To me, the holiday season is all about the wonderful tastes and smells of wonderful home cooking. My family is all about making hot cocoa, spiced cider, sugar cookies and gingerbread and all the other seasonal favorites. You can imagine my excitement when I saw an entry on one of my favorite blogs about Making fudge in the Crock pot. My excitement was short-lived, however, as it turns out you cannot make fudge in the crockpot. I won’t be too hard on Stephanie though because her Brown sugar Chicken recipe more than makes up for any crock failures she may have had.

But since I don’t have great news about a crockpot fudge recipe, I will share one that is almost as easy as using the crockpot. We have made it often and it is always a hit. It is also perfect for a holiday gift for that hard to please person.

Microwave Rocky Road Fudge
It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1 1/2 packages (12-ounce size each) semisweet or dark chocolate chips (3 cups)
2 cups miniature marshmallows or 16 large marshmallows, cut in half
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup additional miniature marshmallows (optional)
1/4 cup white baking chips, melted, (optional)

1. Grease bottom and sides of square pan, 9x9x2 inches, with butter, or line with aluminum foil.

2. Place chocolate chips, marshmallows and milk in 8-cup microwavable measure. Microwave uncovered on High 3 to 5 minutes, stirring every minute, until chips and marshmallows are melted and mixture can be stirred smooth.

3. Stir in vanilla, additional marshmallows and nuts. Immediately pour into pan. Drizzle with melted white baking chips for a festive look perfect for gift giving. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm. Cut into 1-inch squares.

This is a quick and easy recipe that doesn’t take a long time to prepare, except for that 2 hour wait while it sets. You can always lick the spoon while you are waiting.

You can personalize the recipe to your tastes by omitting nuts or additional marshmallows (you will need the 2 cups listed at the beginning). You can also stir in dried fruit, pretzels, toffee chips or peanut butter chips for a personal touch.

Enjoy.