Super Quick and Easy Fudge for Christmas

I love all the delicious food that crops up during the holidays. I could eat the savory meals and scrumptious deserts until I need a wheel barrow just to walk around. The only draw back is how long you have to stay in the kitchen preparing those divine dishes. No one wants to sacrifice all their time slaving away on preparing food instead of cherishing time spent with their friends and family.

Joyously, I happened upon the recipe for this 5 minute fudge online the other day. Fudge, with only 5 minutes of prep time?!?! I decided I simply had to make it. Could it possibly be any good? I am so glad that I did. Best decision ever. It was so great that everyone asks for the recipe every single time I have made it. I decided that if the chocolate fudge was that exquisite, then I simply had to try other flavors. To date I have tried making milk chocolate, dark chocolate, Andes mint and Heath Toffee Fudge. They were all simply too delicious not to share. Thus this Instructable was born!

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients

The prep work you have to do before you can even begin making the fudge is deciding what flavors you want and gathering the ingredients. I am making some for a Christmas party and decided to experiment with different flavors using the 5 minute fudge recipe. They turned out awesome.

Here is what you need:

3 cups Chocolate or Flavored Chips of Your Choice

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (14 oz)

4 Tablespoons of Butter

1 teaspoon of Vanilla

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Aluminum Foil

8x8, 9x9, or 2.2qt/2L pan

Microwavable Mixing Bowl

Spatula

Measuring Spoons

Measuring Cup

Microwave

Knife

Cutting Board (optional)

Serving Platter

Step 2: Line Your Pan

The first step no matter what flavor fudge you make should be to get out your pan and line it with aluminum foil. Try to keep the edges and bottom as smooth as possible since the fudge will take on this form. This will make getting the fudge out of the pan SO much quicker, easier, and hassle-free. Well... expect maybe in the case of my chocolate toffee fudge, but we will get to that later... I normally use an 8x8 pan, but I tried using a 2.2qt/2L pan this time. I loved it. It made thinner fudge so I had little bit sized pieces perfect for snacking at my Christmas party.

Step 3: Measure

Measure out 3 cups of the chocolate, or your choice of flavor, chips in the measuring bowl and pour them into the microwavable mixing bowl. Next open the can of sweetened condensed milk. Tip: I suggest using a can opener instead of the pull tab to open the can since it will help eliminate any damage to your spatula if you decide to scrape out the residual milk from the can. Add the entire contents to the bowl. Lastly add 4 tablespoons of softened butter. I have found that if you add frozen butter, the butter will congeal in areas on the outside of the fudge giving it a less appealing -but still all too delicious- look. See the fudge on the left side of the last picture. If all you have is frozen butter, I suggest melting it a bit in the microwave before adding it to the mixing bowl.

Step 4: Microwave and Stir!

Now that you have the first three ingredients sitting in the bowl, you must microwave the bowl and its contents for one minute. This step is deceptively hard. You will be tempted to heat it for too long and burn the chocolate. Instead, microwave for only one minute and then stir until all the chocolate and butter melt from the heat of the bowl. If you used frozen butter or chocolate chips, you may need to heat the mixture another 30 seconds. Only do this after thoroughly stirring first.

Step 5: Add and Stir!

When the mixture has a nice smooth consistency, add in one teaspoonful of vanilla. I tend to add a dash more, but then again, I love vanilla. Next add in 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I used Himalayan Pink Salt, but any will do. The fudge will have little pockets of salt flavor to it, like those salted caramel desserts. After adding the final two ingredients, mix well. The final consistency should be smooth and thick.

Step 6: Place in Pan and Refrigerate

Place the thick, sticky mixture into the aluminum foil lined pan you prepared earlier. Level and smooth the surface so it will have a prettier finished product. Try to keep bubbles to a minimum for the same reason. Now refrigerate the pan and its contents for at least 2 hours. This is the hardest part!!! You know all that yummy, tempting goodness is right there for the taking and you have to wait 2 excruciatingly long hours until you can touch it. Sheer torture!

Step 7: Remove From the Pan

After that excruitating wait is over, you have more work to be done. Or if you are really desperate you can just start eating away at the fudge, I suppose...

Get out the cutting board (optional), knife, and serving platter. Take the pan out of the refrigerator and to the counter. Then just pull up the aluminum foil by grabbing up two sides and simply lifting it. Now your pan should still be clean, if you did not get it messy - like I did. Take the fudge and place it upside down on the cutting board, or if you are not worried about cutting up your serving platter, you can place it directly on the platter to cut it into pieces.

Peel off the aluminum foil slowly, making sure to remove it all. Nothing is worse than biting on a piece of foil with a mouthful of fillings. Ack! You can now decide to cut off the rounded messy edges or to leave them. I tend to cut them off to feed to my quality control managers, aka my husband and children. If I do not make this sacrifice to them, they become like pesky flies that nip at you every time you turn your back. Haha!

Step 8: Divide and Conquer

Now you can start cutting your fudge to your preference. I like to cut mine into small, bite sized pieces. To accomplish this, I start off by cutting the fudge into long, narrow strips. I then cut the strips into tiny, even pieces. This helps me to be conscious of how many pieces I am eating, while also having the added benefit of serving more people at parties and get togethers. Plus, it is less messy and easier to eat when walking around conversing with friends and family.

After you have cut up all the fudge, place it onto your serving platter or bowl. A few might mysteriously disappear on its way to the platter. I believe this to be a spatial anomaly, rather than me giving into temptation to eat them. You can draw your own conclusions.

Note: All the variations I have tried to date have worked out beautifully, save one. The Heath Chips did not make a great fudge. It tasted delicious, but for some reason, the fudge was way too sticky and would not come out of the aluminum foil without making a huge sticky mess. See last picture. My family resorted to eating it off a spoon straight from the pan. The next time I make it, I think I am going to try 1 1/2 cups of the Heath chips and 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips to see if the chocolate chips will help to solidify the fudge.

Step 9: Serve and Enjoy!

Now the only step left is to serve these divinely, yummy treats to your friends and family. Every time that I have made these they have been a huge hit. I have made milk chocolate, dark chocolate, Andes mint, and even tried Heath English Toffee Bits. They have all tasted delicious and been a great hit at parties, except the Heath fudge. You can definitely not go wrong with this easy, stress free recipe any time you feel like eating fudge.