White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge Candies

Two sweets that immediately pop into my mind in the wintertime are starlight mints and fudge.  I smile thinking about my Grammy rummaging through her purse for those red and white mints, or her stuffing some in my pockets from one of her (many) candy dishes.  My siblings and I made a batch of fudge with my gram every winter, it was always a day long affair and ended with everyone scrapping the leftovers out of the pan with spoons!  This winter I wanted to make something that would combine the two wintertime memories with my Grandma while at the same time exploring something new.   I tried out a recipe for white chocolate fudge and added some peppermint extract and a creative twist for a minty treat full of sweet winter memories.

You will Need:
One recipe White Chocolate Fudge
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
circular cutter
royal icing
ribbon
plastic wrappers

Combine the butter, salt, sugar, and sour cream in a heavy bottomed medium saucepan.

Place over medium high heat and stir until the butter and sugar melt. Continue to cook while stirring frequently until it comes to a boil. Once boiling, cook for 5 minutes. You must stir rapidly to prevent scorching. (You can see one side of my pan scorched slightly while i was taking a picture).

Remove the pan from the heat and add the white chocolate chips and fluff.  Stir until everything is melted and incorporated.

Stir in about 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract as well as the vanilla extract in the original recipe.  You could also fold in some candy cane crumbles for extra peppermint flavor.  I only added the extract because I wanted a smoother final product. 

Stir the fudge only until the ingredients are melted and combined.  Place over heat briefly if the chocolate chips aren't fully melted.  If you stir for too long, the fudge will begin to set up and be hard to transfer to the final pan.

 Pour into an 8 X 8 pan lined with foil and sprayed with non stick cooking spray.  Smooth into an even layer.

Once the fudge has completely cooled, cut into shapes.  Instead of cutting the fudge into squares per usual, I decided to use a circular cutter to cut it into rounds.  This wastes a small amount of the fudge (you can eat the scraps!); however, it is fun to have the fudge in a shape other than the usual square. 

I had some extra royal icing in the fridge so I dyed it red and put a quick swirl on the top of each fudge round to mimic the look of mint candies.

To finish off the fudge in a special way, I simply wrapped them in plastic and secured both ends with a small piece of ribbon. 

This simple fudge recipe was turned into a special treat with just a few extra touches.  I hope you have fun making these peppermint fudge candies, or using this recipe and adding your own interesting twist!