My partner’s mom makes peanut butter fudge on what seems like a weekly basis. I’m not sure how she can consume so much of it. She has a dedicated baking pan just for this fudge and there’s always a tub of it in the fridge.

But when I emailed her asking for the recipe, she didn’t know how to give it to me. Like most recipes of hers, she free-forms it, adding peanut butter until the batter “looks and feels” right.

It looked like I’d need to head into the kitchen and do some experimenting!

The one thing she did casually mention was that she uses marshmallows in her fudge, something I’d never thought about. When I make fudge, I often use the old-fashioned method, which requires cooking the sugar to a soft-ball stage of 238°F. It’s fussy and always put me off of making fudge.

But since the sugar in marshmallows has already been cooked and turned into a candy, using them to make fudge seems like an easy and totally acceptable cheat.

And easy it was! This peanut butter fudge recipe is a snap to make and super smooth. So easy that I’m fearful I’ll end up like her, making fudge on a weekly basis. I can feel my waistline expanding already.

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe

This fudge recipe uses marshmallows as an easy cheat in place of more elaborate candy-making.

Have your lined baking pan ready to go before you start and work fast once you remove the saucepan from the heat. As the fudge starts to cool, it can become difficult work with.

I use smooth peanut butter in this fudge, but if you prefer a little texture, feel free to use the same amount of chunky peanut butter in its place.

Ingredients
1/2 cup whole milk
6 regular-sized marshmallows (NOT mini or jumbo marshmallows, certified gluten-free if needed)
3/4 cup (150 g) white granulated sugar
3/4 cup (165 g) packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (420 g) smooth peanut butter

Equipment: 8-inch square baking pan

METHOD

1 Prepare the baking pan: Lightly spray an 8×8-inch baking pan with cooking oil. Line with parchment paper.

2 Warm the milk and marshmallows: Place the milk and the marshmallows in medium pan. Turn the heat to medium low and gently heat the milk. Stir constantly until the marshmallows have melted. If the milk starts to foam up too much, reduce the heat.

3 Stir in the sugars, followed by the remaining ingredients: Once the marshmallows have melted, add both sugars and continue to cook on medium low heat while stirring until the sugars have dissolved and the liquid is smooth. Add the vanilla, salt, and peanut butter. Stir until smooth and incorporated into the batter.

4 Pour the hot fudge into the prepared pan: Once the fudge batter is smooth and uniform, immediately pour it into the prepared pan and smooth out with spatula or butter knife.

5 Cool and cut the fudge: Let the fudge cool in the pan overnight. Lift from the pan using the parchment paper and cut into 1-inch squares. Store in an airtight container. The fudge keeps for about a week at room temperature or 2 to 3 weeks refrigerated.