Sea Salt Buckeye Fudge Bars 

 

In the beginning of December during an all-hands video teleconference, our VP was talking about how she had made fudge over Thanksgiving break. Which led me to think about fudge (of course). And how I should make some. Flash forward a couple weeks and lots of stress about my dog’s health later and … I realized (today) that I forgot to make fudge. So I decided to look up a recipe for peanut butter fudge (because why not peanut butter?) and found the same variation of a recipe that uses peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar, essentially, all over the internet.

I settled on the recipe found at Brown Eyed Baker’s website. When describing her recipe, she talks about how the fudge reminds her of the inside of a Peanut Butter Buckeye treat, which is a Christmas staple in the Midwest (and maybe other places – as far as I’m concerned it should be a Christmas staple anywhere). Anyway, I got to thinking about Buckeye treats (or peanut butter balls, which is what my family makes) and how time consuming they are. So I thought … why not make an easier version of peanut butter balls? Why not make the bar version. So I poured some chocolate down on the bottom of my pan before pouring in the peanut butter fudge filling and then topped the fudge filling with more chocolate and some flakey sea salt and voila. A star was born.

ingredients.

• 1¼ c. (10 oz) unsalted butter
• 1 ¼ c. smooth peanut butter
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 ½ c. powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 ½ c. chocolate chips (I used a combination of semi-sweet and bittersweet)
• Vegetable shortening or Paraffin wax

directions.

1. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler, over low heat on the stove or in 30 second bursts in the microwave. You can use vegetable shortening or paraffin wax to thin out the chocolate. Keep warm on the stovetop.
2. Butter an 8-inch non-stick baking dish (or line with buttered parchment paper). Pour 1/3 of the chocolate sauce into the pan and set in the fridge or freezer to harden.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter and peanut butter until the mixtures comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.
4. Add the salt and vanilla extract, then stir in the powdered sugar until smooth and no lumps remain.
5. Pour the fudge mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Pour the remaining chocolate on top.
6. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour. Cut into squares and serve. Bars can be stored at cool room temperature in an airtight container.

Recipe rating: 