Fannie May Fudge-Homemade and the Recipe

    If any of you have been to or lived in Chicago or the suburbs you will have heard of Fannie May fudge. I just checked online to see if they were still in business-they are and this year they are celebrating their 100th birthday. Here is a link to the site-with their story and history and they are having a giveaway as well

  Back in the day when I was growing up as a kid and into my 20's a trip to Chicago at Christmas time was a Magical experience and along with roasted chestnuts on the street corners a box of Fannie May fudge came home with us.

  Another recipe from my husband's cousin Janice-about 40 years ago now-was her recipe for Fannie May type fudge. It's simple to make, sooooo creamy and delicious and it makes 5 pounds-you just spread it out on a 1 inch deep cookie sheet. Refrigerator til set.

   Over the years I have changed up the chocolates to mostly dark chocolates, sometimes if I can find them I would add in mint chocolate chips to the batch.  This sets up in the refrigerator over nite-and then you cut into the size pieces you want and I layer the fudge with parchment paper between layers in tins or plastic storage containers, and then freeze. This is a fudge that needs to be stored in the refrigerator or the freezer-and then take out what you need and it will soften up in a bit. Or it's a yummy bite frozen as well. 😀

   I had everything I needed for the recipe except the marshmallows so I got those and a bottle of brandy for the next batch of fruitcakes when I needed to go to town this morning.  Note: my gluten free version turned out really nice-I used half Bob's Red Mill 1-1 gluten free flour blend and almond flour and was happy it baked up well.

   Not sure why I decided to make this fudge today-haven't for several years now but with all the stress going on in our nation right now, Christmas doings makes me happy. and I like to have treats around for the holidays in case we should get a visitor.  This batch for us usually lasts about a year or more in the freezer. If packed air tight it can stay in the freezer a little over a year without freezer burn.

Fannie May Type Fudge from Larry's cousin Janice

4 cups sugar

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

25 large good quality marshmallows cut up in 1/4's

1 cup butter

1 (13 ounce) Hershey's milk chocolate bar cut up

1 (12 ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips

2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

Optional 1 cup nuts or other stir ins of choice.

Mix milk, sugar, vanilla, and butter into a large heavy sauce pan. Stir to dissolve and when it comes to a boil-boil for 2 minutes.

Take off of the heat and add the marshmallows and stir until melted. then quickly in small amounts add in the chocolates stirring til melted after each addition. Stir in nuts if using.

Pour into  greased (I use the butter wrappers) 1 inch deep cookie sheet 12" x 16" 

Place in the refrigerator til set and then cut to the size you want-layer in air tight storage containers with parchment paper or wax paper and store in freezer for long term, or short term in the refrigerator.

  To serve the fudge,  bring the amount of fudge needed to room temperature a bit  before serving. This fudge needs to be served soon as it will eventually get too soft-after a couple of hours.

   My recipe changes over the years:  I use half Splenda sweetener (I had thought of using the Keto sweeteners today for half of the sugar but those are a bit expensive for this) and half sugar-I usually use an organic sugar, for the milk I like to use a good quality almond milk (not a watered down brand) and for the chocolates-- mix them up to your liking just add up the ounces.   This is pretty fudge for serving at Christmas if you sprinkle crushed peppermint candies on top while it first sets. Use your creativity-sprinkled with salt would be nice too

Enjoy!!

Here is a photo looking into the refrigerator-I used all dark chocolates