Treat Day Wednesday–Super Simple Easy Peasy Fudge Bars

I know I’m shocked too, two weeks in a row for Treat Day. Crazy!

Now it’ll be hard to follow up after last weeks super successful donuts post, but I’ll try.  The next couple of weeks are going to get pretty crazy around here.  Two very dear friends of ours are getting married on different weekend and in different countries.  One is happening in High Point, NC and the other is in Ottawa, Canada and of course I volunteered to make a little something for each :)  When they are done, I’ll be sure to post.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I continued my Treat Days, but I also wanted to make sure I made something super simple.  I went to Pinterest for some inspiration and I kept seeing all kinds of different bars.  But they also seemed really labour intensive for the amount of time I had put aside to make today’s treat.  Then I went to the pantry and four ingredients caught my eye.  Chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, sweetened condensed milk and nilla wafers.  OOOOOOH I know fudge but then turn it into a bar with the nilla wafers. Yeah baby!

So here it goes.  Super Simple, Easy Peasy Fudge Bars!

• 10 oz chocolate chips
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 box nilla wafers
• 1 stick melted butter

1. In the bowl of a food processor, grind wafers.  Add melted butter.
2. Press into 9” square pan that you lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Set aside.
3. In a medium sized sauce pan, melt chips and milk together until smooth.
4. Pour over wafer crust and smooth out.
5. Drizzle with white chocolate.  Chill for 30 minutes.
6. Cut into squares and serve.
7. Enjoy!

See, super easy!

The girls both gave these a thumbs up!  So that’s pretty impressive since they tend not to like the same things ever.

I hope you’ll give these a go because every one loves easy peasy recipes!

Thanks for looking!

Treat Day Wednesday–Creamsicle Fudge

Ok, so it’s not Wednesday.  You caught me.  At least I made it :)

I’m currently 4 days post surgery and on the mend but still not 100%. I am a whole lot more mobile than I was and I can now sit for longer than 5 minutes but taking it slow.  I can’t wait to be back to normal, I just have to be patient.

Now back to treat day.

My girls love fudge and they also love creamsicle ice-cream, something they learned from their father.  I saw a version on Pinterest but didn’t like that it was made with marshmallow fluff.  I HATE the stuff.  I know that’s harsh but I feel the same about marshmallow fondant, ew gross. However, the idea for creamsicle fudge was brilliant.  So into the kitchen to make my own version.  The only thing I had to buy was orange extract flavour.

Recipe:

• 12 oz white chocolate
• 1/2 can condensed milk
• 2 drops orange extract
• Americolor orange gel colour

1. In double boiler, melt chocolate.
2. Add milk and combine.
3. Divide the batter.  Pour one half into 6” square pan.
4. In other half, add orange extract and add a drop of colour. Mix thoroughly
5. Take spoons full of the orange batter into the white side and then swirl the two together.
6. Place in fridge until firm, cut into squares.
7. Enjoy!

This was quite a hit in our house.  It tastes just like the ice cream treat! I hope you’ll enjoy it in yours!

Thanks for looking!

Candy Cane Fudge

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I hope you have the most excellent holiday season and a fabulous new year.  That’s my plan anyway.  I know I said I was taking off until new year but I made this yesterday and you need to have this around for the holidays, it’s too good not to share.

This year at Christmas we are spending it at home. It may not seem exciting but it’s the first time since we moved, so it’s exciting for us.  My parents were here this week and Rob’s parents are coming for the holidays itself.  Our girls are so excited for Santa they are counting down the days on our family calendar.  Christmas stopped being a favourite holiday for me after my grandmother, grandfather and my aunt passed away over one year’s holidays.  After that it became something to get through.  Now that I have children of my own, it’s changing.  Everything I do now I do for them.  I still don’t get the same gitty feeling I had when I was a kid but I’m enjoying it more as the kids are so into it all.

The things I like most about the holidays are the baking and, of course, the eating.  I’ve made many many decorated cookies this year, which I’ll put together in a post later.  I’ve also made many yummy treats. Some new and some not-so-much.  This year I came up with Candy Cane Fudge.  It’s so simple, the hardest task is unwrapping all the Hershey Kisses.

Recipe:

• 1 package of Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses
• 4 oz white chocolate
• 1/4 tin of condensed milk
• 4-5 mini candy canes crushed
1. Unwrap the kisses
2. Melt the kisses and the white chocolate.  microwave on high for 120 seconds at a time, stirring after each 30 seconds.
3. Add condensed milk and stir until mixture thickens. 
4. Put into mold.  I used an 8” square cake pan lined with parchment.
5. Sprinkle crushed candy canes onto fudge, use parchment to pat them into place or they will just fall off.
6. Chill for 1 hour, cut into squares.
7. Enjoy!

These are so good!  I sent these, caramel crispies and candy cane bark to Rob’s work for a holiday treat and I’m happy to report all were well accepted!  Apparently one of Rob’s staff told him I was a culinary genius!  I’ll take that thank you very much!



So make these and all my holiday treats and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good treat!

Thanks for looking :)

Pumpkin Week 2012–Pumpkin Spice Fudge Dip!

Welcome to 2012’s edition of Pumpkin Week.  Last year was a lot of fun, but I think the recipes I’ve put together for this week are even better.  I’ve also asked your favourite bloggers what their favourite recipes or pumpkin inspired cakes and cookies are and I’ll be compiling them on Friday.  Yup you’ll have to wait :)

First up, as the blog post title indicates is Pumpkin Spice Fudge Dip.  I LOVE FUDGE, my hips not so much.  Something about the sweetness and the crubliness (I know it’s not a word) makes fudge one of my all time favourite treats.  I thought, how would it work as a dip?  Well let me tell you, AWESOME!

Now there are many ways to make fudge but I think the easy fudge tastes just as good as the fudge that takes forever to make.  And really, who’s got that kind of time these days????  So that’s what I did.  I made the quick fudge and then by adding the pumpkin puree to it, kept the fudge super soft so it would work well as a dip.  Grab your favourite cookie or pie crust dippers and dip away!  Careful, it’s addictive and sadly not low calorie :)

Recipe:

• 1 pound white chocolate pieces
• 1 can condensed milk
• 4 tbsp pumpkin puree
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice blend

1. In a medium saucepan over med-high heat, mix all ingredients together until chocolate melts.
2. Pour into bowl.
3. Chill until set.
4. Enjoy!

See! Simple, easy and divine!

So I hope you’ll stay with me this week for some pretty awesome pumpkin desserts!

Thanks for looking!

Chocolate Brownie Fudge Bar with Chocolate Ganache

I have a confession…I love to host dinner parties.  So when Rob bought his birthday present, a new smoker, it was another great reason to have a few friends (or twenty) over to test it out!  I try to say we’ll do the main and everyone else bring sides potluck style but I just can’t stop myself.  You just never know, someone may forget, so I may over prepare.

This past weekend was no exception.  I had hummus with carrots and pistachio's for appys, watermelon skewers with a balsamic reduction and watermelon stars on sticks for the kids as a fresh side and of course we did four racks of ribs and a 10lb pork shoulder as the main. (sorry no pics)

Now you’re probably thinking, ok let’s hear about this fudge bar you teased us with in the post title.  ok ok!

I also believe that every good meal should have an equally good dessert and so do our guests.  When they saw the watermelon they immediately asked where the fattening alternative was.  They know me so well.

So I made this…

It’s a brownie layer covered by a fudge layer and then covered in a chocolate ganache coating.  Can I get a yes please??????  oh me please.  After I cut out the pieces for the pictures, I of course had to give it a taste test.  WELL…

I immediately texted Rob and told him he’d been replaced :)  LOL

Brownie recipe can be found here

Fudge recipe can be found here

Ganache recipe can be found here

Put it all together and enjoy!

Thanks for looking!

Sugar Cookie Fudge Bars

I was making some cookies and had some dough leftover and have wanted to try this recipe for a long time.  I’m sure it’s not new and I’m sure there are better but this is what popped into my head for what would be a good combination.

I used a square cake pan with a pop-out bottom and lined it with parchment paper.  I cut out a square cookie the size of the cake pan and dropped it into the bottom of the pan.  The cookie base is baked off first and then I covered it with chocolate fudge and sprinkled with heath chips.

How-to:

1. Make sugar cookie dough (recipe here)
2. Make two-ingredients chocolate fudge (recipe here)  just use all chocolate chips
3. Bake cookie in a pop-out bottom square pan
4. Cover cookie in fudge
5. Sprinkle with Heath Chips
6. Place in fridge and cool completely
7. Slice and serve
8. Enjoy!

These are simple and delicious.

Since Rob’s been travelling a lot with work, I decided to not even chance having them around.  I took them to Rowan’s daycare for the staff and they flipped over them.  YAY!

Thanks for looking!

Withdrawal…fixed with a chocolate chip fudge bar!

I’m back in my kitchen!  It’s been a whole week and although it was awesome to be away from the kitchen, I missed it so.

Florida was a blast.  We did a whole lot of nothing.  My parents have a pool and the girls spent almost every minute in it.  Actually the amount of time diminished each day as their energy wore out.  Twelve hour sleeps weren’t enough to recharge their batteries but the constant enthusiasm about everything made the two day drive worth it!

We went and saw Winter the Dolphin from A Dolphin Tale the movie .  The one hour trip up to Clearwater was so worth the drive.  The girls faces when they saw the dolphin were magical.  One tip for those who plan this trip, buy tickets online.  We did and prevented the 1 hour line up wait to buy tickets.  Especially in the heat.  They also make you go through the gift shop in and out, so be prepared! We were lucky and only escaped with a stuffed dolphin each

We got to celebrate Easter with the Bunny himself.  At my parents golf club they did brunch, pony rides, carriage rides, balloon animals and of course an egg hunt!

We also had lunch with friends, where my mother got to speak adult language for a couple hours.

All in all it was a great trip.  Now back to reality!

So with not much in the fridge and pantry (I did come home to a really clean house!) I made you this!

Chocolate Chip Fudge Bar.

Chocolate Chip Crust:

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup chips

1. Cream butter and sugars together, add egg and vanilla.
2. Mix in dry ingredients and chips.
3. Press mixture into pan like a crust.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until browned and done.

Fudge:

• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine all ingredients in saucepan and melt over medium high heat.
2. When smooth, cover chocolate chip base with fudge.  Be quick, it hardens quickly.
3. Sprinkle with icing sugar
4. Enjoy!

So now that I’m back, I’ve got some baby shower cookies this week, bachelorette cookies next week and whatever else comes into the mind, something with rhubarb I think!

Thanks for looking!