Home Made Marshmallows

This week I tried my hand at making marshmallows! It was pretty easy, considering the end result. They pared with hot chocolate just as well as you may imagine. Eating them out of the bag was just as good! :)

The only thing I recommend is having a stand mixer. You can do it with a hand mixer, but the mixing time is 12 MINUTES!!! So it may be a little hard on you're hand mixer.

Here we go....

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 3 (1/4-ounce) packages unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or more if you like)
• Corn Starch, and Confectioners' sugar, sifted, for coating (I did a cup of each)
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• Prep...
• Take a 9X9 inch pan (or 9X13 depending on how big you want them) and coat it with cooking spray. Then take you're parchment paper, and line the pan so that the edges go up the the rim of the pan. Coat the paper with cooking spray too.
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• Like this...

After that, take your gelatin packets, and cold water, and combine them in a bowl. Now ideally this will be you're stand mixer bowl, but if you're not using one, a regular mixing bowl is just fine.

Then in a heavy medium saucepan, combine you're sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup of water, and turn you're heat on med/high. With a wire whisk, stir to make sure all is incorporated, so your dry sugar doesn't burn. Stir it even couple of minuets until it boils. Now, I didn't have a candy thermometer, but you're goal is a 230-240 degree boil. This is a really hard boil, and should take you about 9 minutes to achieve this boil. Don't let it burn!! This means not walking away from it at all!!

Once it has reached that hard boil, let it boil for appox. 1 minute. Then add you're salt, and take you're pan to you're mixer, and pour the molten sugar into you're mixing bowl. With your whisk attached to the mixer, turn it on low. I draped a kitchen towel around my Kitchen Aid so it didn't spatter all over my kitchen.

Once it has combine, flip it into over drive!! Turn you're mixer on it's highest setting, and set you're timer for 12 minutes. YES, 12 MINUTES!

When it's done, it will be cooled enough to touch. Remover the bowl from the mixer, and pour into you're greased pan. Take a greased spatula, and smooth it out. Cover it with cling wrap and put it aside for 4 hours, or until it's set and completely cooled.

The next part is up to you. I flipped the pan and let it fall onto a powdered working surface, and dusted the top, and a pizza cutter with my corn starch/ powdered sugar mixture. At this point you could use cookie cutters. Then I proceeded to cut rows, then cubes. I then threw them into a bowl with the dusting mixture, and then a zip lock baggy. They will keep for 3 weeks.

My plan, when I make them again is to pour half of the "dough" into the greased pan. Then make a mixture of red food coloring, and peppermint extract, and drizzle that over whats in the pan. Then pour the remainder of the "dough" on top of the drizzle. Then take a butter knife and swirl it in the pan, to make a candy cane looking treat.

I would really like to give these to a few neighbors inviting them to the Christmas Eve service. We'll see. :)

Enjoy!!

NOTE: Because of the nature of the REALLY REALLY hot sugar, I would suggest you wait to make these until the kids are asleep!

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