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I love everything about the Christmas season. The decorations, the parties, the time with family and friends, the baking and sharing of treats, the two weeks off from work and so much more. Most of these are things that I think most people look forward to and associate with the holidays but I also have something that I consider my own secret cue that Christmas is on its way - seasonal flavored candies.
I can't help myself. The minute stores start putting out their Christmas Limited Edition flavors I have to buy them all. And not because I'm someone who likes to eat candy straight from the bag (no judgement if that's your thing), but because I can't stop imagining all the holiday treats I am going to bake using flavors like peppermint, gingerbread and white chocolate. My personal favorite- holiday flavored M&M'S®.
I seriously stockpile them. It starts with buying a bag or two of each limited edition flavor or colorway. Then usually a week or two later I swing back to Walmart and grab a couple more bags of my favorites. I have major issues with being worried that I will make an amazing recipe only to want to recreate it later in the month and not be able to find the flavor of M&M'S® I originally used. I may or may not have an entire storage bin in my pantry dedicated to seasonal baking products. While stocking up I am also sure to check out Ibotta (my favorite cash back app ever) and take advantage of the holiday baking rebates they have right now.
What I purchase varies from year to year but every year I make sure to always stock up on my two favorites- M&M’S® Brand White Peppermint (Limited Edition) Candies and M&M’S® Brand Minis Milk Chocolate Baking Bits in the red and green colorway. I bake a ton over the holidays. Between parties, family get togethers, my own annual Christmas party and gifts and treats for coworkers and friends I may make my favorite recipes 3-4 times in the month of December.
One of the things I love the most about seasonal M&M'S® is that they make it so easy to adapt my tried and true baking recipes to holiday themed treats. I use them to mix into cookies to add a pop of festive red and green or to top my favorite buttermilk cupcake bites for an easy party dessert. With this recipe I simply took my easy, two ingredient fudge recipe and added in some M&M’S® Brand White Peppermint (Limited Edition) Candies to make it Peppermint Bark Fudge. It took minutes to make and is the perfect thing to wrap up and gift to family and friends.
Peppermint Bark Fudge
- 1 bag of M&M’S® Brand White Peppermint (Limited Edition) Candies
- 2 cups of white chocolate chips
- 1 cup of regular chocolate chips
- 1 can of condensed milk
1.) In a saucepan, combine the chocolate chips and condensed milk and melt over medium heat. Stir occasionally.
2.) While that is melting, crush the entire bag of M&M’S® and separate them into two equal amounts. Line a 9x9 baking dish with tin foil and set aside.
3.) Once the chocolate chips are melted stir in one half of the crushed M&M’S®. Pour the mixture into the lined 9x9 pan.
4.) Top the fudge with the second half of the M&M’S® and press them lightly into the fudge to make sure they stick. Let cool before cutting. Once cut the fudge will stay freshest if stored in the refrigerator.
I love being able to spend time in the kitchen making holiday treats with my family and then sharing the love with our friends and co-workers. What makes me feel even better is that every time you buy a bag of M&M'S® at Walmart they are donating a gallon of milk to a local food back. Check out The Great American Milk Drive and learn more about how you can help this holiday season.