Fluffernutter Fudge Squares

On Friday something happened that never happens: my school got a snow day. My school district is one of the meanest stubborn school districts in Colorado, I think. I think it was just this past December, but there was another huge snowstorm and pretty much all of Colorado schools shut down, except for just a few. My school district was one of them. I mean come on! Half the schools are in Boulder (where it got the most snow) and we still didn’t get a snow day. Something is seriously wrong there. But this time we did get a snow day (probably due to the fact that there would be a mutiny if we didn’t).

So what did I do with my snow day? Well after waking up at 5:15 am (like normal) and being told by my dad that he got a call at 4:30 am saying that school was closed, I couldn’t go back to sleep. So I read for about an hour, worked on some homework/notes, had a mini marathon of Lie To Me (totally addicting show that I wish hadn’t been canceled), and surfed around Foodgawker.

Most people talk about Pinterest being a time-sucker, but to me, it’s Foodgawker. That place is so addicting and the pictures make my mouth water. One of the amazing things I found was a recipe for fluffernutter bars by Bakers Royal.

In case you don’t know what a fluffernutter is: it’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but in place of jelly, marshmallow fluff steps in. It is one seriously awesome sandwich!

This bar (which is a little more like fudge) is just like a fluffernutter, but with a little bit of chocolate added thanks to the Reese’s added to it.

I will admit that I had some difficulty with the recipe. I had adapted the recipe (doubling most of the ingredients and slightly raising the amount of others) so that I would get enough to make a 9x13 amount instead of the 8x8 in the original. However, there seemed t be too much extras and not enough of the binder, which kinda frustrated me, but it all turned out find once I got the hang of folding all the ingredients together.

The end result was a mix of deliciousness. The fudge squares are crunchy from the nutter butters, yet chewy from the mini marshmallows, and creamy and chocolatey from the Reese’s and melted marshmallow and peanut butter chip mixture. It really is a nuttberbutter in a compact one inch square

Fluffernutter Fudge Squares
Adapted from Bakers Royal
Makes enough to fill a 9x13 inch pan

Ingredients
135 g nutter butter cookies, chopped
12 Reece’s peanut butter cups, chopped
6 cups mini marshmallows, divided
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
10 oz peanut butter chips

Directions

1. Line a 9x13 inch pan with tin foil, leaving a small over hang; set aside. Place the chopped nutter butter cookies, Reece’s cups, and 2 1/2 cups of the mini marshmallows into a VERY large bowl; set aside.
2. Place remaining marshmallows into a sauce pan over low heat. Stir until the marshmallows start to melt. As the marshmallows melt, slowly add in the butter, stirring all the while. Once the marshmallows and butter have fully melted, add in the peanut butter chips in four stages, stirring to help incorporate and melt chips. Remove from heat.
3. Pour the peanut butter-marshmallow mixture over the cookies, peanut butter cups, and mini marshmallows. Fold to combine (this will take a little lot bit of elbow grease). Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Spread it out so it’s evenly distributed throughout the pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours or until set.
4. Using the foil overhang, lift the bar out of the pan. Cut the bar into squares.  

Brown Sugar Fudge

So last week(ish) I said I wanted to make fudge, but I didn’t have a candy thermometer, so I opted for making butterscotch blondies. Well I shopped online for a while until I found a candy thermometer that was a good price and had at least 3 star reviews. After searching and searching, I found one made by the CIA; no, not the secrete CIA but the Culinary Institute of America. This is an awesome thermometer for a first time candy maker, like myself. But this isn’t a product review, this is about FUDGE! Brown Sugar Fudge to be exact.

I was so nervous when making this. I was checking and double checking the recipe instructions so many times, that I have probably memorized it. And then the temperature of the liquid fudge wasn’t rising and that was making me panic because I thought I would end up burning the sugar, but I realized I didn’t have the sugar to a full boil. But considering this was my first time melting sugar and making fudge, I think things went pretty smoothly.

Now this was originally for my sister since she loves brown sugar or anything with sugar for that matter. She says it tastes really delicious, like caramel. However, I don’t think it’s all that special, maybe I’m used to a more fudgy fudge, you know like the ones that are kinda soft, but yet really dense and just filled with yummyness? I’m not saying these are nasty or gross or anything, I’m saying they are different and I’m not sure I’m ready to call it fudge, but if I don’t call it fudge, I don’t know what to call it, so I’ll just stick with Brown Sugar Fudge for right now.

Isn't this a gorgeous site? I almost felt bad for marking out the squares is was so pretty.

But I had to mark the squares, otherwise I couldn't know where to cut.

However, the fudge didn't seem to want to cut to nicely anyways...

Brown Sugar Fudge
from 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & Other Tempting Treats
makes 49 squares

Ingredients
7 tbsp unsalted butter (cubed)
1 ¼ cup whole milk
4 cups light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Line a square baking dish with tin foil and sray the tin foil with cooking spray
2. Place butter, milk and sugar into a heavy duty, large sauce pan and slowly bring to a boil (I started off with the heat at 8). Stir constantly until the butter has melted completely. Once the butter has melted, bring the mixture to a full boil and cover for 2 minutes as it gently boils. (I set the stove between 5-6, otherwise it would boil over.)
3. After the 2 minutes is up, take the lid off and bring back to a full boil, stirring occasionally. Once the temperature on the candy thermometer has reached *240 degrees F, removed from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Set the pan aside for 5 minutes to allow fudge to cool.
4. Once cooled, beat the liquid fudge until it has lost some of it's shine and has become thick and creamy. Pour immediately into the prepared baking dish (DO NOT scrape the bottom of the pan for it will add the unwanted sugar crystals into the fudge) and set aside to cool for a few minutes. Once cooled, run a knife through the fudge to mark out the pieces. After it has cooled completely, take a sharp knife and cut the fudge into squares.

*the 240 degree F temperature is for people at sea level. For every 500ft that you are elevated, subtract a degree from the final point. For example. If you are 3,500ft above sea level and the directions say to bring the mixture to 250 degrees then you subtract 7 degrees, so you stop boiling your product at 243 degrees instead.

Nutrition Facts
serving size: 1 square inching

Calories 77.1 Total Fat 1.8 g Saturated Fat 0.1 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g Cholesterol 4.8 mg Sodium 4.3 mg Potassium 0.1 mg Total Carbohydrate 16.0 g Dietary Fiber 0.0 g Sugars 16.0 g Protein 0.2 g