All righty... these are so much fun to make and easy, peasy! More great gifts that the kids will be so tickled to give with a big grin and "look what I made!"
You can pull out your own favorites fudge recipe but I've got a "Peppermint Fudge" recipe here for you that looks soooooo festive and tastes yummy... Does this sound like Christmas or what? Just imagine "this fudge" in the cookie cutters at the top of the post... pretty cool, huh? Let's get started... first of all buy Christmas cookie cutters... they are on sale every where right now. You can even find some large copper ones at some of the dollar stores. Or, you can buy a couple dozen of different shapes and sizes too! And the plastic red and green ones look great too! So many choices :-)...
2 (10-ounce) packages vanilla baking chips
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract (add more if you want it more minty!)
1 1/2 cups crushed candy canes
Just a quick dash of red food coloring
Let the kids... Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray the inside of the cookie cutters with non-stick cooking spray. Line the cookie cutters up on the parchment paper and set aside.
Let the kids do the measuring and crushing of the candy canes (they love doing this)! Combine the vanilla chips and sweetened
condensed milk in a saucepan. We need the adult helper to cook over medium heat. Stir frequently until
almost melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. When chips
are completely melted, stir in the peppermint extract, food coloring, and
crushed candy canes.
Remove from heat and pour into the cookie cutters and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Now the kids can place the cookie cutters in plain or decorative Christmas cellophane bags and tie at the bottom.
If you use clear cello bags, let the kids decorate them with Christmas stickers... again, I encourage you to let the kids use their imagination and creativity... ALWAYS!
Merry, Merry!
'Tis the Season to Get Kids Cooking,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach
