Peanut Butter Fudge

We've completed our third day of school and all is well in our world, so I thought, "Dag nabbit, we worked our tails off and did a great job! We deserve a treat!" Since our State Fair starts up tomorrow, I also thought about all the yummy treats I'll be eating there. One of my favorites is the fudge from the dairy building...mmmm! Yum yum! That seemed to be my second good thought of the day, so I decided to whip up a batch of Peanut Butter Fudge. It's a super easy recipe, adapted from one of Alton Brown's, and it is the sole reason I still buy peanut butter in the big 40 oz containers. Two at a time!

NOTE: I don't generally cook this up with the Crazy Kids. It requires the use of one glass bowl, heated up in the microwave for 4 minutes. Since the bowl gets really hot, the Crazy Kids just get to sit back and watch while I put this together.

First, make sure you use a large glass bowl for this. The ingredients are going to expand in the microwave, so you need room for that. In the glass bowl, put in a cup of salted butter (2 sticks) and one cup of peanut butter. Then add another big wallop of that peanut butter! Seriously, you can't go wrong...just do it!

You know this can't be good for you! But who cares today!?!

Put the bowl in the microwave and nuke it for two minutes. Then take it out and stir with a wooden spoon.

You'll notice I barely take this out of the microwave. The bowl is already starting to get super hot, and I keep it here away from the Crazy Kids.

Back in to the microwave it all goes for another 2 minutes. The mixture will expand this go around, so cross your fingers that you picked the correct bowl size!!

  

It had me worried there for a minute!

Take this mixture out of the microwave (carefully! Use oven mitts and put it on a pot holder! It's hot!), and stir in one teaspoon of vanilla.

Mmm, don't forget to smell the vanilla!

Then, a cup at a time, mix in the powdered sugar. The amount of sugar you end up putting in is going to depend on how much peanut butter you ended up adding, so add your sugar a cup at a time. Again, remember to mix with that wooden spoon!

This is the first cup

This is after the third cup. The mixture is starting to get some body to it.

Once the mixture starts thickening up, add the sugar in only about a third of a cup at a time. Once it starts pulling away from the bowl after you mix it, you've added enough.

Perfect!

Plop it in a buttered 8x8 glass pan and refrigerate until cool.

Mmmmm!

You might want to leave just a bit in the bowl to tide you over until the fudge is cooled down! 

Nom! No one will miss this little bit...go on! Indulge!

Seriously, this is one of the simplest recipes I know that satisfies my sweet tooth! And the actual work time on it is less than 10 minutes! Who can resist!?! Certainly not me!

Recipe:

Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

adapted from a recipe by Alton Brown

Ingredients:

1 cup salted butter (2 sticks) and a bit more to grease the pan

1 cup peanut butter, with more added for good measure

1 tsp. vanilla

3-5 cups powdered sugar

Add the butter and peanut butter to a large glass bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Take the bowl out of the microwave, stir with a wooden spoon until combined, and then microwave again for another 2 minutes. Take the bowl out of the microwave with pot holders and place on a pot holder. Add the vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and stir (again, use that trusty wooden spoon!). When the mixture starts thickening up, stir in powdered sugar about 1/3 of a cup at a time. When the mixture starts pulling away from the side of the bowl while you're stirring it, you've added enough sugar. Pour the mixture into a buttered 8x8 glass pan, and refrigerate until cool. Cut into bite size pieces and enjoy!!