Carmelitas

Ever find a dessert that you can't stop making? That is what keeps happening with these carmelitas. Last week at the gym of all places, a friend asked if I had ever had carmelitas. I told her no and she said that she made some this weekend and they were amazing. I was very intrigued to say the least.

I went home and looked it up online and there were tons of recipes and they all looked delicious. I decided to try this one. It makes an 8x8 pan and I luckily I had everything I needed in my pantry (even though the caramels were from 2 Halloweens ago). 

I had one bite.

I turned around and made another batch. 

Then two days later made another batch and I am probably making them for the Superbowl on Sunday. They are that amazing.

 

Carmelitas 

adapted slightly from Lulu the Baker

*The recipe says to cool completely before cutting which is great when you want bars but we wanted some and couldn't wait and scooped it in to a bowl and ate it with vanilla ice cream. It was amazing.

32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats (old fashioned or quick)
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

**To make a 9x13" version, simply double the amounts.

Homemade Marshmallows

I love Etsy. I love to just search and find fun little shops. I've order my fabric. Presents. Patterns. Jewelry. Treats. TREATS! On a website made from in a commercial kitchen. While I was browsing I found this little shop and have fallen in love. My fav item is the fleur de sel caramel and it sometimes takes a bit of time to receive your treats but it is worth the wait. Once on a whim I ordered their marshmallows and they were amazing. They taste better than store bought and have an amazing texture. I didn't even know you could make marshmallows so I started on a recipe hunt to see how hard they would be and I found this recipe and at first it seemed a little daunting but I tried it and loved it! I make them all the time and except for the gelatin I had everything else in my pantry. 

We have had them in smores, hot chocolate, rocky road brownies. Soon I am remaking the Cookie Cutter type chocolate marshmallow cookie with these marshmallows. So if you are up for a little bit of fun and a whole lot of deliciousness try these.

Also try these with them. 

Lastly, do not try and stick your fingers in to taste or scrape the bowl clean. You will make a big, sticky spider-weby mess.

 

Homemade Marshmallows
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen that got it from Gourmet, December 1998

1 cup confectioners’ sugar (give or take a little)
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan thoroughly and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.
In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.
In a heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer.
In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whitesuntil they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan (do not scrape it clean because you will get a huge sticky mess. Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.
Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes.Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.

Nordy Bars

There are a few things I miss about living in rural Idaho that I had in the suburbs of Portland. BurgerVille. Good Thai food. Being close to the beach and mountains. Shopping. There are a tons of different unique and interesting stores where I am from. There are also larger department stores that I miss. One of my favorites was Nordstrom but mostly because they have a cafe in their store. So I can eat and shop.  Plus it actually has good, healthy food not just greasy food court food and of course they have desserts. That is were this delightful gem came from. They are called Nordy Bars and they are on of my favorite cookie bars. 

They are good, delicious, and rich.I think it's the combination of butterscotch and marshmallows that does it for me but that may not be your favorite part. You may like the chocolate and nuts but whatever you like I know you'll love these bars. So  make some and dig in and don't be ashamed if you eat half the pan like I did.

 

Nordy Bars

½ c. butter
2 c. butterscotch chips
½ c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ c. flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
2 t. vanilla
2 c. semi-sweet chips
2 c. mini marshmallow
1 c. walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven 350.. Grease pan. Melt the butter over med heat. Add butterscotch chips and brown Sugar and Stir til melted being careful not to burn. Remove from the heat and add eggs and stir quick until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt Mix well. Add vanilla and let cool to about room temperature so the chocolate chips and marshmallows don't melt.. When cooled add chocolate chips, marshmallows and nuts. Spread in pan and bake 25-28 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and serve or share.


*I have no idea where this recipe came from but my Mom has been making these for years.

Creamy Pear Pie.

I have a secret. I have never made a full pie all by myself. If I make a pie it has usually been from a store bought pie crust (Don't tell my Mom) or my Mom is in town and she makes the crust. I love to cook and bake but pie scares me. Probably because my Mom only uses an all butter crust (I've never seen shortening in my house as a kid) and once I attempted making pie it was summer and hot and warm butter does not make a great crust but I saw a recipe for Creamy Pear Pie and I had just received a bag of pears from Bountiful Baskets I figured I had to try it. I am so glad I did.

This pie is amazing. It tastes similar to apple but a different texture and consistency completely. We ate this pie cold and it was amazing. so do yourself a favor and try this. I will be posting the crust recipe later this week.

Creamy Pear Pie
Recipe by Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

About 1 1/2 lb. firm pears, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated like I almost did)
3 oz. cream cheese
2 tablespoons milk (I used 1%)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger


Preheat oven to 450. Roll the bottom of the pie crust into the pie plate. Toss the sliced pears in the flour. Arrange them evenly over the pie crust in the pie plate. Set aside. In the jar of a blender, combine the sweetened condensed milk, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and cream cheese. Blend until smooth. Pour evenly over the pear mixture. Use the remaining pie crust to form the top of the pie (we like to make a lattice top crust). Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the creamy mixture has thickened but not solidified. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

Rocky Road Brownies

These brownies are amazing and rich and amazing and rich.I was going to do a nice write up about these but life is hectic and I have a certain someone waiting for the recipe so maybe next time I'll tell you how delicious these are. How they are creamy and crunchy and how they are better the next day.

 Rocky Road Brownies

½ C. Butter 

1 C. Flour

1 tsp. Vanilla 

1 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate

1 C. Sugar

¾ C. Chopped Nuts

2 Eggs 

1 tsp. Baking Powder

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter and chocolate on low heat. Add sugar, flour, nuts, baking powder, vanilla, and eggs. Mix and spread in 9 x 13 pan.

6 oz. Cream Cheese 

2 Tbs. Flour

½ tsp. Vanilla 

½ C, Sugar

¼ C. Butter 

1 Egg

½ C. Chocolate Chips 

¼ C. Nuts

2 ½ C. Mini Marshmallow

Combine everything except chips, nuts, and marshmallows. Then fold in chips and nuts. Spread over dough and bake 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and add marshmallow and bake 2 minutes.

Frosting:

¼ C. Butter

2 oz. Cream Cheese

1 tsp. Vanilla 

1 oz. Unsweetened chocolate, melted

¼ C. Milk 

3 C. Powdered Sugar

Mix all together and pour on melted marshmallows and ½ C. Chocolate chips and swirl for a marble effect.

Banana Nut Muffins

Ever have those days when you look in to your fruit basket and all of your freshly bought bananas have been tainted by the one brown banana? It rarely happens in my house because we have banana addicts but when it does I celebrate because I love banana bread, banana cake, banana muffins. (Maybe the banana addicts got the addiction from me..)

 I love this recipe because it isn't just mashed bananas, there are some blended right in to the batter. Plus I froze some they did amazing for Saturday morning breakfast. Yay!!

 Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.
Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread and it's healthy.

I love this time of year. Being able to walk in to my backyard and get fresh vegetables for dinner but I have an abundance of zucchini. I missed one the other day and when I found it it was huge so the only thing to do is make zucchini bread. My favorite bread but it's always very oily so I wanted to find a recipe less oily and healthier and I think I found it at Skinnytaste,com. It's a great website with lots of good, healthy recipes.

I made this for Sam's birthday and it was so good I made a second loaf the same night so if you have an abundance of zucchini try this out and let me know.

Lowfat Chocolate Zucchini Bread

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat flour would work)
1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1-1/8 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 large egg, beaten
2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup apple sauce
1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini (not packed)


Preheat oven to 325°.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.

Add chocolate chips and gently mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, mix egg, vanilla, melted butter, apple sauce and zucchini. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just blended.  

Pour batter into a large 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Bake at 325° for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and let it cool before slicing. 

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever!!

I have been using this cookie recipe for about 8 years. I have tried lots of other but I always come back to this one. It's soft and chewy middle and just a tad crisp on the outside. These cookies never fail me and I don't have to let the butter come to room temperature so I don't have to wait. The trick with the soft and chewy is using the cold ingredients and keeping the dough cold. Since they are all butter it takes longer for the cookies to flatten and don't get as crispy. Enjoy!!

Alfajores cookies

Every time we go to Vegas we eat at an Argentine restaurant just off the strip. We enjoy the food there A LOT. Sam says it is as authentic and you can get. Sam always buys cookies there on our way out called alfajores. Its a biscuit cookie with dulce de leche in the middle. When I decided to do the paella I knew I needed to do these cookies but I've never made them and didn't have a recipe either. It's times like these that I love the internet. All I had to do was type "alfajores recipe" and I had tons of different options. I went with one from a blog called Recipe Girl and it was delish! The biscuit wasn't too sweet and the homemade dulce de leche was amazing. Try them. I did tweak the recipe a bit to use ingredients I had on hand. Also I think these were better the next day just be sure to refrigerate them.

Alfajores
adapted from Recipegirl.com

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup dulce de leche (recipe follows)

Directions:                                                                                                                                               Beat butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy. Add egg yolks and mix. Add vanilla and milk; mix well and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add dry mixture to butter mixture and work together with your hands until all is combined and the dough is soft. Do not add any extra flour. You may wish to add a few drops of milk if the dough appears crumbly. Cover and chill for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with half of the dough at a time (keep the other half refrigerated)-- on a floured work surface, roll out dough to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Cut into 2-inch rounds and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Repeat rolling/cutting with 2nd half of chilled dough. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until done. The cookies should be dry but not brown. When cookies are cool, match them up into pairs of like-sizes. Turn one cookie over and spread a dollop of dulce de leche onto the flat part of the cookie. Place its partner on top (flat side down) and gently press so that the caramel comes to the edges. Roll edges in coconut and place on rack to set. Continue with the rest of the cookie pairs. When ready to serve, sift a light layer of powdered sugar over the tops of the cookies and place them on a platter.

Tips:

*Make sure that your room temperature butter is pretty soft. If it's too firm, your cookie dough will tend to be more crumbly.
*Rounds are the typical shape used for these cookies. Try using different shaped round cutters. I made some 2-inch and then made some much smaller ones too.

Homemade Dulce De Leche
adapted from Recipegirl.com

1 can sweetened condensed milk (any size)
boiling water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Open up the can and pour the sweetened-condensed milk into a pie pan. Cover tightly with foil. Place into a larger pan and pour boiling water in larger pan & around pie plate (level of water should be about halfway up the pie plate). Don't let any water seep up and into the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour. At the one hour point, peel off foil and check for progress. If the mixture has thickened and turned a caramel color, it's done. If it doesn't quite look thick enough or dark enough, cover it up and bake it a little longer (mine took 85 minutes). When the mixture appears to have turned into a nice, thick caramel, remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, and then beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Tips:

*Store in a covered container until ready to use (within a few days). Probably storing in the refrigerator is best, but return to room temperature when ready for recipe.
*We also love ducle de leche milkshakes and put it on top of ice cream. Argentines dip everything in it. Most popular is bananas.

Peanut Butter Filled Dark Chocolate Cupcakes... seriously!

I found a new blog the other day. How Sweet Eats. She used to be a personal trainer so she is very fit and active and the best thing is she loves food. I've had a hard time balancing between being fit and eating all the yumminess I make. I guess that is one reason I am teaching 5 Zumba classes a week. Some people work out because they enjoy it. I do enjoy it but mostly I enjoy food and so to justify eating the following recipe I Zumba as if my life depends on it. A couple of things I like about this recipe. Dark chocolate. Peanut butter. It's easy.

I love Reese's but sometimes you have no idea how old they are. I know how old my cupcakes are. They never live past two days. Seriously try these.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes
1 1/8 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 cup homemade fudge sauce (recipe below)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add milk, cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Mix until batter is smooth, then swirl in fudge sauce. Line a muffin tin with liners and using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool before frosting.


Peanut Butter Buttercream
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup peanut butter
3-4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons of milk
pinch of salt
Cream butter and peanut butter together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add powdered sugar with mixer on low speed and gradually add milk and vanilla extract. Mix until frosting is smooth. If too thick, add more milk; if too thin, add more sugar. Frost cupcakes as desired.


Dark Chocolate Fudge Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark cocoa powder
2 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
1 cup boiling water or scalding milk
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and flour in a bowl or pot over a double boiler. Bring water or milk to a boil. Gradually add hot liquid to sugar mixture. Stir constantly until mixture thickens.
Once it has reached the desired thickness, remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Drizzle over cupcakes and store the rest of the sauce in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.


* The only thing I did different was substitute applesauce for sour cream. I didn't have any sour cream and didn't want to run to the store. :)

Not Too Sweet Magical Frosting

I saw this frosting in one of my fav magazines but it looked very similar to one on Tasty Kitchen I have tried several times and it never came out very successful. I tried different techniques and it always came out the same way... I could see the potential but didn't know how to get it to perfection but then I saw over on Mel's Kitchen Cafe that she had tried the recipe from Cook's Country and made it successfully so I figured I would give it a shot for Kellen's birthday and I am so glad I did. It's not too sweet but it is insanely creamy and amazing. I don't know what happens in the hour it sits but when I first tasted it I could kind of feel the texture of the cornstarch and I started getting nervous but after I frosted it and tried it again it was unbelievable!


Better than Buttercream Frosting
*Makes about 4 cups frosting (plenty for two 9-inch cake layers)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
24 tablespoons (3 sticks) butter, cut into 24 pieces and softened at room temperature

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium saucepan and pour the milk mixture through the strainer into the saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and is thick enough that it starts to become difficult to easily whisk. This could take anywhere between 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove, heat, etc. It should bubble quite a bit at the end (be careful of the splatters) and thicken considerably.

Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and cool to room temperature. This is a very important step. Not warmth at all!! If it is warm the butter would melt and not beat up properly. I set it on the counter and did laundry and ran errands while it cooled.

Once you check the milk mixture and it is room temperature beat in the vanilla on low speed until it is well combined. Increase the speed to med and add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat the frosting until all the butter has been incorporated fully, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high beat the frosting for five minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Let the frosting sit at room temperature until it is a bit more stiff, about 1 hour. Frost whatever you desire and enjoy.

I made Kellen's cake two days early and put it in the fridge and it was great!!

Saw at Cook's Country and Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Dark Chocolate Cake.

OH MY GOODNESS!! I don't say this very often but you have to make this cake right now. I mean stop what you are doing and make this cake!! I made it with Special dark cocoa powder and it was AMAZING!! but our family loves dark chocolate! If yours does not the original recipe called for unsweetened coca powder so you can use that just as easily.

I have tried Pioneer Woman's sheet cake and it was yummy but it doesn't work as well with dark cocoa. I've also made this frosting on Tasty Kitchen and have struggled with it each time so when I saw this frosting and this cake and Mel's Kitchen Cafe (one of my fav cooking blogs!!)

It caused one slight problem in the house... her name is Wesli. The night I made the cake I went to the gym and Sam was watching the kiddos. It was Kellen's bedtime and Sam took him in to get him changed and ready. Wesli was alone for less than two minutes and she drug the chair over to the counter and took a bite out of Kellen's unfrosted cake!! I was so sad but instead of making another one I just frosted over it and it turned out ok. When asked why she did it Wesli said, "It smelled so DELICIOUS!" I asked her if it was and she said, "Yes."

Make this cake...Now!



Dark Chocolate Cake
Kellen's Birthday Cake

*When I made this I used regular cake pans but it is a lot of better and it over flowed a little bit. I went out to Joann's and bought the taller cake pans. Or you could make cupcakes instead or a sheet cake but if you use normal cake pans either watch it or don't use all the batter.

3/4 special dark cocoa powder
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour your cake pans. Sift all your dry ingredients in to a large bowl. Add all the wet ingredients and mix on low speed for 3 minutes til smooth. Pour batter in to pan of your choice. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from iron and cool on wire racks for 15 minutes. Turnout cake out onto cooling racks and let cool.

*Remember I made 2- 8 in cakes so the baking time is for those. If you are doing cupcakes or a sheet cake you need to watch it and test with a toothpick until it come out clean. I suspect if you overbake it it will be quite dry.

Adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie

Back home in Vancouver there used to be a great little cookie store in our mall called "Cookie Cutter". They were a family owned, small business place. They had these amazing chocolate marshmallow cookies, I'm talking AMAZING!! I got one every time I went to the mall and these things were ginormous. Then another bigger and more corporate funded store came in and took enough business away from "Cookie Cutter" that they closed shop. I have been craving these cookies for the passed decade. Every so often I would do a Google search and see if I could find a recipe but all the recipes I could find were made from a cake mix, a marshmallow, and canned frosting... not exactly what I was looking for. Then a few months ago I found this blog and this recipe and I knew I needed to try it. Thankfully it cooled down yesterday which gave me the ability to have the oven on and we have friends coming over for dinner and I figured these would make a perfect dessert.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

1 egg, beaten

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup shortening (I used butter)

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

1 2/3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

Beat egg and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla, shortening and melted chocolate. Blend well. Combine all dry ingredients into small bowl. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to chocolate mixture.  Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet. I flattened mine out a little bit so they spread more.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. When the cookies are almost done cooking, remove from oven and place 1/2 of a large marshmallow on top of each cookie (I used a full marshmallow and it was great but next time I might get marshmallow creme so it's really gooey!!). Return to oven for about 1 minute or just until marshmallow puffs. Remove from oven, flatten marshmallow with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula. I greased mine so the marshmallow wouldn't stick to it. Cool completely. Frost with chocolate frosting. 

 

Chocolate frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk ( I used skim)

Beat softened butter in bowl. Add vanilla. Slowly beat in cocoa, powdered sugar, and milk. If needed, add more milk, a little at a time. 

Adapted from A Bountiful Kitchen