Tis the season for baking.

That’s how I see it, anyway.

Between family gatherings and events going on with friends, at school, at work… there’s seems to always be something going on where I should bake something.

Traditionally, I think of Christmas cookies, but Fudge is a great option for a few different reasons. For me, the biggest one is that fudge is still good even if you make it a week in advance and store it in the fridge. You can’t say the same about all cookies. With how busy the holiday season can be, it’s nice to be able to make something when it’s convenient for you instead of worrying about getting it done the day of or the day before an event.

Another good thing about fudge recipes is that they make a lot of servings. All of the recipes I’m sharing call for using an 8×8 or 9×9 inch pan(I used an 8×8 because that was what I had on hand) and yet you easily get 36-48 servings out of it, depending on how large you cut your pieces. With fudge, you can get away with small pieces since it’s so rich.

Plus, the actual work time of making fudge is usually pretty minimal. It does need to set (usually 2 hours, sometimes longer) but the recipes are simple and don’t require much baking skill or much hands-on time.

I’ll share a few tips about the fudge recipes I’ve tried. My trial and error can benefit you.

Cookie Dough Fudge Very simple to make and it tastes like you’re eating Chocolate Chip Cookie dough, only without eggs to worry about. Definitely very sweet and rich, so make sure you’re cutting small pieces. There’s only a teaspoon of kosher salt in this, but it makes a big difference in flavor and texture, so definitely use it.

Cherry Garcia Fudge (like the ice cream- but you can call it Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge, too) The recipe says to cut this into only 24 pieces but you’ll definitely want smaller. It’s extremely sweet, though maybe my favorite that I’ve tried lately because it’s so unique. Plus, the red seems holiday festive. When you’re attaching the cherries to the top, the recipe says to press them down, but I didn’t really have much luck with that. I used a little dab of the melted chocolate to “glue” the cherries to the top and that was a lot easier. If you like the flavors of cherry and chocolate together but don’t want to put the cherries on top, you can skip that part and your fudge will still be delicious. Just drizzle the chocolate on top of the fudge squares without the cherry being there. I made some like this and they were still amazingly good.

Sea Salt Nutella Fudge I bought a 10 oz bag of High-quality Bittersweet (60%) Chocolate Chips and the recipe calls for 8 oz, by weight, being used in this recipe. I didn’t weigh it, I just sort of eyeballed it and it worked, so don’t stress over that part of it. The sea salt added a nice contrast to the sweetness of the nutella and chocolate.

I’m making a buckeye fudge later today and if it’s as delicious as it looks, I’ll update with that link as well as any tips I have.

Other tried-and-true holiday treats: 

• Ricotta Cheese Cookies: Perfect for a Cookie Swap Recipe
• This Is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe You Want
• Cookie Butter No Bakes
• Lumps of Coal Treats and Free Printable Gift Tags
• Buckeye Pretzels