Gingerbread marshmallows

After making that batch of fluffy peppermint swirl marshmallows the other day, I set out to make another festive holiday-flavored marshmallows.  But what flavor?  Thoughts of egg nog danced in my head (I must've seen them online somewhere), and cinnamon is always tasty, too, but then poof! as if a baking lightening bolt hit me, I thought Gingerbread!  And thus, that's what I made.

I doctored up two recipes and came up with my own.  These are super gingery spiced, but I think in the future I may try to get some molasses into the marshmallows, to give it that real authentic gingerbread flavor.  Not that there's anything wrong with these -- they have a pop of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg (I left out cloves.  I hate cloves.  But I put them in the recipe below because if you love cloves, or want that real gingerbread flavor, I most definitely won't hold it against you!).

I keep getting the fluffiest marshmallows with this (base) recipe, and end up cutting them into squares that are over 2" cubes, so when it came to these gingerbread marshmallows, and the fact that I wanted to cut them with a cookie cutter (shaped marshmallows -- could I get any cuter?!), I ended up using a larger pan to get flatter marshmallows -- and they were STILL fluffy.  But the final product is so cute!

Gingerbread Marshmallows
adapted from this recipe, and my go-to marshmallow recipe

For the Marshmallows:

1 cup water, divided
3 Tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp unflavored powdered gelatin (3 x 1/4 oz envelopes)
2 cups granulated white sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 tsp fine salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (in a pinch, pre-ground works, which is what I used)
pinch of cloves (I left these out, but for the real gingerbread flavor, I'd use them)

For the coating:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup corn starch

Directions:

Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, pour in 1/2 cup of water and sprinkle the gelatin on top.
Let stand.

In a medium sauce pain over high heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup of water.
Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.
Stop stirring once the mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Continue boiling for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat.
CAREFULLY pour the hot mixture into a 2-cup glass measuring cup.

Turn the mixer to low and mix he gelatin a bit to loosen it.
Very slowly and carefully add the hot sugar mixture by pouring it gently down the side of the bowl.
Continue to mix on low until all the sugar mixture is added.

Turn the mixture to high and whip the mixture for 2 minutes.
Then, add the dry spices.
Continue whipping until almost tripled in size, about 8-10 more minutes.
If you have a smaller mixer bowl, you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to avoid the batter from overflowing as it grown.
Stop the mixer, add the vanilla, and then whip briefly to combine.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan.
Use a spatula or bench scraper to spread the marshmallow evenly into the pan, pushing it down into the corners.
Work quickly, as the marshmallow becomes more difficult to manipulate as it begins to set.

Spray a sheet of plastic wrap liberally with cooking spray and lay it across the top of the marshmallow, spayed side down.
Using your fingers, smooth the plastic wrap on top of the marshmallows a bit to seal it smoothly and tightly against the mixture.

Leave the marshmallow to set at room temperature for at least 3 hours or, even better, overnight.
The marshmallow will be too sticky and soft to cut if you try too soon.

When ready to cut the marshmallows, mix the coating ingredients in a bowl.

When the marshmallows are ready, grab the edges of the parchment and life the marshmallow from the pan.

Remove the plastic wrap from the top.
Take a small handful of coating mixture and spread over the top of the marshmallow slab.
Using a pizza cutter or large knife, cut the slab into 1 x 1 inch squares, or use a small cookie cutter.
Roll each cut marshmallow into the coating mixture.
Lay them on a baking sheet to dry slightly before packaging them up (about 30-45 minutes)

Espresso bark

I made some trays of holiday treats this year for our doormen, B's coworkers, and the baristas at my favorite coffee shop. I wanted a nice mix of candies, marshmallows, and cookies.  Which is exactly what I made!  In terms of candies, my super-awesome homemade peppermint bark made the cut (duh!), as did this (insanely easy, melt-in-your-mouth delicious) espresso bark!

This bark......Oh, this bark!  It's melt in your mouth soft but not too sweet and totally caffeinated!  It was a shame that there were so many little shards of it left on the cutting board after I cut it, so I just had to sample every.  last.  one of them.  P.S. that "it was a shame" part was dripping in sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell...

And the best part?  There are THREE ingredients.  Three.  Two different kinds of chocolate chips and roughly ground espresso beans.  And it's amazing!  I bet it would be awesome in homemade vanilla or coffee ice cream (I still haven't tried homemade ice cream....) or in chocolate chip or double chocolate cookies....which I'm totally going to have to real soon!

Espresso Bark
Adapted from The Food Poet (I changed their coffee bark to espresso bark)

Ingredients:

2 cups Extra Dark Chocolate chips
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup whole espresso beans

4 cups of water

Directions:

Pour espresso beans into a coffee grinder and grind until almost fine.  Some slightly bigger chunks are fine.  This allows for a bit more coarseness of beans for texture.

Pour water into a heavy pot.
In a double boiler, pour in the chocolate chips.
Place double boiler over heavy pot.

Cover a baking sheet with sides with a sheet of parchment paper.

Stir the chocolate chips as they begin melting.
Continue stirring them until smooth.
Remove from the heat.

Stir the ground espresso beans into the smooth chocolate until well integrated.
Spoon the chocolate-espresso mixture onto the parchment-lined sheet.  Take care to work it into the corners and try to maintain a level surface.

Place the sheet in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
Break into chunks or chop with a heavy knife.

Enjoy, and try to leave enough over to give as gifts or share with others!

Spritz cookies

This fall, I signed up for my second The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  In case you missed my post last year, here's a quick rundown: It's really a fantastic event -- a cookie swap of epic proportions, so to speak.  The premise is this: sign up.  Get 3 matches emailed to you.  Bake 3 dozen cookies.  Mail 1 dozen cookies to each match.  Receive 1 dozen cookies from 3 bloggers who received your name as their match.  Blog about your cookies.  And the best part (the other best part, the best part besides receiving 3 dozen cookies mailed.  to.  your.  door!)?  Your $4 admission fee goes to Cookies for Kids' Cancer -- which really helps combine two of my passions: baking and helping kids (I am a pediatric nurse practitioner, after all!).

So last year I made some killer cranberry shortbread cookies.  They were awesome.  I actually made them four different ways, and ended up deciding the cranberry ones were the best.  This year I went with a classic spritz cookie.  A delicious crumbly not-to-sweet butter cookie that I topped with just a sprinkling of colorful nonpareils for a pop of color.  b and his mom were more than happy to be my taste testers for these a few days before I made my cookie swap cookies.  His coworkers were huge fans, too!

Spritz Cookies 
From America's Test Kitchen Step by Step Holiday Baking

Ingredients:

1 large egg yolk
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cps all-purpose flour

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position.
Heat oven to 375F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Set aside.

Whisk egg yolk, cream, and vanilla in a small bowl until combined.
Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Scrape down bowl as needed.
Reduce speed to medium.
Add egg yolk mixture.
Beat until incorporated.

Reduce speed to low.
Gradually beat in flour until combined, scraping down bowl as needed.
Give dough a final stir by hand.

If using cookie press, follow directions on the press.  If using pastry bag, insert star tip and fill bag halfway with dough.  (I used different tips to make different shapes.)
Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle about 1/2 inch above the prepared tray.
Pipe cookies, spacing them about 1.5 inches apart.
Refill cookie press/pastry bag as needed.
Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until light golden brown, 10-12 minutes.
Rotate sheet halfway through baking.

Let cookies cool on sheets for 10-15 minutes.
Transfer to wire rack to cool.
Let cool completely before serving (or packaging up to mail ;-)).

Peppermint marshmallows

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Nothing compares to a homemade marshmallow!  I used to be afraid of them, afraid to make them that is, until I came across one recipe.  One life altering recipe.  And you know what happened the other day when I went to get it?  It had disappeared -- the original blog where I found it gave me one of those error messages.  But then I realized something -- it's a good thing I type out all the recipes that I make on the blog (P.S. as of this morning the original site was back up and running....phew!).

Here's the thing.  This recipe is INSANELY easy.  No candy thermometer.  Just "boil for one minute."  I kid you not.  So.  Easy!

And adaptable.  Like these peppermint marshmallows I made last night.  I took a plain vanilla marshmallow recipe and made it a red-swirled fluffy peppermint marshmallow.  I even piped a little bit of the leftovers into a mini ice cream cone and made a super cute treat.  But I digress....fluffy pepperminty marshmallow pillows of deliciousness.  Make yourself a cup of hot cocoa and dig in!

Peppermint Marshmallows
Adapted by yours truly from this recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup of water, divided
3 envelopes unflavored powdered gelatin (3 Tbsp + 1.5 Tbsp)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 tsp peppermint extract (I used an organic peppermint oil that I had on hand)
5 - 10 drops red food coloring

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup corn starch

Directions:

Spray a 9x9" pan with cooking spray.
Line with parchment paper.

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, pour in 1/2 cup water.
Sprinkle gelatin on top.
Let stand.

In a medium saucepan over high heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining cup of water.
Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.
Stop stirring and once mixture comes to a rolling boil, continue boiling for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Carefully pour mixture into a 2-cup measuring cup.

Turn the mixer to low.
Mix the gelatin to loosen a bit.
Very slowly and carefully add the hot mixture by pouring it gently down the side of the bowl.
Continue to mix on low until all the sugar mixture is added.

Turn the mixer to high.
Whip the mixture for 10-12 minutes until the marshmallow batter almost triples in size and becomes very thick.
If you have a smaller mixer bowl, you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to avoid the batter overflowing.
Stop the mixer.
Add the peppermint.
Whip briefly to combine.
Taste the mixture -- if it's not minty enough for your taste, continue adding peppermint, 1/4 tsp at a time, until you reach the level of mintiness that you want.

If you want yours to look like mine, add 5 drops of red food coloring over the top of the mixture in different places.
Turn the mixer on for a few seconds to incorporate the coloring.
It will look pink but still have some sections that are white.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.  I used a rubber spatula for this.
Use the spatula or a bench scraper to spread the marshmallow evenly in the pan, pushing it down into the corners.
Work quickly, as the marshmallow becomes more difficult to manipulate as it begins to set.

Drop 1 drop of red food coloring in each of the corners and one in the center.  
Using a knife, or even your finger, quickly swirl the red drops into the marshmallow batter to get awesome red swirls (seen above).

Spray a sheet of plastic wrap liberally with cooking spray and lay it across the top of the marshmallows, sprayed side down.
Using your fingers, smooth the plastic wrap on top of the marshmallows to seal it smoothly and tightly against the mixture.

Leave the marshmallows to set at room temperature for at least 3 hours (can sit overnight).
They'll be too sticky and soft to cut if you try too soon.

Mix together the corn starch and powdered sugar.
Sprinkle some liberally onto a cutting board.
Remove the plastic wrap and flip the marshmallows onto the prepared board.
Rub more powdered sugar-corn starch mixture on top of the slab of marshmallow.

Using a pizza cutter or large knife, cut the slab into 1 x 1 inch squares.
Roll each in the powdered sugar-corn starch mixture.
Shake off excess coating and allow to dry slightly before packaging them up.

I think they're super cute tied up in a bag with a mini candy cane attached.  But that's just me ;-)

Sugar cookie donuts

With tonight being the first night of Channukkah, and preexisting plans for tonight, I wanted to make donuts but didn't have the patience to try deep frying for the first time.  A while ago I had seen someone make donut shaped cookies and thought they were adorable, but was saddened to read that people who made them were unhappy with the way they tasted.

So I went on a google search and found these cookies, which looked good and pretty tasty, too.  I went a little crazy with the decorations because, well, why not?

Sugar Cookie "Donuts"
From Lovely Little Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extrat
2 Tbsp Greek yogurt (I was out, so I used sour cream)
2 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
6 Tbsp half and half (I used cream, and I needed more than 6 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp cocoa powder (I used Dutch press)
1/4 tsp almond extract (I used vanilla extract instead)
Food coloring, if using
Nonpareils, sprinkles, other decorations

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the egg and mix.
Add vanilla and almond extracts, and Greek yogurt.
Beat until smooth and creamy.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour and baking soda.
Gradually add dry ingredients to the batter and mix until combined.

Place tablespoon sized balls of dough into each section of a mini donut baking pan.
Press the dough around the donut mold, making sure to push it into the mold and to make sure that the center piece is visible.

Bake for 7-8 minutes.
All to cool for another 7-8 minutes in the pan before removing.
To remove, gently twist the donut to loosen the edges.
Turn the pan upside down and the cookies should come right out, if not, then give the pan a firm whack on the counter.

Make the glaze.
I wanted some chocolate glazed and some vanilla, so I did the following:
Place 1 cup of powdered sugar in 1 bowl with 1 Tbsp cocoa powder.
Add in 3 Tbsp of half and half or cream.
Mix well until you get a glaze-like consistency.
If too thick, add cream/half and half 1 tsp at a time to thin it out until you get the desired consistency.

In another bowl, add 1 cup of powdered sugar.
Add in 3 Tbsp of half and half or cream and the 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract.
Mix well until you get a glaze-like consistency.
If too thick, add cream/half and half 1 tsp at a time to thin it out until you get the desired consistency.

Dip the top of the cooled cookies into the glaze of your choice.
Allow the excess to drip back into the bowl before placing them on a cooling rack.
Sprinkle with nonpareils/sprinkles/decorations while the glaze is still wet.

You can also drizzle glaze on top of dipped cookies, as I did with some. 
Allow the dipped cookies to dry slightly.
Place contrasting colored glaze in a ziplock bag with a small corner cut off .
Drizzle icing onto cookies.