Marshmallows!

I made these as part of my Valentine's Day gifts to my husband and two boys along with the peanut butter cups. They love marshmallows. My sister-in-laws have a crafty blog with the recipe http://www.rootsandwingsco.blogspot.com/ in the 14 day's of Valentine's posts. Check it out to see what they did.

To make it easy here is the recipe:

Marshmallows Recipe

3 envelopes of Knox gelatin (oops I used 4 and they came out great, not sure how this would change the outcome, mine were very creamy)

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cups corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Powdered sugar for dredging* see what I used below

In the bowl of an electric mixer (preferably a stand mixer), sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for 10 minutes. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Pour boiling syrup into gelatin and mix at high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with foil and brush with oil or non-stick spray. Also brush your spatula with oil.

Add vanilla and incorporate into mixture.

Scrape the marshmallow mixture into the lined sheet pan and spread evenly. Cover with another piece of foil brushed with oil. Let mixture sit for a few hours. Remove from pan, dredge the marshmallow slab with confectioners’ sugar and cut into equal pieces with a chef’s knife. Be sure to coat your knife between each cut with confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar) to make it easier to cut. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in powdered sugar or dip in chocolate.

*Instead of just plain powdered sugar I used Vanilla Frosting mix by Cherrybrook Kitchen and it is all natural, Gluten and Dairy free. http://www.cherrybrookkitchen.com/. It is basically powdered sugar, vanilla and sea salt. If you have powdered vanilla you could make your own. The nice thing is that it added a bit more vanilla flavor, which added a nice touch. My sister-in-laws said that theirs came out a bit more bland than they would have liked. I found mine to be quite tasty and not bland at all. I also used my home-made vanilla for this. My sister-in-law also used her home-made vanilla but mine has a touch of dark rum in it which adds a bit of sweetness to it.

You could coat them with crushed candy canes or any other favorite crushable candies. Just put them in the blender or food processer and make them into a powder. These are quite sticky and need to be coated with something so they are easier to handle and don't stick together.