Snowman Marshmallows
Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: December 17, 2022
This is actually a project I did in January, but since we have just started getting snow here recently, I thought it would be appropriate. My daughter needed to take something to school for her Discover and Share that had a winter theme. So I thought snowmen marshmallows would be cute. I found a recipe for homemade marshmallows at. It looked easy, albeit perhaps messy. But, hey, with two small kids, it’s always messy here anyway.
First I tested the recipe to make sure they would taste good and come out okay.
Homemade Marshmallows
by My Baking Addiction
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water, divided
- 3 (.25 oz.) packages, unflavored gelatin
- 2/3 cup light corn syrup
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
Cooking Directions
- Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with plastic wrap and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Spray another piece of plastic wrap to cover the top, and set aside.
- Place 1/2 cup of water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and sprinkle gelatin on top of water to soak.
- While gelatin is soaking, combine 1/4 cup of water, corn syrup, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Boil the mixture hard for 1 minute.
- Carefully pour the hot sugar mixture into the gelatin mixture and beat on high for 12 minutes with electric mixer, until the mixture is fluffy and forms stiff peaks. Add in vanilla extract and beat until just combined.
- Pour the marshmallow mixture into the prepared baking dish, using a greased spatula to smooth the top. Cover the candy with the piece of prepared plastic wrap, pressing it down lightly to seal the covering to the top of the candy.
- Allow the marshmallow candy to rest for 4 hours or overnight.
- Mix together cornstarch and confectioner’s sugar in a shallow dish. Using oiled scissors or an oiled kitchen knife, cut the marshmallow candy into strips, then into 1 inch squares. Dredge the marshmallows lightly in the cornstarch mixture and store in an airtight container.
I did use clear vanilla extract as she suggested to keep the marshmallows pure white. Let me just say one thing though, the smell of the hot corn syrup mixture combined with the gelatin as it is being mixed is very off putting. It smelled like manure in my kitchen and I was very afraid of what these marshmallows would taste like, but have no fear, the smell does go away and does not affect the taste.
The first batch I made, I just cut them into squares. Okay, very large squares. Here is my assistant dredging them in cornstarch and confectioner’s sugar.
And here she is taste testing for me. She gave them her seal of approval. They really were quite good. Much better than the store bought ones. They are lighter and fluffier.
The real test for me, was to have some with a cup of hot cocoa. Yep, they were delicious in my book too. So then I knew I would make more and shape them into snowman for the kids. At first I was going to cut the marshmallows into circles and stack them up on a candy stick to make the snowmen, but when I went to get my circle cookie cutter, I found a snowman cookie cutter and went a different route.
I then when to the store to see what kind of candy I could find to decorate with. I found mini M&M’s for the buttons, some sour candy strips for the scarves, and orange slices for the nose. I had some black glitter gel for the hat, eyes, and mouth and I used cookie icing to glue things together.
I cut small triangles out of the orange slices to make the carrot nose.
I cut the sour candy strips in two lengthwise for the scarves and even fringed the ends by making small slits with a sharp knife.
Here is the completed project. The black icing didn’t spread as well as I thought, so I just ended up using the black gel for the hat, eyes, and mouth. I think they came out pretty well.
My daughter was excited to see them. I made girl ones and boy ones for her classmates.
The kids really did like them and they tasted good. I will bookmark this recipe to do again next year.
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Mocha Swirl M&M; Cookies
Well, thank you Blizzard of 2013 for dumping over two feet of snow in my yard. And my hubby thanks you for all the work you have given him. As if that wasn’t enough, the day of the blizzard our oil furnace decided to stop working. Blizzard and no heat, yay bonus! Oh and the best part is our street was not plowed. The only way out was the path my husband had snow-blown on the sidewalk, leading to the main street that was plowed. Thank goodness we are the first house on the block. So I packed my bags, layered up the kids and myself in our snowsuits, and trekked up the hill to meet my brother in his truck. He drove us to my mom’s house, where I had to wait in the truck with two impatient kids while my father and two of my brother’s finished snow-blowing my parent’s very long driveway.
My husband had stayed behind to try to fix the furnace, but wasn’t able to get it completely working till the following day. But he was able to come enjoy a sleepover at my parent’s house with the rest of us. At least we had a warm place to stay. We were able to go home Sunday, but didn’t venture out very far. Most streets are still not plowed, those that are have only one car width open. Our neighbors got desperate to get out and everyone with a snow blower was in the street trying to clear a path out of the neighborhood.
My daughter was out of school on Friday, today and now tomorrow also because the school parking lots were not cleared. No one knows where to put all this snow. And today we had freezing rain on top of it. Sorry for the rant, but I have been stuck in this house for too long. Hopefully, it will be safe to go back to work tomorrow. If not, I may have to bake again. We only have four more of these cookies left.
Wanna make some of your own? Here are the ingredients. Not too complicated. If you can’t find the Jif Mocha Cappuccino spread, you can always substitute with Nutella.
You can go the easy route and just make regular cookies. Or you can fancy them up a bit. I found a Wilton heart shaped whoopie pie pan on clearance at Target and used it to make some heart shaped cookie.
I used the same amount of dough as the other cookies, except I flatten it out into the heart shaped cavities.
You can leave them plain or decorate them with some frosting and sprinkles. I used some Betty Crocker Decorating Icing. It worked out well. You just can’t stack them, because the frosting doesn’t harden. But it sure is easy and quick to use.
Plain or decorated, they taste just as good. So make some for your sweetheart or treat yourself to some.
Mocha Swirl M&M Cookies
by The Sweet Chick
Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes
Keywords: bake dessert snack mocha cappuccino spread cookie American
Ingredients (36 cookies)
For the cookies
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup Jif Mocha Cappuccino spread
- 1 cup M&M’s
For the topping
- 1 can Betty Crocker Decorating Icing
- sprinkles
Instructions
For the cookies
Preheat oven to 375ºF
Blend together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
In a stand mixer, beat together butter and shortening until creamy.
Add sugar and vanilla and beat medium speed until well blended.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between.
Add flour mixture, and beat on low until all incorporated.
By hand, mix in the Mocha Cappuccino spread just until you get a marble effect.
Then mix in M&M’s by hand as not to break them.
Then drop by cookie scoop full into the heart cavities of you greased baking pan or on a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
If using the heart shaped baking pan, flatten out the dough by hand so it evenly fills out the heart cavities.
Bake at 375ºF for 7 minutes, then remove from oven and wait 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before adding any toppings. (Or just eat one now, no one will notice.)
For the topping
Attached one of the enclosed nozzles to the Decorating Icing can. I used the star tip. Decorate as desired, then add sprinkles if you want.
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