Even Better S'Mores

Even Better S’Mores

In less than the time it would take you to go to the store (and, as far as I know, you can’t even BUY these because no one markets them commercially) you can make your own appropriately-sized  s’more marshmallows that will make you the envy of the campfire and fire pit crowd. There’s even a bonus: these marshmallows will be square and cover every corner of your s’mores…..which definitely works for our crowd.

The recipe is below. You will want to make your s’mores marshmallows the day before or at least three hours ahead of your campfire fun.  I do want to mention that the basic marshmallow recipe is from Food.com; the caramel and/or peanut butter  and/or chip twist is my invention – which I share with you because EVERYONE who’s tasted them loves them.  These twisted marshmallows also work well with hot chocolate (something to tuck away in the memory banks for fall!) and leftover sauces for twists *may* have been added to certain cups of coffee at our house….please don’t judge.

Ingredients

Yield  96 1-inch marshmallows or 48 2-inch s’more size marshmallows.  

·         1 cup confectioners' sugar

·         2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin

·         2 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons unflavored gelatin (3.5 envelopes)

·         ¹⁄₂ cup cold water

·         2 cups granulated sugar

·         ¹⁄₂ cup light corn syrup

·         ¹⁄₂ cup hot water (about 115 F)

·         ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt

·         2 large egg whites

·         1 teaspoon vanilla

Twists:  

Caramel Sauce – Use about ½ of an 11.75 oz jar of your favorite ice cream caramel and refrigerate the rest OR make your own. Pinterest is full of recipes you can try, but here’s an easy one that I make to flavor homemade caramel frosting and for caramel-twisted marshmallows:

·        1 cup brown sugar

·        ½ cup butter

·        ¼ cup milk

·        1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring  brown sugar, butter, and milk to a gentle boil and cook until the mixture thickens – about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. The mixture will thicken as it cools.

Peanut Butter Sauce – Again, there are tons of recipes for peanut butter sauce on Pinterest, but here is one of our favorites. Please do be conscientious, though, if your guest list includes persons with peanut allergies, to label clearly and keep separated any marshmallows with peanut butter sauce.

·        ½ cup creamy peanut butter

·        ½ cup sweetened condensed milk (refrigerate in a covered container the leftover to make other sauces or use for Sunday morning coffee)

·        1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·        5 tablespoons of water

Stir the peanut butter and condensed milk together over low heat until smooth.  Add the water and continue stirring to incorporate. Add vanilla. Pour into a jar or large measuring cup to cool. It will thicken as it cools. Cover and refrigerate any leftover sauce.

Chocolate Sauce – You can use any commercially prepared chocolate sauce – but thicker is better. Hersheys will work, but be rather sparing, as it is quite liquid. Smuckers hot fudge sauce – or any hot fudge sauce, really, will be thicker and richer.

Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Sauce – Just a note, this is also a great ice cream sauce. And ditto for the peanut allergy precaution above. You can purchase this commercially or try our homemade version:

·        ¼ cup creamy peanut butter

·        ¼ cup chocolate fudge sauce

·        2 tablespoons corn syrup

·        1 teaspoon vanilla flavored extract

Stir together, adding vanilla last. You can substitute 12 oz (1 small bag) of chocolate chips for the hot fudge sauce, but you would then use 1 can of sweetened condensed milk + 2 tablespoons milk instead of corn syrup, and you would want to heat the condensed milk, milk, peanut butter and chocolate chips together over low heat to melt the chocolate chips and add vanilla once removed from heat.

***Chocolate chips, mint chips, caramel chips, peanut butter chips or any combination you like/have on hand also work in a pinch. Just sprinkle on top of the hot marshmallow mixture and cut through with a knife just like you would the sauce.

MARSHMALLOW Directions See How It's Made

1.      Oil bottom and sides of a 13x9x2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners' sugar.

2.      In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let stand to soften.

3.      In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, hot 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.

4.      With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about 6 minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. In a large bowl with cleaned beaters beat whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan and Add your preferred twist: Drizzle your preferred flavor of twist over the top of the hot marshmallow mixture and then cut it in with a knife the way you would with cake batter.

5.      Sift 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar evenly over top.

6.      Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least 3 hours, and up to 1 day.

7.      Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up 1 corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and let drop onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly 1-inch cubes. Sift remaining confectioners' sugar into a large bowl and add marshmallows in batches, tossing to evenly coat. Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week.