Easy Peppermint Fudge

IMG_4440This fudge is ridiculously easy and sinfully delicious.  I hosted a small holiday dinner the other night for a volunteer group with which I am associated.  Everyone brought a dish and it came together very easily.  However, a few hours before the dinner, one couple had to cancel because of a family emergency. That couple was in charge of bringing dessert.  It certainly would not have been a big deal if we had to go without dessert as this is a group of wonderfully casual and forgiving folks.  However, I had pulled this recipe off of The Pioneer Woman’s site a few days before and happened to have all whopping THREE ingredients that I needed.  So I made it.  It is truly the quickest homemade dessert I have ever made.  AND it was delicious. Forgive the simple photos because my guests were walking in the door as I took it out of the fridge to cut.  And after the party, there was no fudge left to stage for a pretty photo (I suppose that’s a good sign!).  Why not keep these three ingredients on hand this holiday season…just in case!

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Easy Peppermint Fudge

Ingredients:

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

8 whole peppermint candies or 2-3 candy canes, crushed (or crushed hazelnuts or walnuts, colored sprinkles, candies etc)

Directions:

Line an 8 x 8 square pan with foil and smooth the surface.  Spray foil with nonstick spray.  Combine the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a double boiler over medium heat. Heat until melted, about 5 minutes.  If you don’t have a double boiler, you can place a non-plastic bowl over a sauce pan of steaming water.  Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over low heat stirring constantly and pulling it off the heat periodically to avoid scorching it.  Stir until smooth, then immediately pour it into the foil-lined pan.  Use a spatula to smooth the surface, then sprinkle on the crushed peppermints.

Refrigerate for 2 hours, then cut into small squares.

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman, Quick and Easy Peppermint Fudge