1 cup vanilla wafers
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup bourbon
1 cup chopped pecans
Unsweetened cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar, for coating

Combine the crumbs,sugar,1/4 cup cocoa powder, corn syrup and bourbon in a food processor or with an electric mixer. Blend until thoroughly mixed. Then, using a spoon, stir in the pecans. Roll tablespoons of the mixture to form small truffle-sized balls. Roll the bourbon balls in the cocoa to coat them. Just before serving, lightly sprinkle the balls with confectioners’sugar, using a strainer or shaker.

Makes about 117

1/2 cup butter or margerine
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
12 large marshmallows
dash of salt
1 (6 ounce) package cherry chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups finely chopped peanuts
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Combine butter or margerine, sugar, evaporated milk, marshmallows, and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil, and boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cherry chips and vanilla, stirring until well blended. Pour into a buttered 13 x 9-inch baking pan and chill for 2 hours. Melt hocolate chips and add the chopped peanuts and peanut butter. Stir until well blended. Spread evenly over the top of the first layer. Chill until firm, then cut into bite-size size squares.

Note: Posted by “Carol in Las Vegas” to the now-defunct Holiday Cookie Club at Epicurious.com.

2 pounds white confectionary coating (chopped)
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups rice krispies
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Melt the confectionary coating in the microwave stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Stir the peanut butter into the melted chocolate. Combine the rice krispies, peanuts and marshmallows. Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the cereal mixture and stir. Drop large spoonfuls into cupcake papers and chill.

Note: Submitted by Candy Cudnohowski.

Commonly known as Peanut Butter Balls. Recipe can easily be halved or quartered. Paraffin wax can be omitted but it will be a little more difficult to dip the balls without it.

2 lbs. Peanut butter
1 pound butter
3 pounds powdered sugar
two 12-ounce packages of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Use a high quality chocolate.
1/2 of one bar of paraffin wax
toothpicks for dipping
waxed paper

Place wax paper onto cookie sheets and set aside. Cream peanut butter and butter until combined. Add sugar a little at a time. Make sure it is mixed well. Roll peanut butter mixture into approximately 400 1-inch diameter balls. Insert one tooth pick into each small peanut butter ball. Set all of them aside. Melt chocolate and paraffin (parafin helps the chocolate become shiny when it cools) in a double boiler. Be careful not to over-heat the chocolate. Dip the ball into the chocolate so as to ALMOST cover the entire ball. Leave small portion of ball uncoated. Let cool on waxed paper. Store in a cool place.

Note: This recipe makes 400 cookies. Halve or quarter the recipe if you can’t eat that many!

Makes about 30

1/3 cup 35% cream
11 ounces white chocolate, chopped very fine
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 to 2/3 cups grilled macadamia nuts, chopped very fine
30 to 35 grilled macadamia nuts, whole

In a small heavy saucepan, heat the butter almost until boiling (do not boil). Remove from heat and stir in white chocolate. Let sit for 2 minutes, then stir with a wire whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in butter; mix well. Pour mixture into a bowl and refrigerate 1 hour or until mixture is firm but malleable. Place chopped macadamia nuts in a small bowl; set aside. Measure out 1 teaspoon of chocolate mixture and cover a macadamia nut completely with this mixture. Roll in chopped nuts, then place in a paper candy cup. Repeat until all truffles are made. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Remove from refrigerator 20 minutes before serving.

Note: Translated from the French from “Le Guide Cuisine” magazine.

Makes about 30

1/3 cup blueberry jam
1/3 cup 35% cream
11 ounces white chocolate, chopped very fine
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 to 2/3 cups grilled macadamia nuts, chopped very fine

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Drop small 1/2-teaspoon mounds of blueberry jam onto waxed paper. You will need about 30 mounds. Freeze for 2 hours or until very firm.

In a small heavy saucepan, heat the cream almost until boiling (do not boil). Remove from heat and stir in white chocolate. Let sit for 2 minutes, then stir with a wire whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in butter; mix well. Pour mixture into a bowl and refrigerate 1 hour or until mixture is firm but malleable.

Take about 1 teaspoon of chocolate mixture and flatten it into a 2-inch disk in the palm of your hand. Place a frozen blueberry jam mound in the center of the chocolate and cover it completely with the chocolate. Roll in chopped nuts, then place in a paper candy cup. Repeat until all truffles are made. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Remove from refrigerator 20 minutes before serving.

1/2 lb Velveeta cheese
2 lbs powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter

Melt first 3 ingredients together in microwave. Add remaining ingredients. Knead like bread dough until you can no longer see the sugar. Roll candy with a glass. Spread into greased pan. Refrigerate until set. Cut and enjoy!

Traditional Armenian (and Turkish) Christmas treat. In Armenia they usually leave it white while in Turkey they more often add the food coloring. Also called Lookoom.

3 cups granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons white corn syrup
3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon of rose water (or vanilla)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachio nuts
powdered sugar
red or green food coloring (optional)

Combine granulated sugar with water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan and boil until it reaches 240 F on a candy thermometer or soft ball stage. Keep hot. In a small bowl, soften the geletin in the lemon juice. Set aside. In another small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 1/2 cup of cold water, the pour it into the hot syrup. Stir gently and simmer slowly until very thick. Remove from heat, add gelatin and lemon juice and stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in rose water or vanilla, nuts and 2 to 3 drops food coloring if desired. Sprinkle a generous layer of powdered sugar in an 8-inch sqare pan. Pour in mixture and let set in a cool dry place (the refrigerator is too humid) for 3 or 4 hours or until set. Sprinkle with another layer of powdered sugar and cut into 1-inch squares. Dredge each square in powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container.

Note: Adapted from a recipe in the book “Visions of Sugarplums” by Mimi Sheraton.

1 cup butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3 tablespoons water
1 cup coarsely chopped blanched almonds, toasted
4 4-1/2-ounce bars milk chocolate, melted
1 cup finely chopped blanched almonds, toasted

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, to hard-crack stage (300 F on your candy thermometer) - watch carefully after temperature reaches 280 F. Quickly stir in coarsely chopped nuts; spread in well-greased 13×9 inch pan. Cool thoroughly. Turn out on waxed paper; spread top with half the melted chocolate; sprinkle with half the finely chopped nuts. Cover with waxed paper; invert; spread again with remaining chocolate. Sprinkle top with remaining nuts. If necessary, chill to firm chocolate. Break into pieces.

(c) 1997-8 T. P. Skaarup, original recipe. May be copied unaltered. All rights reserved.

This is a medium chocolate potato fudge with creamy texture. Change the chips to get different flavor variations.

4 tbsp Butter (half stick)
2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Corn Syrup
5 oz Evaporated milk
1 cup Instant Potatoes (see below for other Potato Preparations)
1/4 tsp Salt
6 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (1 cup or half a bag)
1 tsp Vanilla

Directions:

Line a 9″ x 9″ pan with aluminum foil and set aside. Prepare the potato concoction and set aside.

Heat milk at Medium setting until warm then add sugar, salt, and corn syrup. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Continue to boil for about [5] full minutes then add the potato preparation (see below), mix. Bring back to a boil for [3] full minutes -or- if using a candy thermometer continue boiling until the boiling temperature reaches 234°F. [Total of 8 minutes of boiling or until 234°F is reached.]

Remove from heat and stir remaining butter and chocolate chips. Stir in vanilla.

Mix thoroughly and cast into prepared pan. Cool at room temperature. Remove from pan, remove foil, cut into squares.

Preparation of the Potato
This recipe calls for 1 cup of instant potatoes. However, if you add these dried spuds to the boiling mixture the instant potatoes will not be dissolved by the small amount of moisture in the sugar syrup… but if you add water the fudge can fail. So this is how I prepare the potatoes for addition to the boiling sugar mixture:

Instant Potatoes - In a glass measuring cup I add the dried potato flakes, half the butter, and a small amount of milk. I then microwave until warm, stir, and add very, very small amounts of milk until the instant potatoes are creamy. Use the least amount of milk necessary to dissolve the dried potatoes. The new volume will be smaller than 1 cup.
Mashed Potatoes - If you have mashed potatoes (leftovers or sold frozen in a bag), bring 3/4 cup to room temperature, add half the butter, and heat in the microwave until creamy.

Raw Potatoes - Take one medium sized potato, remove the skin, and place in a pot of boiling water for 15-20 minutes. Remove, drain the water, let cook somewhat then mash with a fork. Take about 3/4 cup of the freshly mashed potatoes, add half the required butter, and cream.

Baked Potatoes - One quick and easy way to get sufficient potato is to buy a baked potato (e.g. Wendy’s Sour Cream & Chive potato - ask to hold the sour cream & chive, butter on the side). Dig out the insides of the potato until you have about 3/4 cups worth. Add half the required butter, and cream.

Creaming the mixture is important if you don’t want little goobers of potato to pop up in the fudge.

Flavor Variations
Different chips may be substituted for the semi-sweet chocolate chips. This recipe has a richer taste with Milk Chocolate Chips (my opinion). White Chips may also be used. Butterscotch chips? Peanut Butter? The possibilities are endless.

Some Discussion
From this website you’ve learned that “water is the enemy of fudge.” Adding potatoes brings water with it. If you just added dried instant potatoes, the fudge would set wonderfully, but you’d also have a fair amount of undissolved potato flakes. If you use boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, or baked potatoes then you’re bringing additional water to the sugar solution which could destroy the fudge. For this reason, I have you add the potato mixture a little after half the boil… to help release the water and evaporate it away. Using a candy thermometer is probably best for this recipe since you (and I) can’t control the amount of potato water brought to the fudge. The Boiling Point method (thermometer) doesn’t care and will tell you when to stop.

REMARK: This makes a firm chocolate fudge which is sweet, salty, and has a noticeable flavor of potatoes. I liked it, my kids liked it… my wife shook her head and didn’t want seconds. This fudge, afterall, will taste a little like potatoes. If you don’t like potatoes, you probably won’t like potato fudge. It IS a unique experience. I balk however at using Peanut Butter chips.