camping + organic homemade marshmallows

We had a great time camping this past weekend.


The solitude, the creek, the family, sleeping on the hard ground (oh wait, that wasn't one of the highlights!) and...........the marshmallows.

Now I like s'mores fairly well. I'm certainly up for making one but that's about it. Maybe I'm lazy and the actual roasting part takes too long, or maybe it's the knowing that I'm ingesting all kinds of horrible yuckiness that is a store bought marshmallow that makes 1 my limit. I'm going to say that it's a combination of both.

So I decided to try my hand at making my own. I think the first words out of my mouth around the campfire on Saturday morning were, "Is it too early to make s'mores?" Seriously people. They are THAT GOOD. Here's why:

1. The roast incredibly fast. You can nicely brown them and get them to a good smooshy consistency.

2. They don't catch on fire. Kinda makes you wonder about what's in those store bought ones that's so flammable, 'eh?

3. They taste sooooooooo much better!

4. They're super easy to make!

5. Your kids (or you) can eat 10...... I mean 2, without feeling that guilty, "I shouldn't be eating this/feeding this to my kids" feeling. Well, sort of. Granted you are feeding your kids a bunch of sugar, which really is never good but the occasional campfire treat isn't going to kill em.

The verdict?

YUM.

Here's the recipe I used,
3 TB unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
12 ounces organic granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1 cup organic light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
1/4 cup organic confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup organic cornstarch
Organic butter
(you can omit the cornstarch if your confectioners' sugar already has cornstarch in it)
Directions
Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly coat a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with butter. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Enjoy!