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National Peanut Butter Fudge Day on November 20 is when we try our hands at making a delicious batch of fudge. There is a wide range of viable peanut butter fudge recipes to be found on the internet and elsewhere, but what they all have in common is a quick prep time (a matter of minutes, in some cases), and a short list of simple ingredients that most of us probably already have in our kitchens. As a bonus, peanut butter fudge is much easier to make than chocolate fudge, because it doesn’t involve melting the chocolate to a specific temperature measured by a special thermometer.
Fudge itself has been around since the 1880s. The widely held belief is that fudge was ‘invented’ when a European pastry chef’s preparation of a batch of caramel went awry, eliciting the exclamation of the euphemism, “Oh, fudge!” The name stuck. Some versions of the story even have the sticky batch being spilled on the floor and picked back up to minimize waste. What the fudge? In any case, peanut butter fudge is a favorite flavor for many, and the week before Thanksgiving is the perfect time to whip up a batch.
Some of the first late-19th-century print references to fudge are advertisements for fudge shops in popular tourist destinations like Michigan’s Mackinac Island. Recipes also began to appear in periodicals and cookbooks around that time. Strangely enough, fudge-making was especially popular at that time on the campuses of women’s colleges like Smith and Vassar. One source details how the New York newspaper “The Sun” published a recipe called ‘Fudges at Vassar’ in 1895.
With fudge’s popularity and availability on the rise from then on, it was only a matter of time before the American peanut got involved in the game as a fudge flavor. There’s no denying our love affair with peanuts and peanut butter considering that over 75% of modern American households contain a jar or more of peanut butter, and that an American child on average eats over 1,000 peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate high school. The exact first instance of peanut butter being used in a fudge batch is unknown, but it was only a natural progression, and we won’t complain about having enjoyed the confection for so long!
It was the National Peanut Board that first established November 20 as National Peanut Butter Fudge Day. The organization’s chairman, Bob White, said in 2015, “I’m not certain anyone knows for sure why Americans have named so many days or months for U.S.A.-grown peanuts and peanut butter. But it doesn’t surprise me that America’s favorite nut is top of mind all year long.” We can’t help but agree.
Do you love fudge?
What is you favorite flavor?
