Sunday, July 26, 2009

July Daring Baker Challenge


The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.


We had the choice of making one or both of the cookies, plus the option of making homemade marshmallows for the marshmallow cookies. I had every intention of making all three items and was actually excited about it.


So, what happened? I didn't even read the recipe until yesterday. Oops. Not so smart on my part.


I decided to start with the marshmallow cookies and debated for a good hour about whether or not to make the marshmallows from scratch. Even though I do want to try my hand at making marshmallows, time was not on my side yesterday. I had marshmallows in the cupboard and ended up using those.


I cut the recipe in half since I was going to make the Milan cookies, too. I ended up with 30+ marshmallow cookies (with a half batch!!!). This is when I decided that I wouldn't make the Milans. There is no way Nathan and I were going to eat that many cookies.


The marshmallow cookies were fantastic, though! I will definately make them again, and hopefully next time I will make my own marshmallows!


Mallows

Gale Gand


• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter

• 3 eggs, whisked together

• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows

• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows


1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.


2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.


3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.


4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.


5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.


6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.


8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.


9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.


10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.


11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.


12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.


13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.


Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.


Homemade Marshmallows


• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup light corn syrup

• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar

• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin

• 2 tablespoons cold water

• 2 egg whites , room temperature

• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.

2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.

3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.

4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.

5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.

6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:


• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate

• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water

12 comments:

Coleens Recipes said...

I was JUST reading a recipe for home made marshmallows.......these look wonderful.

Megan said...

I'm glad to know that if I want to make these, I should quarter the recipe. That's a lot of cookies otherwise!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

They look good and I certainly wouldn't have known that it wasn't all homemade.
~ingrid

Shelby said...

I too really want to make homemade marshmallows someday...These cookies sound awesome~! Yummy. lol. Can you tell I'm dieting. I want to eat everything! ha ha ha.

Anonymous said...

Your mallows look great! I need to make them, everyone is raving about them.

teresa said...

what a fun daring bakers recipe! i've never done homemade marshmallows, but i'd love to!

Lori said...

Goodness I can see why there are lots of sweets. Sweet Melissa, TWD and DB. Goodness gracious. How come you are not as big as a house. What exactly is your secret?

I actually just gave all my Milan(o)'s away. I ate liek five of them and siad oh yeah, baby, you are going to the enighbors.

Great job Christine. I love your new blog look and the new picture of your family.

Katy ~ said...

Oh my gosh do these look divine!!! I luuuuv mallow cookies! My mouth is watering looking at your fabulous photo!!

Jaime said...

super cute cookies! glad to know they are just as good w/store bought marshmallows :)

J.L. Danger said...

This?! This is all I will be thinking about now until I get one!

Lillian said...

Yours look so much neater than mine. Great job!

Engineer Baker said...

I definitely think you dodged a bullet here - people weren't really fans of the milanos, so just making the mallows was the right way to go! Yours look wonderful!

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