s'mores & homemade marshmallows

So I was all pumped to make homemade Peeps last Easter weekend but it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Instead I turned my ooey-gooey marshmallows into s'mores. Yum!!!

S'mores

marshmallows (store bought or homemade)

chocolate

graham crackers

Snap your graham crackers in half, grab a clean unlined baking sheet and lay out your graham crackers. In the meantime, place an oven rack at the highest notch in your oven and set it to high broil.

Make as many as you want. Sadly I'm only making four. 

Place into oven. Don't walk away. Just hang out and stare into your oven because the marshmallows brown pretty fast. Once they have browned to your liking, take them out.

They go from this.....

to this.....

In seconds.

Sandwich the gooey halves together and enjoy!

Homemade (Toasted Coconut) Marshmallows

recipe from Food Network's Ina Garten

My heart was set on making marshmallows Peeps and toasted coconut marshmallows last weekend, but cutting out marshmallow Peeps with a bunny shaped cookie cutter just wasn't cuttin' it. At least my original plan for toasted coconut marshmallows came through.....

INGREDIENTS

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
• 3 - 4 ounces sweetened coconut, toasted

DIRECTIONS

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup. Toast your coconut in a dry pan over medium heat. The coconut toasts quickly, so watch it carefully. Once toasted, set aside.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

***Before I did the following steps, I greased my pan lightly with vegetable oil - a light spray or wipe with a paper towel. That way the confectioners' sugar and coconut stuck to the dish a little bit.*** With a sieve, generously dust an 8 by 8-inch nonmetal dish with confectioners' sugar and sprinkle half of the toasted coconut in another 8 by 8-inch nonmetal pan. ***I used my metal baking pans and it seemed to work out perfectly.***

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth the top with damp hands, and dust with more confectioners' sugar and sprinkle with more toasted coconut. Allow to stand uncovered overnight until it dries out.

PS.....This stuff is super sticky and stringy!!! You may not get all of it our of your bowl. Don't worry, you'll yield more than enough marshmallows.

Run your pairing knife or small offset spatula around the edges of your pans. Turn the marshmallows onto a board and cut them in squares. ***I find using a pizza wheel cutter works best.*** Dust them with more confectioners' sugar for plain marshmallows and/or roll in more toasted coconut for toasted coconut ones.