Something about this time of year makes all of the peppermint flavored everything just scream for my attention. I've eaten almost an entire tray of peppermint fudge in the last 5 days. I just feel this need for it. This happens every year, though. I never liked peppermint-anything until Christmas 2010 when I had a peppermint brownie at an army Christmas party and life has never been the same.
We're having an ice cream cake on Christmas because: 1. Holidays by yourself mean you do what you want. 2. I've had this ice cream cake in the back of my head for 2 years and there's no better time than Christmas for it.
I want to share the hot fudge I'm using for the ice cream cake today though. In case you need something to eat with a spoon while you're making your Christmas preparations.
I first made it using an Our Best Bites recipe 4 years ago and it was perfect for a homemade Christmas gift. Put it in a little mason jar and tie with a ribbon. I tweaked the recipe a bit for my purposes this year and it is so incredibly easy to make that you have absolutely no excuse for buying hot fudge anymore. This is probably cheaper too. I almost always have these ingredients on hand. Really, you have no excuse not to give this a try!
Peppermint Hot Fudge
makes about 2 cups
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 T. butter
3/4 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. peppermint extract
Mix everything together in a saucepan and stir over low heat until it's melted and combined.
Or you can put it in a Little Dipper and stir every so often while it's melting. Perfect for a fondue!
