When I first made this fudge, it was for Thanksgiving. I was in charge of one thing, dessert. I procrastinated, thinking it would be really easy to swing by Black Dog or Morning Glory and pick up a pie or cake to bring along. The errand would have been really easy, but I found my day filling up with work and other commitments, which turned my plans into, “I will just pick up a premade dessert at Stop & Shop,” since I had to go there for some other things. The clock was ticking as I circled around the parking lot, like other desperate shoppers trying to pick up last-minute items.
Once I got into the store, I navigated around the sea of people, carts, totes, and obstacles, trying to find something to put on the table as a finale to the feast to come. No offense to the bakery at the grocery store, but I couldn’t find anything I deemed good enough to put on the table. Slightly frustrated at myself for procrastinating, a package of Chips Ahoy! landed in my cart, and that’s what we were having. As I waited in line to check out, saddened by my dessert choice, I remembered a recipe I saw somewhere that was just chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. I was so excited I got out of the line to circle back around to the baking supplies to find what I needed.
On the shelf there were cans of sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk; since the evaporated milk was on sale, I grabbed a can of that. When I picked it up I noticed the liquid inside felt thin, which I am glad I noticed, because it turns out there is indeed a difference between the two, other than just the price. I racked my brain to remember which of the two the recipe called for and couldn’t, so I grabbed a can of sweetened condensed milk, the thicker of the two. I looped around to the chocolate chips, a bag of store-brand milk chocolate chips I thought would work best.
I made up the fudge that night. So simple, mixing the 11.5-ounce bag of milk chocolate chips with a 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, again for another 30, stir, then spoon it into two disposable containers lined with Saran Wrap. Sprinkling the top with chopped walnuts from my pantry as a final garnish, I put it in my fridge to chill for the next day. I think it would only take an hour or so to solidify, if you were in a time crunch.
After the Thanksgiving feast, I popped the fudge out of the containers, peeled off the Saran Wrap, and cut it up into squares. I had the bar set low for this, because it seemed too good to be true. I still had that package of Chips Ahoy! as backup. The fudge far surpassed my expectations, and I plan to make it again and again. Since I have a couple of holiday gatherings to attend, I want to try making one with semisweet chocolate chips, with those cute M&M Minis on top, and also one using white chocolate with candy canes.
