Peppermint Marshmallows

So...what have you been up to while I've been gone?

Me?, you ask.

Well, I've been doing a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. Not losing weight, I can tell you that much for sure! It's hard to lose weight in the kitchen. Especially with chocolate and sugar and nuts not just in the cupboard, but on the counter. All in the name of the holidays, I say. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. To taste the goods I am going to share and give...I need to make sure it all tastes good.

Here is a recipe I've been using this past week and a few of you have asked to share. It is very easy and you probably have the ingredients in your pantry already. Well, maybe not the unflavored gelatin...but maybe.

You know those little paperback recipe books at the checkout at the grocery store, the kind that have perforated edges around individual recipe cards? Every once in a while I pick one up. This is from last year's Betty Crocker Holiday recipe booklet. So glad I bought it. It has a more than a few recipes that will help to retain the energy stores that so lovingly stay on my buttocks and breasts. Oops. Did I just say breasts?

So here is the recipe, broken down into steps and photographed by Moi. At the end of this post I'll have it in its entirety.

Betty Crocker's Peppermint Marshmallows

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Start to Finish: 8 hours 20 minutes

(relax, you're not going to be laboring that whole time!)

yields: 77 marshmallows, give or take a few...

Step One:

Generously grease bottom and sides of 11x7-inch glass baking dish (I use whichever size I want, because I'm a rebel, and still have successful outcomes) with butter; dust with 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar.

In bowl of stand mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water; set aside to soften.

(just look at that gelatin soften. it looks softer every minute...)

Step Two:

In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 1 cup corn syrup, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup water over low-heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling; cook without stirring about thirty minutes to soft-ball stage (or about 240 degrees Fahrenheit); remove from heat.

sugar and salt. two of my three favorite ingredients (fat is the other).

corn syrup and water. notice my two favorite liquid measuring cups? so what happens when my slanted 2-cup liquid measuring cup marries my mini-liquid measuring cup?

this:

isn't he cute? i saw him in the store and decided he needed to come home with me.

here is their first family portrait:

i know i'm a little nuts...just so you know.

So you add all the ingredients...

stir it up...

then stick a thermometer in the pan to keep an eye on things for you...

what you do with the twenty-or-so minutes you have is up to you. Here are a few ideas:

you could butter and sugar the glass pan, in case you forgot to do this step at the beginning.

you could...powder your nose...

you could start up another holiday recipe that doesn't require much time.

you could unload your dishwasher. or load it.

or how about clean your microwave? just put some water in a 2-cup glass measuring cup, with a little bit of baking soda and stick it in the microwave for four minutes. Take it out, then easily wipe out any food that was previously stuck to the sides and ceiling of the microwave because somebody forgot to cover their food.

Step Three:

Slowly pour the syrup into the the softened gelatin in the stand mixer, with the mixer at high speed. Beat at high speed for 8-10 minutes, until the mixture has trippled in volume. Add one teaspoon peppermint extract (or extract of choice) and beat for another minute on high speed. Pour out into pan, using wet hands to assist the sticky glob, and smooth out in pan.

here it is...just from the stove, still bubbling and boiling and steaming as it hits the ever-so-soft gelatin at the bottom of the stand-mixer bowl.

beginning stage of the high-speed mixing. rookie syrup.

it doesn't take too long to become lovely opague and familiar white.

it's a good idea to stop the mixer when adding the extract.

pouring out into the pan.

the Kitchen-Aid tasted a little bit too. He is such a slob.

I'm kinda thinking that there are Crazy-Cat Ladies...

and there is me:
Crazy-Kitchen-Appliance and Measuring-Cup Lady.

look at that. it makes me think of an outdoor ice-skating rink.

and then drops of blood:

gross, i know. but that's what i thought. ice-skate blade incident, i guess.

take a knife and drag it through the drops of...food coloring, to create the marbled look.

i used a paper-towel to dab at the spots that had too much red dye. though you could also just drag the knife through a little more. the worst that can happen is a pink marshmallow.

speaking of gore, though, look how awful my hands ended up. don't know why my fingers have dye on them. story of my life, though, always getting my hands dirty. (and no, i don't bite my nails, I actually trim them that short. sometimes they get a little longer.)

Be sure to store them in an air-tight container. These are my first two batches, peppermint and almond. The almond marshmallows are cut into trees, stars, heart and bells. Though the cookie-cutter shape way about things leaves a lot of scraps...just to warn you. I just cut the scraps up into small pieces to be used in hot chocolate.

Betty Crocker Easy Peppermint Marshmallows

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Start to Finish: 8 hours 20 minutes (don't panic; read on to understand!)

77 marshmallows

1. Step One: Generously grease bottom and sides of 11 x 7-inch (2 quart) glass baking dish with butter; dust with powdered sugar. In bowl of stand mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water to soften; set aside.

for pan:

Butter for greasing
1/3 cup powdered sugar

for stand mixer:

2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

2. In 2-quart saucepan, heat granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup water over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling; cook without stirring about 30 minutes to 240 degrees Fahrenheit on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into cup of very cold water forms a ball that holds its shape but is pliable; remove from heat.

for 2-quart saucepan:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water

3. Slowly pour syrup into softened gelatin at high speed. Beat 8-10 minutes. Add peppermint extract and beat another minute. Pour into prepared pan, wet hands with water to assist and smooth surface. To marble, add drops of red dye over marshmallow and run through with knife to marble. Set aside for eight hours or overnight.

1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

8 to 10 drops red food color

4. When set, cut marshmallow on a powdered cutting board with a buttered knife or cookie cutters. Store in air-tight container.