Walnut Fudge
When I love a product, I am possibly the most loyal consumer in the world. I use it so frequently it becomes second nature. Oh! Nuts is my GO TO source for nuts. Period. People who aren’t as nuts for nuts as I am may say, “A nut’s a nut,” but I beg to differ. I love everything about Oh! Nuts – from the website to the packaging. The entire experience of shopping, ordering, and receiving is a joy and no one will ever convince me that the nuts don’t taste and even LOOK better than all other nuts.
They recently sent me a few bags of nuts to use in holiday recipes and, even though it’s just the middle of November, I’ve already taken a few “test drives.” The recipe below is for my favorite Walnut Chocolate Fudge – made with Oh! Nuts sensational walnuts.
Best Walnut Chocolate Fudge
Yield: 45 pieces of the best fudge you ever ate
2 cups sugar
3/4 Cups milk
2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate (cut up)
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 – 3/4 cups Oh! Nuts walnuts, chopped (or, if you’re extra clever, buy their Chopped Walnuts and save yourself a little trouble)
- Lin a 9x5x3 inch pan with foil (or buy a disposable tin pan). Extend the foil over the edges and butter the bottom and sides.
- Butter the sides of a heavy 2 Qt saucepan. Combine the sugar, milk, chocolate, and corn syrup in the buttered saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, being careful not to splash any on the sides of the pan. After about 5 minutes, the sugar should be dissolved – this is when you want to clip on your Candy Thermometer
on the inside of the pan. Make sure the bulb on the end is fully immersed in the chocolate mixture, but don’t let it touch the bottom of the pan.
- Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until the candy thermometer registers 234 degrees (the “soft ball stage”). You want the mixture to boil at a moderate but steady rate across the top. Reaching the “soft ball stage” usually takes between 20 and 25 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the 2 tablespoons of butter and vanilla extract. DO NOT STIR. Cool – without stirring – to 110 degrees on your candy thermometer. This usually takes just under an hour, between 50 and 55 minutes.
- Remove the candy thermometer from the pan. Beat the mixture vigorously with the wooden spoon until the fudge begins to thicken. Now add the walnuts. Continue beating with your wooden spoon until the fudge becomes very thick and begins to lose its shiny gloss (about 7 minutes total).
- Quickly pour (more like plop) the fudge into your buttered pan and, while the fudge is still warm, score it into 1 inch squares. When candy is firm, use the foil to lift it out of the pan and cut into squares.
- Store tightly covered.
