Monday, September 10, 2007

Mallowsmores

Marshmallows are a happy food. Usually even picky eaters can be coaxed into eating a marshmallow and my children (not picky eaters when it comes to sugar) beam when presented with marshmallows. What's not to like? They are sweet, squishy, gooey, and totally delicious. Especially when homemade. Homemade marshmallows were the first thing I ever blogged about.The blog gave me an excuse to make cool things I'd always wanted to try making. The marshmallows were such a success that I have made them several times since then.

Having "mastered" the marshmallow, my husband started dropping hints that I should now tackle a childhood favorite cookie of his, a marshmallow Puff - a cookie base, topped with a marshmallow, and all of this coated with chocolate. The same ingredients as that camping staple, the s'more. In reasearching the cookie I was amazed at how popular this combo is. In the USA, Mallomars are king, but around the globe there are different but very similar versions. In Canada they're called Whippet Cookies, in the UK it is a Tunnock's teacake, in Australia Arnott's Chocolate Royal's fill the gap. Israel's Creambo is wildly popular and Denmark, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, and New Zealand all have their own version.

In my quest for the right recipe, once again, the library came through for me. I checked out a book called The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book and found a recipe for chocolate marshmallow cookies. I altered it slightly to use homemade marshmallows, but you can use store-bought and I won't tell. Your friends and family will be impressed either way and won't ask too many questions when you offer them a beautiful chocolate-dipped, marshmallow topped cookie (whatever you choose to call it).

Mallowsmores
adapted from The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book

Makes about 3 dozen small cookies

1 cup plus 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp (1 stick) cool, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp honey
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
18 large marshmallows (homemade or store bought)
12 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined; set aside.

2- Soften the butter in a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat the mixture until fluffy and light, about 1 more minute. Beat in the honey, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Continue beating until airy and light, about 30 seconds.

3- Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula stir in the graham cracker crumbs. Then stir in the prepared flour mixture just until incorporated. The batter will be very soft but will hold together. Form it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, flatten into a thick disk, seal, and place in the refrigerator until firm but not rock hard, about 1 hour, but not more than 3 hours.

4- Meanwhile, position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.

5- When firm, divide the dough in half; flatten each half a bit. Place each half between two fresh sheets of plastic wrap; lay one piece of dough on your work surface and return the other to the refrigerator. Roll the disk into a square 1/4 inch thick. Remove the top sheet of plastic wrap and cut the dough into small squares, about 1-1/2". If you have leftovers, gather them together, cover with plastic wrap, chill, and reroll in an hour. If you're using store-bought marshmallows, cut the dough into circles, about 1 to 1-1/2" across.

6- Use a metal spatula to transfer the cut-out squares to a large, ungreased baking sheet, preferably nonstick, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned and somewhat springy to the touch.

7- While the cookies are baking, cut the marshmallows in half horizontally.

8- The moment the cookies come out of the oven, while they're still hot and on the baking sheet, place one cut marshmallow sticky side down on each cookie, so that the marshmallow begins to soften. Once all the cookies are topped, go over them all again, pressing down slightly to that the marshmallow mushes to the edge of the cookie. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheet.

9- Repeat with the second batch of dough.

10- Once all the cookies are cool, place the chocolate in a medium bowl that fits snugly over a medium pot with an inch of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate has almost melted, being careful not to let any steam get into the chocolate. Remove from the heat and continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Transfer to a deep bowl for dipping and cool for 5 minutes.

11- Lay a large sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface, then set a wire rack on top of the plastic wrap. Pick up one cookie and dip it marshmallow side down into the melted chocolate, letting the chocolate come up to the crisp cookie and cover its side but not the bottom. Pull the cookie u, gently shake any excess chocolate back into the bowl, and place the cookie marshmallow side up on the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Let stand for about 1 hour, perhaps 90 minutes to harden.


19 comments:

  1. These look marvelous. I am thinking of a Moon Pies, but way yummier!

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  2. It was really sweet of you to post the link for that sugar-free ice cream recipe. The unfortunate truth is that I am also allergic to cow and goat milk products. So if I splurge and eat ice cream, I'm gonna splurge all the way. But I'm learning to live without. I still enjoy making stuff from your recipes even if I can only have a little taste.

    **doffs her cap and vanishes**

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  3. Oh Lynn, these are so wonderful! I am not a big fan of marshmallows, but I do them enjoy occasionally. your mallowsmores sound and look very good though!

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  4. Those would make really nice gifts! They look so professional!

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  5. Ooooooooooh!! Now this I definitely have to make - hopefully the weather will clear up by the weekend so I can organize a picnic with my chocolate-lovin' girlfriends who will go nuts for this!

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  6. Yum yum yum. Those look and sound delicious. I've been wanting to make homemade marshmallows for a while, mostly because regular marshmallows use gelatin and I wanted to try making them with agar. I was just going to make rice krispy squares with them (plain yes but I haven't made them for so long!) but now I want to make these too! :)

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  7. Gilding the lily, but looks so good.

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  8. These look and sound wonderful!!! :D Terrific write up Lynn!

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  9. Dianne - dainty-sized moon pies.

    Gabe - well, at least doing without is good for the figure!

    Anh - thanks! You are sweet to say so when you don't even like marshmallows. :-)

    Brilynn - Oooh, good idea! When's your birthday?

    Ellie- What fun! A picnic with girlfriends and chocolate. Doesn't get much better than that!

    Eatme Delicious - Let me know how the agar marshmallows work out. I looked for a recipe briefly, but without much success.

    Melinda - but it's chocolate guilding, so it's totally worthwhile.

    BZ - Thanks, doll!

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  10. Chocolate is definitely on my list of favourite things to eat, But I do need to work on my cooking with chocolate skills. I am very tempted to try your mellowsmores very soon. Have tomorrow off, so perhaps that is a good project.

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  11. Oh those look fantastic. I love marshmallows too.

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  12. Lynn, these looks so pretty...I love the marbled effect, just lovely. And I love the name Mallowsmores. I can see myself just eating one right after the other! :-)

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  13. I know what I'm baking when I come home from school. I absolutely love the combination of marshmallows and chocolate.

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  14. I'm not a big marshmallow fan but I bet my kids would love this (including me as well) This is a fabulous idea :) You're a pro!

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  15. They look so cute, if only I were your neighbour! :)

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  16. They look wonderful! I am a freak who likes to make marshmallows but not eat them (unless in s'mores), only once or twice a week. I admire all your work though!

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  17. These look fantastic! I've never made homemade marshmallows before but they sure sound good.

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  18. Would you believe I never liked marshmallows as a kid or an adult? In fact, the first marshmallow I ever liked was a homemade one dipped in premium chocolate made by my mother-in-law, and that was only last year! So, chances are I'd like yours. I think I like the contrasting texture of the firm chocolate against the squishy marshmallow. Yours look great!

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  19. mmmmmmm that luks soooooooo gud even though im on a diet i think i would help my self to a couple of those keep up the gud work

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