1 lb smooth natural peanut butter or JIFF
1 lb powdered sugar
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks-save the wrappers)
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (otherwise known as 1 bag of
chocolate chips)
PROCEDURE
(1) Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water or the
top of a double boiler. Make sure you don't get
even a drop of water in the chocolate. Stir fre-
quently with a spatula while doing the following
steps and remove it from the hot water just as
soon as it's melted. (I Microwave to melt, remember to stir)
(2) Melt the butter.
(3) Mix together the powdered sugar, the melted
butter, and the vanilla. Don't bother sifting the
powdered sugar. Just stir everything together
with a wooden spoon until it's smooth and creamy.
(4) Stir in the peanut butter. This will break most
flimsy wooden spoons if you're not careful. Mush-
ing everything together with your hands works well
and is lots of fun.
(5) Press the fudge into a buttered 8- or 9-inch
square pan. You don't need much butter-just wipe
the butter papers over the inside of the pan. You
can also line the pan with foil and butter that;
this works especially well if you're making
several batches in a row to give to people as
holiday presents. Press the fudge in firmly; you
don't want any air bubbles in it. You will get
your hands messy here.
(6) Pour the chocolate over the fudge and spread it in
an even layer. The easiest way to do this is to
shake the pan gently until the chocolate is even.
(7) Let the chocolate cool to room temperature. Do
not put it in the refrigerator.
(8) Using a sharp knife cut the fudge into 1-inch
squares. If you defied my instructions and put it
in the refrigerator, the chocolate layer will
shatter when you try to cut it.
(9) Unless you are going to serve it immediately,
store it in the refrigerator. Let it come to room
temperature before serving.
NOTES
Again, don't scrimp on the peanut butter! Skippy simply
will not do.
Unless you use the foil method, you will inevitably destroy
at least one piece getting it out of the pan. The best
method is to line the pan with foil, let the fudge cool,
lift it out, peel off the foil, put it back in the pan, and
cut it. This keeps it from sticking to the pan. If you try
to cut it out of the pan, it tends to fall apart.
I got this recipe from Paul Asente who got it from Ed who got it from....etc.
