Yes, You Can Make Chocolate Fudge Right In The Microwave

There aren't a lot of cooking methods that are more convenient than using the microwave. And surprisingly, you can even use the microwave to make a rich fudge using just one microwave-safe bowl (and a parchment-lined baking sheet for cooling). The best part is, it only takes a few minutes to make. Who says the holidays need to be stressful?

Some basic microwave fudge recipes call for ingredients like powdered sugar, cocoa powder, butter, milk, and marshmallows; while others only call for two ingredients, chocolate and sweetened condensed milk, which couldn't be simpler. In terms of active cooking time, you're looking at a max of about five minutes, with the most manual labor being a bit of stirring and pouring — and barely any cleanup needed. Not only is this a quick fix for a sweet tooth, but fudge makes for a good present, in case you're looking for an edible do-it-yourself type holiday gift.

A microwave isn't just good for fudge, either. It's also useful for things like individual servings of cake in a mug, which are really easy to make from scratch (check out this two-ingredient Oreo mug cake, for example) or even things like peanut brittle. The microwave is also a surprising tool you can use for dessert foods that need to be cooked gently, such as lemon curd. But paying attention to stirring delicate microwaved lemon curd is key, as you don't want to curdle or scramble the egg yolk-thickened spread; you'll need to be monitoring it closely so it doesn't overcook.

Fudge, however, might be the easiest thing to make, considering it's as simple as mixing condensed milk and chocolate together to create the base for such a crowd-pleasing treat. As long as everything's evenly stirred, you're good to go — it's about as foolproof of a recipe as you can get.