Slightly Healthy Salted Oat Fudge

I thought about naming this post Almost Healthy Salted Oat Fudge.  But these chocolate-y, nutty, and no-need-candy-thermometer pieces of delight are indeed a step up from that label.  There is not so much sugar (and it's honey), not so much butter (and it can be coconut oil), and an abundance of oats, chocolate, and nuts.  A miracle candy?  I would not go that far, but these are very, very tasty.  They are simple to prepare, easy to cut and transport, and liked (perhaps more than liked) by those who know me (p.s. thank you bridge club :)

With that said, they could also be called Fudgy Cookie Bars.  But if you had the option of tasting fudge or a cookie bar which would you pick?  Right!  And that's why they are called fudge.  Seriously, this sweet has some heft and some cookie-ish-ness to its profile (thought I'd be up front with this news).  Hereafter though, I am going to refer to this recipe's end product as fudge...because it looks like fudge, tastes a lot like fudge, and your enthusiasm will go a long way to convince others that it is fudge.

Notes:

1.  I used butter rather than coconut oil, but I plan on remaking again soon to see the difference.  I did not add any extra salt because the butter was salted.
2.  I used natural ground peanut butter which is not so smooth.  I thought the finished product had a more granular appearance.  The taste was not affected, however.  I would like to try the almond butter next time since really smooth peanut butter has more than peanuts on the ingredient list.
3.  To toast the pecans, I used a cast iron skillet and my stove top (no need to turn on the oven).  With the pecans in the skillet, using medium heat, I had toasted nuts in about 7 minutes.  Remember to give the nuts a stir or two and keep your eye on their progress.  Depending on your heat, they can go from fragrant to burnt quickly :(

3.  I used honey rather than maple syrup this time around.  So many reasons to make this again!!
4.  The heated mixture goes into the prepared pan easily and was fairly easy to spread with an offset spatula.
5.  I used a 9-inch square pan.  After spreading the fudge into the pan, I refrigerated for about 3-4 hours before lifting out and slicing.

Slightly Healthy Salted Oat Fudge
(mentor recipe here)
Yield: 3 dozen, but dependent upon size of cut

3/4 cup natural ground peanut butter
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup honey
4 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cups of oats, ground into flour
1 cup pecans or other nuts, chopped up a bit or whole
Flaky sea salt for sprinkling on the top (optional)

Directions

1.  Toast your pecans, using either the method noted above or in the mentor recipe.
2.  After toasting, spread the nuts on a cutting board and allow to cool.  Then chop into small pieces.

3.  Prepare your square baking pan.  Cut two strips of parchment paper to fit across the bottom of the pan with enough extra length to be able to fold the strips up the sides.  These will help lift the fudge out of the pan.

4.  Prepare your oat flour, if necessary.  Place the oats into a processor and blend until you have a fine flour.

5.  Prepare the fudge.  In a medium-sized sauce pan, combine the peanut butter, chocolate chips, honey, butter, and cinnamon.  Stir until the mixture is melted and thoroughly combined.  Remove pot from heat.

6.  Stir the vanilla extract into the pot.
7.  Then add the oat flour and stir.
8.  Add in the toasted and chopped nuts.  Stir.  The mixture will be thick by now.

9.  Drop the fudge into your prepared baking pan.  Use an offset spatula to move the fudge across the pan to level it.  If you wish, sprinkle the top with some flakes of sea salt.

10. Cover with saran and chill a couple hours or longer.
11. When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator, lift fudge out of pan, and place on a cutting board.
12. Use a chef's knife (or one with some blade length) to slice the fudge into rows and columns according to your size needs.  Mine were about 1" x 1.5" rectangles.
13.  Leftovers keep nicely in the refrigerator for a week (or longer).  They can be eaten cold or allowed to come to room temperature.  Either way, they are a keeper!

Chocolate-covered Peanut Butter Crisps

Never in a million years would I have attempted to make something sweet like this...but as you know, you must try those very behaviors you believe you cannot do.  My recent effort at candy-making was not as unpleasant as I thought.  Though a bit messy, the process was not so difficult or time-consuming.  However, the yield was smaller as compared to other sweets I prepare, so this might be something you do when the occasion is special.

Bottom line?  These candies are nothing more than a mix of sweetened peanut butter and rice cereal dipped in melted chocolate and adorned with whatever sprinkles you have.  Think you want to give it a try?  C'mon, I'll walk you through the steps!

Notes

1.  I am no authority on chocolate tempering, but I do know that if chocolate is tempered, the chocolate molecules align in such a way to produce a smooth and glossy look to candy and provide a  snap when bitten. That sounds appealing!

2.  I read about the 'seeding method" of tempering chocolate here.  This article helped me to understand that I didn't need to use a thermometer to reach the precise temperature that tempered chocolate must be and remain.  I would recommend that you take a look at it.

3. I believe you have some 'wiggle room' in this whole melting process.  Confession:  I did not use a water bath to melt my chocolate; rather, I microwaved in short spurts of time (more later).

4.  I used a toothpick to assist in covering the peanut butter crisps.  Using a fork was cumbersome for me.  But, inexpensive dipping tools abound, like this one for example.  Note to self:  Make a purchase.

5.  There were some hours between the time the peanut butter crisps were chilling and when the chocolate-dipping began.  So don't worry... there is time to accomplish other tasks while waiting on the crisps to firm up.

Chocolate-covered Peanut Butter Crisps
(mentor recipe here)
Yield: around 30, depending on size

For the peanut butter crisps:

1/4 cup butter ( I used salted)
1 and 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 and 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup smooth peanut butter (I used homemade)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the chocolate coat:

12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Directions

1.  Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.  In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the vanilla and peanut butter.  Cook until peanut butter melts.

3.  Into a large bowl, measure the sugar and the rice cereal and pour this this over the peanut butter mixture.  Mix until uniform.

4.  Take teaspoon-sized amounts of the mixture and roll between your palms to make balls.  If the mixture is very sticky, wet your hands with water first.

5.  Place the peanut butter balls onto the prepared baking sheet.  Note:  If room is scant in your refrigerator, you can lay the balls on a dinner plate (maybe lightly sprayed with vegetable oil).  They can be nearly touching here as they're just going to firm up.

6.  Place baking sheet/plate into the refrigerator for a couple hours.

7.  When ready to coat, place the chocolate chips and the vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds and remove bowl.  Stir.  Try another 30 second interval.  Remove the bowl and stir.  It's good to melt the remaining chocolate while stirring rather than microwaving too much and scorching the chocolate. Maybe try a 15-second interval.

8.  When your stirring has melted all the chocolate, you are ready to proceed!

9.  Remove the peanut butter balls from the refrigerator.  Prepare your set-up:  Have the baking sheet, melted chocolate, some paper towels, a fork, a spoon, a toothpick, (maybe you have those fancy chocolate-dipping utensils) ready.

10.  Pick up one peanut butter ball.  Place it on the fork and dip it into the chocolate.  Maybe you will use the spoon to drizzle chocolate over the ball.  Maybe you will use a toothpick to spear the ball, set it into the chocolate and use the spoon to drizzle.  There is really no right or wrong way to coat each ball with chocolate.

11.  Be sure to let the excess drip off back into the bowl.  Set the coated ball down onto the parchment lined baking sheet.  Decorate and repeat with all the remaining balls.

12.  To set the chocolate, place the baking sheet/plate back into the refrigerator for an hour or so and then...Have at it!!!  Yummm....

13.  If necessary, leftover candies can be chilled in a covered container.  I totally understand the need to sample one (or more) each time you open the refrigerator door...they are tough to ignore :)

Buttermilk Pecan Fudge

I wonder why I don't chase down fudge more often.  As far as sweetness goes, it's right down my alley.  It has a great mouth feel, comes in many flavors, and those tiny squares?  Well, they're just my size!  So why am I not making fudge...ever?

Back in my day, fudge was an occasional family treat at holiday time or purchased when my family vacationed in Ocean City, NJ.  Each summer, we couldn't wait to take ourselves and our little wallets to Morrow's Nut House on the Boardwalk.  After spending some good-ole-time searching for new flavors of saltwater taffy, chocolate confections, or macaroons, we often decided on all of the former with a side of fudge! I am extrapolating from this vintage data to explain why I don't regularly seek out fudge.  It's history was intermittent for me. However, you should know that I don't envision fudge as mainstream or ordinary.  It is nothing short of being stellar.

Okay, stories aside, I don't think I have ever made fudge...but if I have, it was back when glaciers blanketed the lower 48, and I would have made the no-cook kind.  You too?  Well, in this post, I branched out in many directions.  I cooked sugar to the soft-ball stage and went wild using buttermilk.  And let me tell you a thing or two...the results were so luscious, so incredibly captivating that I am almost embarrassed to tell you that I feel like I could fit quite well in confectionary school right now.

The essence of fudge: Sugar, butter, honey, buttermilk, kosher salt

This recipe comes from Bon Appetit and is easier to create than you might think.  The ingredients are few, and though it does take some time, it's not 'hovering' time.  You will be free to attend to other tasks that don't take you too far from your kitchen.

Notes:

1.  I do not own a clip-on candy thermometer (could this explain why I never made fudge?), but I own a thermometer that holds itself in the pan by the head (see pic below).  I would recommend purchasing a candy thermometer that hooks onto your pan so there are no accidental splashes, if you get my drift.  Remember this mixture gets very hot!
2.  I toasted my pecans in a skillet on the stovetop rather than using the oven.  It is summer, after all.
3.  I used whole pecans.  With a coarse chopping, the profile of the pecan in the cut fudge is stunning.  If you use smaller pecan pieces to begin with, know that the look will be somewhat different... either way is fine :)
3.  I wondered if I was doing something wrong in the heating of the sugar mixture to soft-ball stage.  The original recipe stated this would take 6-8 minutes.  In my kitchen that time was tripled!  After about 25 minutes the soft ball stage temperature (238º F) was reached.  Now you understand why you can do a few kitchen-y things along the way.
4.  Though I should have done some research before I began this candy-making adventure, I did not.  However, after the fudge was made (and sampled...yum...), I was curious about the science of cooking sugar.  I found some useful information here.

Buttermilk Pecan Fudge

1 cup whole pecans
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (I used salted), cut into pieces
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Flaky sea salt (don't skimp on this...it takes the fudge over the edge)

Directions

1.  Line your loaf pan with parchment paper.  The two longer sides should have parchment excess so it's easy to pull the cooled loaf out without breaking.
2.  Place your pecans in a small skillet and toast them until fragrant and just turning color, as below.  These took between 5-8 minutes.  Remove from burner and allow to cool.  Chop coarsely.

3.  Place the sugar, buttermilk, butter, honey, and kosher salt into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until everything is liquified, about 5 minutes or so.
4.  Clip the thermometer onto pan and, adjusting heat, bring ingredients to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally until the thermometer reaches soft-ball stage (238ºF on your thermometer).  This may take awhile...perhaps close to one-half hour.  The mixture will have changed to a golden color and smell of toffee.  Below, the thermometer registers around 200ºF.

5.  Remove mixture from heat, and immediately pour into the bowl of your electric mixer.
6.  With your mixer on medium-high speed, beat the fudge until cool and thickened, 5-8 minutes.  The two photos below show how the color, thickness, and shiny-ness changed over a few minutes.  The photo on the right is nearly done.  Notice it is stiff and matte.

7.  With a spatula, fold in the cooled pecan pieces.
8.  Scrape the fudge into the prepared pan.  Smooth the top with your fingers or a spatula.
9.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Let sit for at least an hour before lifting out of the pan and cutting.

10. Prepare to be dazzled and/or speechless.
12. Store tightly wrapped leftovers at room temperature or chilled.