Nestle Very Best Fudge

So far, I'm 0 for 2 for trick-or-treaters on Halloween. This year's reason for no visitors was your typical Seattle reason: rain. And lots of it. I'm talking torrential downpour all. day. So of course no one went out trick-or-treating. So I did the same thing I did last year: pulled out the Snickers bars for my dad and started searching for recipes that use either Twix, Milky Way, or M&Ms. I decided to stick with M&Ms since I used the other two last year.

The decision for what to make turned out to be easier than I was expecting it to be. I had in my pantry a can of Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk, purchased with canned pumpkin (which I used for the muffins) and a coupon. So I went to the Nestle recipes site and started searching for recipes that used evaporated milk. I decided to focus on fudge since I could easily add M&Ms to them instead of nuts. I ended up only having one option, though, since my can of milk was a 12 oz (either because of coupon restrictions or because it was the only size I found) and just about all the other recipes called for a 5 oz can.

Nestle Very Best Fudge (source)

Ingredients

• 3 cups granulated sugar
  
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• 4 cups (24 oz.) or two 12 oz. pkgs. NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels*
• 1 cup chopped DIAMOND OF CALIFORNIA® pecans or walnuts (optional) (this is what I substituted the M&Ms for. The amount ended up being the same)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. LINE 13 x 9-inch baking pan or two 8-inch-square baking pans with foil.
2. COMBINE sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in 4- to 5-quart heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. STIR in marshmallows, morsels, nuts/M&MS and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared pan(s). Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into pieces. Store tightly covered in refrigerator. Makes about 4 pounds. (I pulled the pan out of the fridge for a few hours to make the fudge easier to cut. Ended up leaving it out for too long so the fudge was really soft and mushy)

*FOR MILK CHOCOLATE FUDGE: (this is the one I did)

SUBSTITUTE 3 1/2 cups (23 oz.) or 2 packages (11.5 oz. each) NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels for Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels.

*FOR BUTTERSCOTCH FUDGE:

SUBSTITUTE 3 1/3 cups (22 oz.) or 2 packages (11-oz. each) NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels for Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels.

*FOR PEANUTTY CHOCOLATE FUDGE:

SUBSTITUTE 3 1/3 cups (22 oz.) or 2 packages (11-oz. each) NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Morsels for Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels and 1/2 cup chopped peanuts for pecans or walnuts.

Despite the fact that about half was left over (we did have two pies and two types of cookies...), the fudge was a hit. Auntie Vicki took some home and when she tried a piece later, she called me to say that they were to-die-for. My mom messaged me on Friday night to say that she needed some fudge (which I had just put in the freezer to save for Christmas).

See, like I said - just the right amount