Oh Fudge!

As part of her 3 Ingredient Thursday, Erica at On The Write Path, has posted a recipe I had given her, Raspberry Fudge. The recipe was given to me by a colleague from NC, but I've also seen the recipe in cookbooks and also at the Eagle Brand site.

I made batches of this fudge for a school fund raiser. The Raspberry Fudge was hugely popular. I earned an hour towards a 30 hr. (mandatory) volunteer commitment for each batch of fudge. The recipe is ridunculously easy to make, and I guarded this recipe so I could have a monopoly on the fudge table an easily wrack up my hours!

The beauty of this fudge recipe is there are so many variations. You are only limited by your imagination, and you don't have to stick to the 3 ingredient rule.

The Basic Recipe

2 bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips (you may also use milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips whichever you prefer)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk. Evaporated milk yields unhappy results)
2 T. flavoring. (You may want to use 1 T. vanilla and 1 T. other flavoring. The Eagle brand site uses a lot less flavoring usually 1 1/2 tsp. You may want to adjust the flavoring to suit your taste.)
Nuts (optional: walnut, pecan, hazelnut, peanut, etc.)

This recipe uses the microwave to melt the chocolate. Microwave intensity varies so you may have to adjust the time to suit your microwave.

1. Spray an 8 x 8" pan with cooking spray and set aside

2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the two bags of chocolate chips and the sweetened condensed milk for 1 minute.

2. Stir.

3. Melt for 1 minute more until thoroughly melted.

4. Add flavoring (and nuts, if desired.)

5. Spread in the prepared pan. Chill until set.

6. Bring to room temperature to cut. Cut into 1" x 1" pieces. Enjoy!

7. Refrigerate leftovers if there are any.

Variations:

Raspberry Fudge
2 bags raspberry chocolate chips (these are sometimes difficult to find, but make all the difference)
2 T. raspberry extract or raspberry syrup
(optional: 1 cup walnuts for Raspberry Walnut Fudge)

Mint Chocolate
2 bags of mint chocolate chips
2 T. mint extract (I'm not a huge mint fan. If this is too minty, you can use 1 T. vanilla extract and 1 T. mint extract)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. vanilla extract
1 c. peanut butter flavored chips

Grand Marnier Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. orange extract (or if not serving to children, 2 T. of Grand Marnier liqueur)

Heath Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. vanilla extract
1 c. crushed Heath bar candy or brickle chips

Rocky Road Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. vanilla extract
1/2 c. nuts
1/2 c. mini-marshmallows

Chocolate Almond Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. almond extract
(1 cup almonds)

Chocolate Cherry Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. vanilla extract
1 c. chopped candied cherry

Chunky Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. vanilla extract
1/2 c. chopped peanuts
1/2 c. raisins

M & M Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. vanilla extract
1 c. mini-M&M candies

Candy Bar Fudge
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. vanilla extract
1 c. favorite candy bar chopped (Milky Way, Snickers, Mounds)

Whew! That's enough fudge to make your dentist happy!