The Easiest Best Fudge Ever I Trail Cooking

Yeah, yeah….I get it. It is January 15th and I should still be posting recipes about kale & quinoa. Or the dinner I made last night which was a meatloaf enrobed over a head of cauliflower….but I digress, Trailcooking has never been about eating healthy. One has to balance that out with a bit of the bad stuff. And fudge is one of the best trail treats you might ever have. It is solid fat and sugar, and it carries well in winter. A piece of it before bed will keep you warmer for hours.

And more so, the kids are stuck at home with me this week as Ice-A-Gedom goes on outside on the island. I had promised the neighbor girl we’d make fudge, so yesterday we did.

Now go get your fat pants on……

The Easiest Best Fudge Ever

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
½ tsp kosher or fine sea salt
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup heavy cream
1¾ cups miniature marshmallows
1½ cups chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, or mint chips (use the whole bag)
½ tsp vanilla, almond, peppermint or other flavored extracts

Directions:

Combine sugar, salt, butter, cream and marshmallows in a heavy medium saucepan. Set over medium heat, cook, stirring until butter and marshmallows are almost melted. That will take about 5-6 minutes. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, lowering heat as needed so it doesn’t splatter.

Take off burner. Add chips and flavoring to pan. Start stirring and keep that going until all the chips are melted and it looks all nicely mixed.

Pour into a lined pan*. Let sit for 3 hours (or 1 in the fridge) before you take out of the pan. Cut into portions and wrap up to keep fresh. Store chilled until trail time.

Notes:

I love making fudge for backpacking trips. It is great for group trips. It is sweet, high in fat, easy to carry, and almost everybody loves fudge.

*All our fudge recipes are molded into an 8×8″ pan that is lined with parchment paper (butter the pan first and the paper will stay in place when pouring) or use plastic wrap to line pan. A 9×5″ bread pan also works.

Refrigerate after pouring, then pop out, take off paper or peel back plastic wrap. Trim the fudge (eat them scraps of course!), wrap in 2 layers of plastic wrap, then put it in a gallon storage bag for carrying. Most fudge will do fine up into the mid to high 60’s for temps. Fudge made at home should be eaten within a week or less. It does not have preservatives in it, as commercial items would.