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.