Christmas "Baking"

I had a good post lined up for today about how I turned on my TV the other day and saw a pair of naked legs and couldn't get rid of them, but then I made some awesome things yesterday and decided I wanted to share them before Christmas, in case anyone was looking for a last minute easy thing to bring to Christmas dinner or something.  The naked legs post will happen though, just not today.

Because TODAY is all about homemade chai and peanut butter fudge.

First, homemade chai.

I bookmarked this recipe over a year ago and finally decided to try it because Saskatoon has BULK BARN now!!!!  OMG I went to Bulk Barn the other day to buy the ingredients for the tea and it was the best place of my life.  AND everything was so cheap.  Bulk Barn, where you been all my life, I love you so much.

So anyway I didn't really follow that recipe very well because cardamom is super expensive and so are red peppercorns and I didn't feel like using fennel or coriander, so instead basically I took the following ingredients and crushed them up and mixed them together (basically equal portions of the spices):

Cinnamon sticks
Candied ginger (cut into small pieces)
Cloves
Black peppercorns
Nutmeg (I used two actual nutmegs but then the nutmeg smell was too overpowering so I picked out all the pieces of nutmeg so there's probably just small tiny pieces in there now)
Black tea

The ratio of crushed stuff to black tea was probably 1:4 to 1:3 (that's about as much of a recipe as I'm giving) - but I think next time I would amp that up because it's not a super strong chai, but still delicious!  Would definitely make again and give as presents etc.

On to the PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW so freaking good, I am serious if you make this and bring it to a potluck or party or whatever you will probably be the most popular person there.

I used this recipe but used the stove instead of the microwave, and unless I did my metric conversions wrong it was too runny after only using two cups (16 oz) of icing sugar, so I added a third cup.  I also could not find unsalted butter so I used salted.  It still turned out AMAZING.

(Note - I used creamy shelf-stable peanut butter (the "normal" kind).  Normally in peanut butter recipes I use natural peanut butter because it has a stronger flavour and is better for you but since this recipe had to chill and set and then is supposed to hold up at room temperature, I wouldn't risk using natural peanut butter for fear that it would start melting if you didn't keep it refrigerated, until I hear of someone trying it and being successful. 

Oh yeah, also - DO NOT USE MARGARINE IN SOMETHING LIKE THIS THAT NEEDS A BUTTER FLAVOUR!!!  Unless you want it to turn out only mediocre.  Spend the extra couple dollars on real butter.)

These are basically pure trans fat, so I would not recommend making these to keep around your house because you will eat them all.  Only make them when you know you are going to have to share them so you don't end up getting  heart attack and blaming me for sharing the recipe.

The recipe says cut into 64 squares, and you will probably think that's too small, but I promise it's not.  The squares will look small when you're cutting them but trust me - this is so rich that you do not need that large of a portion.  And if you WANT that large of a portion - just eat 4 pieces :)

If you like peanut butter you will LOVE this recipe.  Even if you don't you probably will.  If you are allergic, it really sucks to be you.

If you try any of these, let me know how they turned out!