Ingredients

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt, optional
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Stir together chips and milk. Melt in microwave, stirring every minute. Stir in vanilla, salt and nuts. Pour into lined and buttered 8-by-8-inch pan. Chill until firm — 2 hours in refrigerator or 20 minutes in freezer. Makes about 2 pounds.

Peanut Butter or Butterscotch Fudge: Use 4 cups peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips.

Vanilla Fudge: Use 4 cups "white chocolate" chips instead of chocolate chips.

Cherry Fudge: Stir in 1 cup of quartered candied cherries, replace half the vanilla with almond extract, and use almonds for the nuts.

Cookies and Creme Fudge: Make a batch of vanilla fudge. Break 16 Oreo cookies into small chunks and stir into fudge.

Caramel Swirl Fudge: Make regular fudge recipe. Melt 4 ounces caramel with 1-2 teaspoons of water. Drop by spoonfuls onto top, then swirl.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Fudge: Make regular fudge recipe. Add 2 tablespoons peanut butter to hot mixture. Top with chopped peanuts if you like, pressing them in slightly.

Orange-Pecan Fudge: Make vanilla fudge. Stir in 1 tablespoon finely chopped orange zest and 1 cup pecans.

S'mores Fudge: Make regular fudge. Leave out nuts, stir in 1 cup minimarshmallows and 4 crushed graham crackers.

Strawberry Truffle: Spread regular fudge in pan. Melt 1 cup semisweet chips with 2 tablespoons butter and stir in 1/4 cup strawberry jam. Spread on top of fudge.

Directions

Toasted Coconut Fudge: For either chocolate or vanilla fudge, toast 1 cup coconut. Stir in 3/4 cup of it along with 1 cup chopped toasted pecans. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup coconut on top.