White Chocolate Cream Cheese Fudge

"Oh Fudddgggeeee"

Yep, I said it.  Youi know it is our famiies favorite holiday movie and my husbands dog is named after Ralph.  Yes it is true, his best little buddy is named Ralph (Ralphy)!

Can I tell you this recipe was a happy accident?  I was look at a recipe by 12 Tomatoes.  I didn't screenshot the ingredients and had closed the tab, so I took a guess at how much I needed of what.  WRONG.  I came up 2 bags of something short, one of this short, and blah blah blah.  So, I used what I had at home, and got this amazing fudge recipe.  I mean it is AHMAZING.  If you love cream cheese and/or white chocolate this one's for you!

You Will Need:

2- 14oz bags of white chocolate chips

1- 8oz brick of cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup powdered/confectioners/icing sugar

1 TBSP half and half or heavy cream

Semi-sweet chocolate OPTIONAL

Beat cream cheese for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Melt white chocolate in 30 second increments in your microwave until all melted.   Add to your cream cheese mixture.  Mix to combine with your hand mixer. Add in vanilla, and powdered sugar.  Again, combine ingredients.  Add in half and half and mix until completely combined.

In a parchment paper lined 8x8 inch pan, pour the mixture.  It is a different texture and needs spread out.  You can wet the utensil you are using or use another piece of parchment on top and use your hands to smooth.  Let sit for at least 4 hours, overnight is best.

OPTIONAL.....Melt 1/3d cup of semi-sweet chocolate and drizzle on tiop.  Use 1 cup and spread a layer of chocolate on top.

4 Chip Fudge

 Who else has such a huge stash of random flavored "chips" you could make this like 10 times over?! HA!  ME!  

My dear friend and HUGE supporter of my YouTube and blog, Jenny has told me about her amaing fudge for at least a couple of years.  She has claimed it is the best fudge she and her family have ever eaten.  I thought this whole time she was the queen of this recipe, turns out Taste of Home is!  However, when my husband and I tried it, it is clear we don't care where it came from.  In my heart it came from Jenny aka SGM.  I am so glad I made it for you!

There is a video as well, so make sure to head over to my YouTube channel to watch it and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!

This flavor is SO unique.  The layers of flavor are dead on.  I am going to give you the direction just as she gave them to me.  I have only made cheater-cheater fudge.  I was nervous but here we go!

You Will Need:

3/4 cup butter

1, 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

3 TBSP milk

1 pkg (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

1 pjg (11.5 oz) milk chocolate chips

1 pkg (10 oz) peanut butter chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

Line a 13X9 pan with foil and butter generously, set aside.

In a large heavy saucepan, melt butter over low heat.  Add in all of the chips,  Cook and stir Constantly until smooth.  The mixture will first appear separated but continue stirring until flully blended and glossy looking.  This will take about 10 minutes of continual stirring!  Remove from the heat, stir in the marshmallow creme and extracts until well blended.  Stir in the nuts and mix to combine.

Pour into prepared pan, smoothing the top and refrigerate until set.  

Yields about 4.5 lbs of fudge.  You better find someone to share with!

ENJOY this amazing recipe and thanks Jenny for your unwavering support and friendship!

Pecan Pie Muffins

Hello my friends!  So good to have you back again!  Everyone in the US getting ready for Thanksgiving celebrations?  Do you do the cooking or just the eating?!

I decided to share some recipes for the holidays this year that are from my mom.  Not recipes my mom made or had made, just recipes she has sent to me over the years from newspapers!  I am going to share the things that have been shared with me.  For Thanksgiving I am going to share some unconventional twists on Thanksgiving foods or dinner options!  

This recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving breakfast, brunch, the day after, etc.  They have the chewy pecan pie top of a perfectly soft muffin! Make these in foil liners if you can.  I think it will work fantastic and the recipe actually calls for that, but who reads ALL the directions?  If you use foil liners, peel them off and heat up for a few seconds, and oh my gosh!  This recipe clearly has been around the block by the looks of it but let me get to the most important part...the BAKING!

You will need:

1 cup chopped pecans (I bought halves and cut the up so I could put a half on top as decoration)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
In a bowl mix together pecans, brown sugar and flour.   Whisk eggs until foamy and combine with melted butter.  Add to dry mixture and mix until combined.  Line muffin pan with foil liners and fill each about 2/3 full.  (I got 10 out of mine and WILL be doubling it next time)  If you choose, add a pecan half on top!  Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are just beyond golden brown, kind of that pecan pie top color!

Enjoy warm, maybe with a little butter?!?  Some coffee?!?  

Happy Thanksgiving friends!

5 Cups of Something Cookies

Hello!!

It has been awhile you guys!  As most of you know I have undergone 2 eye surgeries in the last 6 weeks which have simply rendered me unable to cook or bake really at all until a couple of days ago.  It was the best feeling to be able to get in the kitchen and jut get away from life for awhile and bake  Christmas is coming and I had planed such a great barrage of cookie recipes from my family.  I am sorry this eye stuff all came up so suddenly but it is how it worked out and it had to be done.  Don't worry though, I will still get you some fun and very versatile recipes.

Speaking of versatile, this recipe is one of the most versatile I have seen.  My sister Peggy was in for a super quick visit recently and she brought me this recipe.  It is one she makes at the holidays and when I saw the recipe I knew immediately I had to make it and share it.  While I made this with ingredients of my choice, this would be a perfect recipe for your end of the baking train recipes.  You could use up whatever you have left on hand which makes complete sense to me and it will to you as well.

This is a base recipe and the you add 1 cup, of 6 more ingredients.  Genius!  The options you guys, endless.  ENDLESS! (Just on a side note, I am typing this entire thing with my eyes closed because it is easier than the blurriness of my vision right now.  I am just imagining the spell check is going to have to work in overdrive.)
ANYWAY.....

I am going to give you some options for your "5 cups"....
I know you can come up with them on your own, but, you might not have thought of some of these!

cornflakes, rice krispies, coconut, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, ay chips, M^M's, nuuts, peaut butter, oatmeal, cocoa kirspies, crushed up pretzels, mallow bits, golden grahams....you get my point.

This is why I think it would be a great recipe to use up leftovers on.  All t hose odds and ends of what you have left from your other recipes.

Here we go!

1 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brow sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups of something else

Get your oven preheated to 350 degrees F.  Cream together shortening, sugars, eggs and vanilla.  Add flour, baking soda and salt, mic to combine.  Add your 5 cups of any combination of ingredients.

Drop by small scopp or teaspoons on greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment and bake for 9-10 minutes.  Take them out and let them cool 10 minutes.  They will seem MAYBE under cooked but they aren't!  Trust me.  Let them cook and bacm, get a glass of milk and ejoy your Christmas tree!

I used sprinkles on some of mine to fight the "brown cookie syndrome".  I think this would easily be a non issue with red and green candies, etc.  Oh the possibilities!

I hope you are enjoying your holiday preperations!

BE JOYFUL!