Lesson #183: Sweet Potato & Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream

This recipe is for a novelty ice cream. How many times have you tasted sweet potato ice cream? If you are like me, the answer is zero. At least until you try this recipe! :)

It really, truly does taste like sweet potato. That can either be a good or bad thing. The sweet potato ice cream base is flavored with cinnamon and molasses and the toasted marshmallows add a little extra sweetness & smokey flavor. I liked it enough to have a few spoonfuls of it, while my husband ate a few bowls of it. For him, the best part about this is the toasted marshmallows which are folded into the ice cream after it's churned.

LESSON LEARNED: Toast the mini marshmallows over a gas burner or use a kitchen torch. Work quickly - they melt fast!

Recipe for Sweet Potato and Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream

Lesson #178: Toasted Marshmallow Creme Brulee

Whenever we go out to a nicer restaurant, creme brulee is always on the dessert menu. It's one of those desserts that sounds really fancy, but is super simple to make at home.

This creme brulee custard is infused with toasted marshmallows. YUM! It's sweet and smokey! In fact, this was the first fun thing about the recipe - charring marshmallows over my high power gas burners :) The custard is baked, chilled, topped with liquified marshmallows, caramelized with a blowtorch (my second favorite part!), and chilled again. If you have a little patience this is worth the time!

LESSON LEARNED: This is the perfect make ahead recipe. I kept the finished dessert in the refrigerator for three days with no problems.

Recipe for Toasted Marshmallow Creme Brulee

Lesson #163: Chocolate S'mores Cookies

Because it's nearing the end of summer, I couldn't resist making one of my favorite summertime treats into a bite sized cookie. In fact, at the beginning of summer, I made another version of these cookies! :)

This time I swapped out some of the flour for unsweetened cocoa powder and added a ton of mini marshmallow bits. I rolled out the dough into bite sized balls and took a whole container of cookies with me during my first week of classes. They were quickly gobbled up by my intro to psychology students!

LESSON LEARNED: I never get tired of the combination of chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker!

Recipe for Chocolate S'mores Cookies

Lesson #140: S'mores Caramel Corn

I made this caramel corn for a snack at a Memorial Day picnic. Yikes! I've gotten really behind in posting my recipes :)

I love the versatility of this base recipe for caramel corn. You can easily add toppings to switch up the flavors and texture. I was in a sitting around the campfire kinda mood, so I decided to make this s'mores version by adding pieces of graham crackers, mini chocolate chips, and marshmallow bits. My family loved it!

LESSON LEARNED: Be warned that this recipe yields A LOT of caramel corn. I gave away a few bags to a few lucky people!

Recipe for S'mores Caramel Corn

Lesson #137: Mini Rocky Road Cookies

Why are mini cookies so addicting? Possibility because it's easy to pop a few into your mouth! These cookies have the traditional rocky road flavors: chocolate, marshmallow, and almond. This recipe makes a ton of cookies (about 6 dozen if you use a 1 teaspoon scoop), so I guess it's a good thing that they are so easy to eat! :)

LESSON LEARNED: Use marshmallow bits - not mini marshmallows - in these cookies. The mini marshmallows will melt, but the bits stay in tact while baking.

Recipe for Mini Rocky Road Cookies

Lesson #133: Mini S'mores Cookies

These cookies are so darn cute and equally as YUMMY! The base of the cookie is part crushed graham cracker and part flour. Mixed in the cookies are mini chocolate chips and marshmallow bits. The bits are a newer product and remind me of the mini marshmallows found in packaged hot chocolate. They hold up really well in these cookies. Normal marshmallows seem to melt away when they are baked, but these bits worked perfectly. These cookies are incredibly DELICIOUS and ADDICTIVE!

LESSON LEARNED: Mini-marshmallow bits don't melt in the oven!

Recipe for Mini S'mores Cookies

Lesson #125: Caramel Easter Popcorn

I really love my usual caramel corn recipe, so I didn't know how this caramel corn recipe would measure up. I was a little skeptical because you didn't bake the caramel corn and you mixed in mini-marshmallows into the hot caramel to create a gooey-caramel mixture. On top of that, I planned to make it a day before I served it, so I wasn't sure if it would taste stale after sitting around.

Well, it turned out to be super YUMMY I would say it's a cross between caramel corn and rice krispies treats, but that's not a bad combination in my book. I love the saltiness that the crushed pretzels add and the touch of chocolate from the M&M's. And yes, it still tastes good if you make it ahead of time!

LESSON LEARNED: After the caramel corn has cooled, break it up into small pieces so it's easy to grab a handful from a bowl.

Recipe for Caramel Easter Popcorn

Lesson #112: Butterfinger Rice Krispie Treats

Combining Butterfinger candy bars and rice krispies into one delicious dessert? Yes, please! The rice krispie treats are made with melted marshmallows, peanut butter, and chopped Butterfinger candy bars. On top, I melted milk chocolate and topped with more candy. These are so fun and super DELICIOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: Cut these into bars first and then sprinkle with chocolate/candy. You will get an even distribution on top and they are less messy to cut.

Recipe for Butterfinger Rice Krispie Treats

Lesson #107: Frozen S'mores

Last weekend I was in the mood for an ice cream dessert and an involved baking project. I brainstormed for a while and finally decided to make a winter version of a s'more. Because I was looking to challenge myself, I decided to make everything homemade.

Here's the list of what I made from scratch: marshmallows, vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and graham crackers. Incidentally, I was explaining to my mom that I was making homemade graham crackers and she gave me a look of disbelief :) I replied, "It's really not hard. Just some whole wheat flour, molasses, and honey plus a few other ingredients".   At the finale of my baking project, I was pretty psyched with the end result.

Of course, you could buy some ice cream, torch store bought marshmallows (using a gas flame - we use a big blowtorch because my husband saw what people use on cooking competitions, thought it was cool, and bought me one for Christmas), dollop on hot fudge sauce, and sandwich between traditional graham crackers. I'm sure it's still equally delicious!

LESSON LEARNED: If you make homemade graham crackers, it's best to roll them pretty thin. I baked this batch a little thicker and it was hard to bite into when sandwiched between ice cream.

Recipe for Frozen S'mores

Lesson #89: Homemade Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows

Now that it's been getting a little colder, this is the perfect time to enjoy hot chocolate and marshmallows. My hot chocolate mix includes both cocoa powder and white chocolate combined with just the right amount of powdered sugar. I also added powdered milk, so this drink is perfect with hot water or milk (for a little extra indulgence!).

My husband and I also decided that homemade marshmallows are vastly superior to the store-bought variety. When you add these marshmallows on top of the hot chocolate, they melt and form a marshmallow foam on top. Not only are they MARVELOUS when added to hot chocolate, they great to snack on too!

LESSON LEARNED: Homemade marshmallows melt better in hot chocolate compared to store-bought.

Recipe for Homemade Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows

Lesson #55: Hot Chocolate Cookies

Even though it's been unseasonably warm the past few days, I've been getting into the holiday spirit. I saw these cute cookies in a magazine this month and I knew right away I had to try them.

Yes, they definitely taste like hot chocolate in the form of a cookie! A sweet chocolate cookie is partially baked and then topped with a piece of milk chocolate topped off with a marshmallow. The result is a crunchy cookie topped with melted chocolate and a gooey marshmallow. DELICIOUS! In case you weren't already convinced of the deliciousness, the pictures will convince you. In fact, I may go get one out of my freezer right now :)

LESSON LEARNED: Be careful when you take a bite of these cookies, the marshmallow might come off in the first bite!

Recipe for Hot Chocolate Cookies

Lesson #32: Marshmallow Filled Caramels

Let me start this post by telling you that this baking project involves a large time commitment. If you have a free afternoon and are up to the challenge of making two types of candy - this is a perfect project! Even with this caveat, these candies are AMAZING and are worth the effort!

The first step is to make homemade marshmallows. They are a lot easier to make than what you would think and taste SO much better than the store bought version. While the marshmallows are setting up, the second step is make a batch of homemade caramels. Both of these things take relatively less time than the next steps. Once the caramel is set, it should be rolled out as thin as you can make it. This might take a bit of elbow grease! Next, you cut the caramel into squares and roll out the caramel even thinner by flattening it with the palm of your hand. Then, place a small amount of marshmallow in the center of each caramel and roll the caramel around the marshmallow. This recipe makes a few dozen pieces of candy, so that's why this process takes so long!

These candies are definitely worth the effort! The caramel is CREAMY and the marshmallow is FLUFFY & SWEET.

LESSON LEARNED:  Lots of effort pays off in delicious results! 

Recipe for Marshmallow Filled Caramels

Lesson #29: Chocolate Marshmallow Moon Pies

I learned two new techniques for this recipe: making homemade graham crackers and homemade marshmallows. I was pretty exciting to learn both! I saw this recipe on another food blog and it looked very good (really, how could chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers sound bad?).

Making graham crackers wasn't any more difficult than making any other rolled out sugar cookie. I thought that they tasted SO much better than the store bought variety. I was more nervous to make the marshmallows. You have to soften some gelatin, cook sugar and a few other things to the correct temperature, and then let a stand mixer do the rest of the work. It was really very simple and the result was an amazingly fluffy marshmallow that set up perfectly. This recipe makes a ton of marshmallow, so I re-purposed the leftovers into another recipe (which I'll share in a few days!).

Overall, these moon pies ROCKED! The graham crackers were crunchy and had an INCREDIBLE nutty flavor from the wheat flour. The marshmallow filling was fluffy, light, and provided sweetness to offset the chocolate covering. Enjoy!

 
LESSON LEARNED: Don't be scared to try new techniques!

Recipe for Chocolate Marshmallow Moon Pies