Ahhhh, Friday!

Unusual weather we’re having, ain’t it?

{The Cowardly Lion upon noticing the snow that had fallen on the poppy field ~  The Wizard of Oz}

I have to agree with my lion friend……unusual weather we are having here.   Last Friday I was writing about cold, wet weather coming our way…….today it is bright and sunny, temps are close to 80F.  By the way…who doesn’t love The Wizard of Oz!!  I have watched it each year for many, many years……..I still love it like I did when I was a kid.  🙂

But not another weather post today…….today I have a recipe for the White Chocolate Fudge Filled Oat Cups I mentioned earlier.  Three words for these tasty treats…….OH. MY. GOD.  I have used willpower I never thought I possessed to keep from eating every little one of these things.  Each evening I have allowed myself one………ok, two…..ok, ok, so I ate three one night!   I’m actually amazed I was able to stop that evening.  A very big thank you to Stephanie at Chocolate and Whine for sharing her recipe for these little bits of heaven.   The recipe is hers….the photos are mine….

Oat cups
1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped fine

Filling
(Stephanie’s Note: I found that this recipe makes about 24 cups, which is perfect if you have a 24-cup mini muffin tin. I had a LOT of leftover fudge. Next time I will halve the filling recipe. But that’s just me. Please don’t yell at me if you decide to follow my lead and it turns out disastrous. Thank you.)
2 cups chopped white chocolate
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° and grease your mini muffin tin. 

Beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy.  Add the oatmeal, flour, salt and cinnamon.  Mix until combined.  Add chopped cranberries and walnuts (I didn’t include walnuts) and mix until incorporated.

Drop dough by tablespoon into the prepared wells of your mini muffin tin. Using a tart press or the back of a teaspoons press down on the crust mixture until the crust is formed into a small well.  Bake for 5-6 minutes.

While crusts are baking make the fudge filling by heating the milk and white chocolate over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

Remove the partially baked crusts from oven (they should not be brown). If they’ve puffed up during baking, gently press them back down to form a well.

Fill each mini crust with fudge, being careful not to get any on the mini muffin tin or it will burn. Return to oven and bake for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature. Chill for 20 minutes or until firm.

Gently pry the Fudge Cups out of the tin with a sharp object. They should pop out if you greased properly and the cups are firm.  Mine came right out without any problems…I used the flat end of a grapefruit tool.

Ahhhhhhhh, heaven.  Enjoy!!