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.

Fruit and Honey Bars

I got this recipe from my Mom and Dad (they always have a million recipes for me to try). They found it on the weight watchers website. I am not typically a "healthy" bar type person. I love my butter and sugar so I was pleasantly surprised with how great these are and everyone that has tried them has loved them to. Normally I bake these in a pan but I wanted to see how they worked baked in a cupcake pan and I have to say I love them. It's nice to pop them out of the pan rather than wait for them to cool to cut them. I did decrease my bake time to about 10-12 minutes.

Fruit and Honey Bars
1/3 c. honey
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. instant non fat dry milk powder
1/2 c. shelled unsalted pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c.ground flaxseeds
1/2 c. dried apricots chopped
1/2 c. dried cherries
1/4 c. whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 in. square baking pan with nonstick foil. Beat honey, eggs and salt in small bowl until blended. Put oats, dry milk, pumpkin seeds, coconut,flax seeds,apricots, cherries and flour in food processor and pulse until evenly moistened. Transfer dough to baking pan; press into even layer with damp fingers. Bake until center is set and edges are brown, about 20 min. Let cool slightly on rack, 10 min.. Holding foil, transfer bar from pan to cutting board. Cut into bars.

Options:
*1/2 c. mini chocolate chips: add after done baking but don't cut until cooled or you'll smear the chocolate/

*Less sweet option 1/4 c. cherries and 1/4 c. cranberries