Marshmallow fun!

Growing up, we never had candy at the house. I used to sneak marshmallows out of the cupboard when I could instead! Recently a coworker of mine told me about making homemade marshmallows and I decided to give it a go!

They turned out really tasty and way better than store bought. Oh no, what have I done!! Now I must make homemade marshmallows for the rest of my life!!! For this project, I decided to make half a sheet of regular marshmallows and half into homemade marshmallow eggs for Easter.

I wanted to jazz them up a bit so I dipped them in chocolate and other goodies (pretzels, peanut butter, caramel, nuts, rice crispies, sea salt... )!

These also turned our super tasty!

 My favorite so far has been the peanut butter and pretzel marshmallow dipped in milk chocolate :-)

Unfortunately I found out the hard way that caramel apple recipes make for very hard caramel candies... Whoops! But know I know!

So, making marshmallows, not too bad! Here is the recipe:

Vanilla Marshmallow Eggs

Ingredients:

Marshmallows:

Bloom:
4 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water

The Syrup:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp. salt

The Mallowing:
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Coating:

2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup corn starch

Directions:

1. Whisk  gelatin into cold water and let sit for 5 mins
2. Stir sugar, 1/4 cup of the corn syrup, water, and salt in a medium sauce pan over high heat until it reaches 240F
3. While sugar is melting, in the bowl of a stand mixer, pour the other 1/4 cup corn syrup. Microwave the gelatin for 30 seconds to melt, then add to the mixer bowl and start whisking on low speed.
4. Mix together powdered sugar and corn starch for the coating in a small bowl as set aside.
5. When the sugar mixture has reached 240F add it to the mixer and increase speed to medium for 5 mins, then increase to medium-high for 5 mins.
6. Add the vanilla and increase speed to high for 2 mins. The finished mixture should be white fluffy and triple in size
7. Pour into a greased casserole dish or drop spoonfuls on greased wax paper to made egg shapes. Note- I chill my spoon and spatula in ice water before using with marshmallow so it doesn't stick. You can also try non-stick spray.
8. Dust top of marshmallows with the coating mixture and let set for at least 6 hours or over night.
9. If you made a sheet of marshmallow, turn out onto a coating dusted surface. Dip all sides in coating and slice into squares, coating cut sides.
10. At this point you can dip your goodies in chocolate! I used milk chocolate on half and dark chocolate on the other half. Sprinkle with nuts or sea salt and let dry on a sheet of wax paper. 
11. For pretzel and peanut butter egg, spread the peanut butter on the pretzel, then stick the marshmallow on top and dip in or cover with chocolate(warning- this could get messy!).  I sprinkled it with crushed pretzels so I know which ones were which!

Adapted from Marshmallow Madness! by Shauna Sever

Let me know what other cool combos you come up with, I was thinking of trying oreos or bacon bits and potato chips next!