Friday, December 17, 2010

Holiday Fudge

Hello friends! It's been a long time since I last posted. Please forgive me; life has been crazy! The hustle and bustle of the holidays, sick kiddos, an uncooperative Caroline in the food department (she would much rather nurse instead of eat solids), potty-training JD and to top it all off, the passing of my grandpa have all pushed blogging to the bottom of my to-do list. However, I really wanted to get a few recipes up before Christmas, so here you go!

This fudge is phenomenal! I've been thinking about experimenting with my usual fudge recipe and substituting coconut milk for the evaporated milk, but before doing that, I decided to see if anyone out on the web had done that already. And, of course, they had! So I used this recipe from Go Dairy Free. If you don't care for peppermint, there are several variations of the basic recipe available on their website, including coconut, pecan-pumpkin spice and ginger. Happy fudge making!


Holiday Fudge
Source: Go Dairy Free

1 cup MSPI-friendly chocolate chips
3-1/2 cups confectioner’s powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp. MSPI-friendly margarine or shortening
1/2 cup regular coconut milk -- Do not use light versions!
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. peppermint extract
9 candy canes, crushed

Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the chocolate chips, sugar and cocoa. Separately, place the margarine or shortening and coconut milk in a small saucepan, and stir together over medium heat. Cook the mixture until the margarine has melted, and bubbles just begin to break at the surface. Remove it from the stove, and immediately pour over the chocolate mixture. Let everything sit for a couple of minutes, and then stir vigorously to melt the chocolate and incorporate the dry ingredients. Continue stirring until a completely smooth mixture forms.

Mix in the vanilla and peppermint. Once those are incorporated, stir in half of the crushed candy canes, and quickly pour everything into your prepared pan. Smooth out the top and sprinkle the remaining candy canes evenly over the entire exposed surface. Press the candy bits gently into the fudge with the palm of your hand. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Tip: If the chocolate chips do not melt completely when you mix in the coconut milk mixture, you can microwave it on low power for a few seconds, stirring often, until you reach the right consistency.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Were you using the really thick canned coconut milk or the refrigerated kind in the carton?

Andrea said...

Canned. :)

Sheila said...

Sorry to hear of your Grandpa's passing. Thinking of you!

brightlittlelight said...

Oh my goodness! This was amazing! I made this fudge and the chocolate chip oat bars for treats so I wouldn't feel left out as everyone indulged in their cool whip covered pie :] Thank you so much for such amazing recipes, always.

Lauren said...

Do you have brand recommendations for these ingredients? I know the Enjoy Life for chocolate chips, but other than that, I'd love some guidance!

Andrea said...

For margarine, check my FAQs. I address that there. As to the other ingredients, the majority of what you find in your regular grocery store should be fine. Just double check ingredients.