Nov 10, 2023

Accidental No-Bake Fudge Cookie Bites

Updated: Mar 10

That's right. You read that correctly - accidental! Crisps; brownies; Eton Mess, tart tartin... sometimes the best things in life started out as a complete accident. Dare we add our no-bake cookie bites to that list too???Though it'll be quite a while - a long while - before it's up there with the best of the best! Never mind - we still look forward to sharing this accidental recipe with our An Extra Slice followers.

Why accidental, you ask? That's because these were supposed to be fudge s'mores! We wanted to make fudge for our dessert table for our annual Bonfire Night bash. But the lack of a candy thermometer and misjudging the temperature of the fudge mixture meant that the graham crackers we used broke down into the mixture and the marshmallows melted into the warm fudge which left us with a strange kind of cookie dough.

Fearing we'd have to throw out the whole mixture which we'd put so much effort in, we decided to give it one last chance by pressing the mixture into a baking tin and waiting to see what would happen. What happened was that we ended up with a curious cross between fudge and cookies. So our no-bake fudge cookie bites were created. They may not have turned out exactly as we'd planned but they were still delicious. And while we admitted to our guests that our cookie bites hadn't gone exactly to plan, we didn't tell them that they were supposed to have been tucking into pieces of fudge! Not that it mattered at all because somehow... it just worked!

So here's our recipe for those of you who'd like to give our it-wasn't-supposed-to-be-like-that cookies a try. Our original recipe used a cup of butterscotch flavour chips along with the chocolate chips but if you'd rather, you can leave them out and just use an extra cup of chocolate chips. We used milk chocolate chips by Ghiradelli but the type you use is totally up to you.

NO-BAKE FUDGE COOKIE BITES

Ingredients

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup butterschotch chips (optional) or substitute for more chocolate chips

14 oz. can condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup mini marshmallows (or cut up regular-sized ones)

1 cup graham crackers, broken into small pieces (or digestive/rich tea biscuits)

3 tbsp. crushed honeycomb candy (optional)

Equipment

9"x9" square baking tin

Parchment paper (plus scissors to cut to size!)

Large, heavy saucepan

Wooden spoon

Measuring cups

Method

Line a 9×9 inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Place chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk into a large heavy saucepan over a low to medium heat. Allow the heat to do most of the melting but every now and again stir gently to combine.
Once chocolate chips have melted and mixture well combined, add vanilla extract and mix well.
Keep stirring until mixture thickens a lot and comes away from the sides of the pan.
Take off the heat and allow to cool a little.
While the chocolate mixture is still warm, add the biscuit pieces and marshmallows. Combine well. At this point the marshmallows will start to melt; the biscuit pieces will break down into the chocolate mixture and the whole mixture will stiffen into a dough-like texture.
Place dough into the prepared pan and press down evenly.
Leave the fudge to cool and harden at room temperature (about 3 hours.)
Once firm, cut into bite sized squares, similar to pieces of fudge.
Refrigeration is not necessary but if you wish to put the uncut cookie mixture into the fridge, remember to allow it to stand at room temperature for a few minutes to make it easier to cut into bite-sized squares.