I was scrolling through some photographs from my family’s Christmas festivities in 2019 when I found a few snapshots of a recipe I used for the first time. The recipe was for Easy Fudge Bites, a batch of rich and indulgent chocolate truffles from Martha Stewart Living magazine. The memory of making these fudge truffles rebooted! I remember spending Christmas Eve melting and cooling a dark chocolate mixture before forming them into balls in a variety of coatings.
As much as I admire the work of the legendary Martha Stewart, I often find her recipes intimidating. Maybe I’m too quick to write them off as fancy and time-consuming. After reading the list of ingredients, instructions, and of course, the name (Easy Fudge Bites — I mean, hello?), I knew I was capable of bringing the chocolate concoction to my family’s dessert table. If I can do it, trust me, you can too!
In the magazine, Martha Stewart incorporated coating ingredients like pistachios, but you can use whatever you like to give the fudge extra flavor. I used four different toppings to suit my tastes: crushed peppermints, cocoa powder, freeze-dried strawberries, and powdered sugar. The powdered sugar looked amazing at first but after a day, it looked dissolved and glazed. The winning flavor in my family was the cocoa powder! After rolling each “bite” in a topping, I placed them in individual mini muffin cups in a decorative container.
Check out the pictures below along with the recipe!
Easy Fudge Truffles
Equipment
- 9×9 inch cake pan
- parchment paper
- mini muffin cup liners (optional)
- saucepan
- rubber gloves
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 4 tbsp Unsalted butter
- 3 cups mini marshmallows (6 oz)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 oz bittersweet chocolate
- chopped peppermint, dried fruit, nuts, etc.
Instructions
- Lightly spray pan with cooking spray. Line with 2 crisscrossed pieces of parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang. Spray parchment.
- In a saucepan, combine butter, marshmallows, sugar, milk, and salt. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until marshmallows have melted, 6-7 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate until melted. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Let cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- Using an overhang, lift fudge onto cutting board; cut into 1-inch squares. With gloved hands, to prevent fudge from becoming too slippery and messy, roll into balls (if mixture is very cold, it may crumble a bit – just let it warm slightly first), then roll in desired toppings as you go.
- Refrigerate until firm for 1 hour, or store in refrigerator in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet wrapped in plastic for up to 3 days.
Notes
I know 2020 hasn’t been easy for the majority of us and we may not be feeling so jolly right now. I completely understand if you’re not in the mood to cook or bake or do any sort of yuletide celebrating at all due to the limitations bestowed upon us by the pandemic. So even if your usual Christmas plans are squashed by what’s going on, I recommend finding some way to treat yourself this season. I’m not saying you have to make these fudge bites, but if you’re in the mood for chocolate…
Well, maybe I am saying!
Wishing you a safe, healthy, and merry Christmas.
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