Make your own marshmallows
I wouldn’t classify myself as a marshmallow-lover in a general sense, but I do enjoy when marshmallow is used well — like the swirl in Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream, or the fluff layered between baked s’mores bars, and of course, the classic campfire s’more use case always hits the spot.
And when it gets cold and I want a treat, hot cocoa with marshmallows is something I look forward to. However, let’s be honest, storebought marshmallows aren’t great. They don’t taste like much, are overly powdered with something that has no flavor and the texture is a pinch too spongy.
So I set out to try and make my own marshmallows to see if I could do it, and to see if they tasted better and are worth the trouble. I found a great recipe from NYT Cooking and after reading through it and reading some reviews, it seemed like it would be pretty foolproof.
Update: It really was very approachable and would honestly be fun to do with kids. You just need a stand mixer and 2-4 hours notice.
Some things to keep in mind:
This batch makes a lot! I’m not sure how they fit it into an 8x8 baking dish. I opted for a 9x13 and it made about 24 well-sized marshmallows.
Line your pan with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray and dust with powdered sugar so you can easily pull this out when it’s set.
I opted to sift powdered sugar into a bowl and toss the cut marshmallows in here when they were done, it felt more efficient. Make sure you coat all sides.
And while these won’t last long fresh (4 days), they freeze well. So make a big batch and pull out when you need!
Single Serving Hot Cocoa
(From the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa box, it really is divine and simple)
2 TBS sugar
Dash salt
2 TBS cocoa powder
1 cup milk
1/4 TSP vanilla extract
How to make it
Combine your dry ingredients well with a fork in your favorite mug — you won’t need a huge one with this quantity
Heat up your milk either in the microwave, on the stove or by steaming if you’re fancy — I’m a purist so I think whole milk works best here
Pour your milk into the mug and stir well with your fork — seriously, make sure you scrape up the powder at the bottom and on the edges