I've seen two basic kinds of recipes for peanut butter fudge. One is the traditional method of making fudge where sugar and milk is boiled and then peanut butter is added. The other method involves mixing butter and peanut butter over heat, usually until it boils, then mixing in powdered sugar off heat.
I understand the need to bring the sugar and milk mixture to a boil in the first method, as it is necessary for the sugar to candy. But is the step of heating the peanut butter and butter in the second method only to make mixing easier? Would the end result be any different if instead of heating the peanut butter and butter, you just stirred in room temperature butter to the peanut butter and did an extremely thorough job stirring everything together?
Here is an example of the second method that I'm wondering about:
https://preppykitchen.com/peanut-butter-fudge/
3 cups powdered sugar 360g, sifted
1 cup peanut butter 250g, smooth or chunky
1 cup unsalted butter 226g
2 tsp vanilla extract 10mL
1/4 tsp salt optional
1. Line an eight inch square dish with foil or parchment paper.
2. Add the butter and peanut butter to a medium pot then place over medium heat and bring to a boil stirring occasionally.
3. Bring to a steady boil then remove from heat and stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla.
4. Once the sugar is completely stirred in transfer to your prepared dish and smooth with a spatula. Set aside to cool and set (about an hour).
5. When the fudge has set you can invert onto a cutting board, remove lining and cut into squares.
