Vanilla Peppermint Fudge

 

How can you go wrong with peppermint + fudge + chocolate? You really can't. 

 

Slightly Adapted from: A Night Owl

Servings: 4 dozen + squares

 

for the crust:

• • 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs*
  • 3 tbsp. butter, melted 

for the fudge:

• • 3 cups white chocolate chips
  • 2 tbsp. butter
  • 14.5 oz. sweetened condensed milk
  • 3.5 oz. box vanilla instant pudding
  • 7 oz. marshmallow creme
  • ¾ tsp. peppermint extract

for the topping:

• • 3 candy canes, crushed
  • holiday colored sprinkles

 

1. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. 

2. Scrape off the filling of approximately 14 Oreo cookies. Place the cookies into a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Measure the cookie crumbs to be 1 cup then transfer to a medium bowl. Pour the melted butter on top and stir until crumbs are moist. 

3. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Use a flat bottomed glass to press firmly. Freeze for 10 minutes. 

4. In a large saucepan, combine the white chocolate chips, butter and sweetened condensed milk. Heat over medium and stir constantly until melted and smooth. Stir in the pudding mix and then the marshmallow creme. When fully combined, stir in the peppermint extract. 

5. Remove from the heat and immediately pour on top of the cookie crumbles. Garnish with the crushed candy canes and sprinkles, pressing down gently to ensure they adhere to the fudge. 

6. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours but up to overnight. Lift the fudge from the pan using the edges of the parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to cut 7 rows, then rotate the fudge and repeat, making 49 squares.

 

 

Delicious! The original recipe calls for double the amount of cookie bottom but most of mine fell off. I don't think the cookie to butter ratio was correct so I reduced it to make a thinner bottom that should adhere better. Peppermint extract is really strong so if you aren't a fan, you may want to reduce down to ½ tsp. of extract. The original recipe called for a full teaspoon and I opted to just slightly reduce that. The peppermint flavor comes through really well in the fudge. If you're able to find it, you could also use white chocolate pudding mix.