmother) has this thing where she bakes her grandkids their favorite desserts on their birthdays. Jess gets Dark Chocolate Fudge, Josh gets German Chocolate Cake and John gets a Poor Man’s Cake. You can {maybe} imagine how special, loved and welcomed I felt when I got a huge batch of peanut butter fudge on my 25th birthday (one of them at least 😉 ) I was one of her grandkids! Yay!
Since this weeks Food Blogger Challenge ingredient is peanut butter I immediately thought of peanut butter fudge. But, peanut butter fudge isn’t challenging enough for this, so I thought of making it a Peanut Butter & Jelly Fudge. Mmhm. That’s how I came up with this childhood favorite turned decadent dessert.
First things first, the fudge. The recipe is so incredibly simple and only takes a bit of effort. It’s so far from your traditional chocolate fudge, yet still delicious. The jelly part is the fun part – use your favorite and just swirl it on through to make sure you’re actually getting that PB&J flavor.
Peanut Butter & Jelly Fudge
Ingredients
- 4 cups sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 6 oz. can evaporated milk
- 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup peanut butter creamy or crunchy
- 4 tablespoons of your preferred jelly I use grape
Instructions
- Line a 13x9 inch baking dish with wax paper (or grease generously)
- In a large saucepan combine the sugar and milks. Set the heat to medium and bring to a hard boil, stirring continuously.
- Boil for 10 minutes, without stirring, until the fudge reaches 236 degrees or the soft ball stage (get a bowl and fill it with ice water. Drip a teaspoon of the mixture into the ice water and when it can be formed into a ball without losing its shape that's soft ball stage. It should be the consistency of play dough and lose shape once removed from the water. If soft ball stage hasn't been reached continue cooking, checking in 30 second intervals.
- After the mixture has reached soft ball stage remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool down for 20 minutes.
- Beat in the vanilla, salt and peanut butter with an electric mixer (easier), pour in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment (easiest) or beat with a wooden spoon (great workout) until the mixture begins to get stiff.This is important because if you don't beat long enough you'll end up with a syrupy mess. Delicious, but not fudge.
- Immediately pour the fudge into the prepared dish and spread the jelly on top. With a knife, swirl the jelly into and around the fudge.
- Allow to cool then turn out onto a cutting board. Cut the fudge into desired size pieces and enjoy with a glass of cold milk.
So, what do you think? Nostalgic or overkill?
Be sure to check out the other amazing Peanut Butter inspired recipes linked up this week.
