Peanut Butter Butterscotch Fudge Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What causes peanut butter fudge not to harden? ›

Peanut butter fudge may fail to harden if it hasn't been refrigerated long enough or if not enough powdered sugar was used. Ensure that you follow the recommended refrigeration time and accurately measure the powdered sugar to achieve the perfect consistency.

The key to successful, nongrainy fudge is in the cooling, not the cooking. The recipe calls for heating the ingredients to the soft-ball stage, or 234° F, then allowing it to cool undisturbed to approximately 110° F.

Candy that isn't cooked long enough will end up too soft; overcooking makes fudge crumbly or hard. High-quality fudge has many small crystals. If the process of crystallization begins too early, fewer crystals form and they become much larger.

The amount of time you cook fudge directly affects its firmness. Too little time and the water won't evaporate, causing the fudge to be soft. Conversely, cook it too long and fudge won't contain enough water, making it hard with a dry, crumbly texture.

If the sugar crystals are not properly dissolved before cooling, they can create a gritty texture. To avoid this, ensure that you stir the fudge mixture consistently and remove any sugar crystals that form on the sides of the pan using a wet pastry brush.

To fix it, you can reheat the fudge mixture over low heat and continue cooking until it reaches the proper temperature. Be sure to use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature accurately. Alternatively, you can try to salvage chewy fudge by mixing it into ice cream or using it as a topping for desserts.

Stir the ingredients to dissolve the sugar until the mixture comes to a boil. If your recipe uses milk, stirring will keep the mixture from curdling. But once it reaches about 236–238 degrees F/113–114 degrees C (the "soft-ball" stage), do not stir it or even shake the pan.

Fudge can turn into caramel due to overcooking or undercooking, incorrect temperatures, or wrong ingredients.

Too cooked

This fudge was cooked to a temperature of 118 °C (244 °F). At this temperature, the sugar is too concentrated and there is not enough water left to form syrup around sugar crystals. The result is hard and brittle fudge.

What to do if peanut butter fudge doesn t set? ›

OPTION 3) Sieve together some powdered sugar and cocoa powder, and gradually work this into your unset fudge until it reaches the consistency of dough, then roll out and cut into squares, or shape into balls and then roll in powdered sugar (roll the balls in icing sugar, not yourself).

It could even be because the fudge wasn't beaten long or hard enough. If you are using an electric whisk instead of hand beating your Homemade Fudge it's important to remember that this is a very easy way to overbeat Fudge.

– There are a number of reasons why the fudge was grainy. It might be that you haven't dissolved all the sugar before boiling the fudge mixture. It could be that there just wasn't enough fluid or fat to enable the sugar to dissolve or it might even be that the fudge wasn't beaten long enough or hard enough.

Secondly, the pot's material should allow for good heat distribution hence your top choice should be copper cookware or a pot with a copper core. Copper's exceptional heat conductivity offers unparalleled temperature control, an asset when working with finicky ingredients like sugar.

There are 2 reasons that fudge will crumble: overcooking & having an undissolved sugar crystal in the mixture. That undissolved crystal will cause the dissolved sugar to recrystalize (think rock candy).

To fix it, you can reheat the fudge mixture over low heat and continue cooking until it reaches the proper temperature. Be sure to use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature accurately. Alternatively, you can try to salvage chewy fudge by mixing it into ice cream or using it as a topping for desserts.

Don't panic if your fudge is grainy, nothing is lost it just requires some more work. Pop the grainy fudge back into the pan along with some water and a little cream and melt the fudge back down to a liquid and re-boil it to temperature.

You have one option to make it soft, which is you have to put the fudge pieces in a plastic bag along with the paper towel or a bread slice. Secure the bag and leave it overnight, next day you will get a softened fudge.

Undercooked. This fudge was cooked until the temperature reached only108 °C (226 °F). At this temperature, the sugar is not concentrated enough... there is too much leftover water in the syrup and the resulting fudge is soft.