Got Marshmallows?

This holiday season I ended up with an extra bag of fancy marshmallows shaped like snowflakes. Perfect for hot chocolate but how much hot chocolate can one person drink?

There were way too many marshmallows to think I could use them all up a few at a time in hot chocolate. So how to make good use of them?

I picked the bag up while wandering around TJ Max trying to put together a white elephant gift for a Christmas party. I thought I’d do a hot chocolate related gift so they would fit right in.

As I wandered, I found a box of teas that were grouped by mood. It was kind of fun – tea for stress, for relaxing, for sleep, to focus, to wake up… so I picked that up too. Then I found a mug that had a warming pad to keep the beverage warm which looked interesting. By the time I did my other shopping and went through the checkout line I didn’t notice that I mostly had a tea gift but still had the marshmallows.

So now it is the end of January and I still have a big bag of snowflake marshmallows in my kitchen. I’m always interested in a good cookie so I googled ‘marshmallow cookies’ and several delicious sounding choices popped up. I opted for the cocoa cookies filled with a marshmallow center. They looked mouthwatering and sounded easy to make. Plus, I had all the ingredients already – a sure sign that this was the recipe to pick!

They turned out gooey and delicious, just as the recipe promised. If you like a sweet treat these might be just right for you. I’ve shared the recipe below.

The s’mores variety will probably be my next batch as I still have lots of marshmallows left. I’ll need to stock up on graham crackers though.

What would you do with too many marshmallows?

Ingredients

·       ▢ 113 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (1 stick / ½ cup / 4oz)

·       ▢ 165 g plain (all purpose) flour (1 ¼ cups / 5.8oz)

·       ▢ 55 g dutch processed cocoapowder (½ cup / 2oz)

·       ▢ ¾ teaspoon baking soda (bicarb soda)

·       ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

·       ▢ ⅔ cup light brown sugar (135g / 4.8oz)

·       ▢ ¼ cup white granulated sugar (50g / 1.8oz)

·       ▢ 1 large egg, room temp

·       ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·       ▢ ¾ cup mini marshmallows

·       ▢ 1 teaspoon demerara sugar, turbinado sugar, optional

Instructions

·       Make sure the butter is melted and set aside to cool a bit.

·       Preheat oven to 180C / 350F /160C fan forced. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.

·       In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

·       In a large mixing bowl, add the sugars to the butter and whisk (using a balloon whisk) until well combined.

·       Add the egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

·       Add the flour then fold it in with a spatula until just combined.

·       Let the dough sit for 10 minutes before proceeding (this makes it easier to handle and helps the cookies keep their shape).

·       Take roughly 2 tablespoons of the dough, roll it into a ball (or use a cookie scoop) then make a dent in the center. Add 6 mini marshmallows to the middle then carefully pinch in the edges to cover completely.

·       Lightly roll the cookie ball between your hands to make it round and place on a baking tray, keeping them about 2 inches apart.

·       Sprinkle a little demerara sugar over the top, if using. Bake for 9-10 minutes.

·       Optional but recommended: As soon as you take the trays out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter, just slightly larger than the cookie, and swirl it around the cookie. This will make them perfectly round and also thicken them slightly. 

·       Allow them to cool on the trays for 10-15 minutes until you can move them to a wire rack without them breaking, to cool completely. Once cool, they will firm up.