Peanut Butter Fudge

Some things just never seem to change, especially at Christmastime. Traditions passed down and revisited, season after season. Childhood memories turning into adult ones, as you teach your own children about the things you treasure.

Going to my grandparents in Maine for Christmas was rich in these traditions. The Fraser fir, wired to the wall and decorated with old glass balls, colored lights, and homemade ornaments bearing grandchildren's faces beaming among the branches. The vintage, light-up star, slightly battered, but cheerfully gracing the top of the tree. 

Gathering together to "have the tree", meaning the time to open presents had drawn nigh. The youngest child chosen to be Santa, wriggling underneath the tree to find the gifts, carefully wrapped for one and all. Grandpa always getting peanut brittle and the men always getting socks. Ladies adding to their china collection and children receiving yearly ornaments and outfits from The Wooden Soldier. 

Big, beautiful dinners full of homemade food on holiday, Lenox china. Things frozen and canned and preserved from the garden. A big basket of crescent rolls. Homemade dill pickles in a long, cut-glass platter. The pan of ribbon salad, passed eagerly from person to person. And afterwards when you were so full you couldn't stand another bite, desserts were brought in. Many varieties of pie, molasses crinkles in a royal blue tin and peanut butter fudge, wrapped carefully in waxed paper, layered in opaque, white tupperware and deliciously cool from being kept on the unheated porch. Two varieties of course, with or without nuts, so creamy and sweet that just one or two pieces would suffice. 

Peanut Butter Fudge

Makes an 8 x 8 pan

Total Time: under 30 minutes, plus 1 hour to cool

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup marshmallow fluff

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped (optional)

Whisk the sugar and milk together in a large pot. Bring to a boil. 

It's a really good idea to measure out your peanut butter and fluff ahead of time because this recipe moves really fast at the end. I like to do this just after I start simmering my sugar/milk mixture.

Simmer milk and sugar until mixture reaches the soft-ball stage. A candy thermometer is really handy to help figure out when you reach soft-ball. Soft-ball refers to how the mixture will behave when dropped into chilled water. At a certain temperature, it will form into a ball in cold water but slowly flatten on your finger. 

The soft-ball stage starts at 234 degrees and changes to firm-ball at 244 degrees. 

Now, the thermometer is handy, but not needed. 

You can also check if your fudge base is done by using this method:

Watch the mixture carefully as it simmers. It will change from a liquidy froth to a thicker, glossy consistency. You will want to begin checking for soft-ball as your mixture begins to thicken and get glossy. 

Better to begin checking earlier than later. You don't want to miss the soft-ball stage or your fudge will be too hard. 

Have a little bowl of cold water nearby. Drop a bit of the fudge base into the cold water. Push it around with your finger and see if you can form it into a cohesive shape. 

If the mixture just dissolves into the water then you haven't reached the soft-ball stage yet.

But if it looks like the picture above...

....take it out and roll it into a ball. Then let it sit on your finger for a few seconds.

As it sits, it should begin to flatten and lose it's shape.

If it looks like the picture above, immediately remove your pan from the heat.

If you can't really form a ball and the mixture just dissolves on your finger, then you need to keep simmering the mixture and check again in a minute. 

If the ball does not soften as it sits on your finger, then you've cooked your fudge too long :( 

Off the heat and working quickly, add the peanut butter, fluff, vanilla and nuts, if desired, and whisk together. 

Pour into an 8 x 8 pan and smooth the top. 

Let fudge sit until cool before you cut into squares. 

Fudge does not need to be chilled to store, but keeps well in an airtight container.

Recipe from my Grammy.