Homemade Marshmallows

My little people LOVE marshmallows.  Plain, roasted, in hot cocoa, big, small it does not matter.  They want them... all.

I am not a huge lover of marshmallows.  I like them roasted and that is about it.  However, I am a huge fan of cooking challenges and making my own marshmallows fit the bill.  I found a recipe in an old, old cookbook I have and on a cold and snowy Friday night, decided to give it a try.

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  The difference is huge.  Store bought marshmallows are spongy and pebbly on the outside and taste... well, just sweet.  Homemade marshmallows are smooth and pillowy.  Like a memory foam mattress.  Dense, but soft.  I used a really nice vanilla in mine, so they have great flavor and smell wonderful.  I also dipped a few in bittersweet chocolate just for fun (those are my favorite). 

I discovered the key to painlessly making your own marshmallows is preparation.  If you follow my directions, you will have a full pan of marshmallows setting up in under 15 minutes.  One additional suggestion is be sure to wash your dishes immediately after you are done, so you aren't stuck trying to scrub away stuck on marshmallow in the morning.  Other than that, these are simple and fun to make.  Maybe fancy some up and give them as gifts for the holidays?

 

Homemade Marshmallows

 

Ingredients:

2 c. granular sugar

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

1-1/2 c. water, divided

4 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin (this is equal to 4 packets or 1 box)

2 egg whites

1 tsp. flavoring, I used vanilla, but you could use peppermint or almond

1 c. powdered sugar for dusting the marshmallows to keep them from sticking

 

Directions:

Butter and liberally dust a 9"x13" pan with powdered sugar.

Combine granular sugar, corn syrup and 3/4 c. water in a large saucepan.

Pour remaining water (3/4 c.) in a small saucepan and sprinkle gelatin over the top.

Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Turn heat under sugar mix to medium high and begin to heat, stirring constantly.

At the same time, turn heat under gelatin to low and whisk occasionally until gelatin melts.

Heat sugar mixture (syrup) to hard ball stage (250-265 degrees).

Once syrup is at the correct temperature, take off heat and whisk in gelatin.  This will foam up.

Pour this mixture into a measuring cup to make pouring easier.  Set aside.

Whip the egg whites on high until they form soft peaks.

With the mixer running, slowly pour in the gelatin mixture.  This will continue to fluff up and become glossy and smooth.

Keep beating until mixture is very stiff, but still pourable.

Spread in prepared pan and allow to set up at least 8 hours or overnight.

Once set, flip marshmallows onto a powdered sugar dusted counter.  You may need to use a thin spatula to gently loosen the marshmallow sheet from the pan.

Using a sharp knife, cut into desired shape, dusting all sides with powdered sugar as you go.

 

 

Don't forget to dip some in melted chocolate and hide them on the high shelf in the pantry!



 





The Real Story-Microwaving Ivory Soap

Microwave a bar of Ivory soap they say.  It will be cool they say.  It puffs up and becomes moldable and fluffy they say.

So I did.

"They" exaggerate. 

It does in fact expand.  A lot.  Like on the walls and door of my microwave, a lot.  And it is not easy to clean up, because...

It is neither mold-able nor fluffy so no little hands can enjoy playing with it (Not to mention the fact that it is still soap.  Foul tasting, eye burning soap.  I kind of didn't think of that when I decided this was a great idea.).  It is brittle.  You touch it and it disintegrates into soap dust.  Teeny, tiny soap dust that sticks to your hand or the surface it is on if you try to brush it into a pile so you can clean it up.  Unless...

You try to wipe it up with a damp rag, then it turns into soap paste that again, sticks to everything and is now foaming.

Now, I have a pile of soap dust:

 

 

My only option was to convince my three year old it was "snow soap:.  It was a pretty easy sell because, well, he's three and still believes what I tell him. So, I ever so gently, picked it up and put it in a Ziploc bag to use at bath time.  Worth the effort it took to clean soap expansion overflow off my microwave?  No.  But it could have been a much less painful process if I knew then what I know now (isn't that true of most things?).

 

Learn from my experience and if you want to try to make your own "snow soap"  cut a bar in half, put it on a disposable plate and microwave it for 1.5-2 minutes.  That should solve the overflow problem and you can dump it right off the plate into a baggie keeping the soap dust to a minimum.  If you breed little scientist who want to know why the soap "explodes"  there is a great explanation here .  Happy mess making!



And the Winner is...

If you are up to date, you know that my family had a cookie exchange this weekend.  You also know that in my family, a little competition is considered healthy so we turned it into a contest to see who had the best cookie.  Unfortunately, we all made copious amounts of cookies and flaked out on making the official winning cookie decision.  However, I am prepared to announce my favorite cookie of the day, AND I will share the recipe with you (season of giving right?).

You will be thrilled to know the recipe for my unofficial winning cookie is simple (only four ingredients) and even (spoiler alert family members) no-bake so it is a great way for kiddos to help with the holiday baking.  Once you make these crunchy, chewy, peanut buttery cookies I promise you will make them over and over.  We do!

 

Special K Cookies

 

 

Ingredients:

1 c. granular sugar

1 c. Karo syrup (white)

1 c. peanut butter

4 c. Special K cereal

 

Directions:

Place cereal in a large mixing bowl.

Heat sugar and Karo in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a full rolling boil (this means it is boiling so hard, it does not stop when you stir it), stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add peanut butter, stirring to combine.

Pour over cereal and mix well.

Roll into balls and place on wax or parchment paper to cool.

Store in an airtight container.

 

***Don't know what Karo syrup is?  It is corn syrup, you want the light version for this recipe.***

***For an extra twist, melt some chocolate chips in a baggie, snip off the tip and squiggle over the top of the cookies.  Yum.***