Monday, July 27, 2009

Clouds of Sugar

It's that time again. That time of them month...you know, when hundreds of bloggers post the same recipe, maybe with different variations and different styles, but the same base. Yep, it's Daring Baker time. 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. In my slowly becoming sleep deprived brain, I thought it was a week later than it was and decided I'd make these for a wedding shower at work...that happens July 30! Oh, well! Because of my call schedule, I had to break this process up into parts. I made the dough one day and put it in the refrigerator. This was pretty easy, though I was concerned that the dough was a bit too sticky. The refrigeration didn't really help that either. When it came to making the marshmallow, I decided to change things up a bit....one change was purposeful, the other was accidental! I didn't have any corn syrup and didn't want to make a trip to the store to buy any, so I substituted cream of tartar (which google says you can do!). The accidental change was my omission of the gelatin, which I DID actually have! ANOTHER mistake I made was putting the marshmallow on before I cooked the cookies...which I thought was how I was supposed to do it. None of these mistakes really made a bad effect on the outcome. I wasn't bowled over by the results BUT my parents really liked them. After a long weekend of moving apartments, my parents discovered these treats and dug in. My dad said, "Oh, yeah!" He really liked the combo of all the different ingredients. His suggestion was to add some peanut butter under the marshmallow or even use cappucino chips (melted) to cover the whole thing. Overall, this was a pretty simple challenge, especially when broken up into separate steps on different days. Thanks, Nicole! If you want to see more results go here.

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 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 (oops...I just put them in without whisking)
• 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. (Oops! Baked AFTER adding the marshmallow topping)
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 (1/2 tsp cream of tartar)
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin (omitted accidentally)
• 2 tablespoons cold water (omitted accidentally)
• 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

Microwave chocolate chips and oil for 40 seconds, stir and repeat until melted and smooth.

10 comments:

The JR said...

This is one of those recipes that I would like to sample, but wouldn't like to make. They sure look good and I'm sure they tasted great, but I chose to go for the simple one bowl, throw them on pan and bake them recipes.

If you get a chance, go to my blog and read my post "horse bowling". After I got this injury, all my friends have said the same thing OMG have you seen a doctor. If you look at the pic posted on photobucket, then I can say a Dr. has looked at it so they'll leave me alone. LOL.

Ramona

isa said...

What a story! I'm so sorry for you.
They looks delicious and they came out very well! Love all the flavours you made.
Nicely done!

Sue said...

No matter the mishaps, your cookies turned out looking yummy!!! Way to go!
I made marshmallows at Christmas and was pressed for time for this challenge, so only made the milan:)

Abby said...

It does seem daring, but you make it seem very do-able!

Jaime said...

haha, despite everything, it looks like they still turned out well :)

Lisa said...

Claire! How could I forget my favorite cooking/baking MD? I'm sorry, I've been getting my butt whipped in PT for my knee, so I'm blurry all the time!

That said, your Mallows came out phenomenal considering your minor marshmallow dilemma. My dough was sticky too, so I just chilled it for two days, then floured as I rolled. I truly believe the humidity around the US and some other countries has been killer this year, hence all the problems with either one or both cookies - (plus all that lemon extract in the Milano, and the Mallow recipe yields being off).

Regardless, I think a Mallow dipped in melted cappuccino chips is a great idea! OR, how about those cinnamon chips you see all over the baking blogs? Hmm.... :)

Katrina said...

Ooh, they look awesome! PB added does sound great!

Emily said...

Mmm I've been reading about these cookies all day. They sound so good! I'm craving marshmallows now.

Elle said...

For cookies with lots of'mistakes' these are sure yummy looking!

Unknown said...

Ramona - I stopped by...yikes! That's scary. If anything changes you should see a doc. :-)

Isa - No biggie...I didn't realize my mistakes until AFTER I had made them!

Sue - thanks! I'd like to try the milan but didn't get around to it.

Abby - :-) I don't know about that, but thanks.

Jaime - Thanks.

Lisa - No worries! The cinnamon chips would be good, too.

Katrina - I saw someone else do that and they looked wonderful.

Emily - You could totally come up with some awesome recipe with marshmallows.

Elle - Sometimes, mistakes aren't so bad, huh?