Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

My friend Teri went on a road trip with her husband and boys, and just before they left I decided to make a treat for them to take...but just like with my sister's road trip granola bites I thought about this at the last minute and only had like an hour to make a treat before she was leaving. So once again I didn't have time to go to the store and had to make something using what I have on hand...I'm down to cocoa powder and an a half-empty bag of marshmallows (it's time to grocery stock and get my supplies back up!) so googled ideas for something using those two ingredients and came up with this (click here for source) - and they turned out pretty good! They are a little gooey and messy but the flavor is really good so it's worth needing a wet wipe after eating them hahaha. Teri said her boys loved them :)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 34 large marshmallows (or if you cut each one in half you'll need 17. see below)
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) un-salted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar, plus additional for the outside of the cookies
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In another bowl, mix flour and other dry ingredients.

Add dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture. The dough should be thick enough that you can shape it into flattened disks. 

To assemble: make balls of dough using a 2 T. cookie scoop, then flatten into a disk big enough to cover a marshmallow (or half a marshmallow if you prefer). 

wrap the dough around the marshmallow

Put a marshmallow in the center and close the dough up around the marshmallow making sure you completely cover it, you shouldn't be able to see any white at this point. Roll each ball in granulated sugar, place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400' for 8-10 minutes.

completely cover the marshmallow

They are done when the cookies start to crack open and you can see melted marshmallow. Remove from oven and cool, leave on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack - letting them set up a bit makes it easier to remove the baking sheet. 

Makes about 33 big cookies.

the difference between a whole marshmallow (on the left) and half (on the right)

Note: when I did a whole marshmallow they worked good but lots of marshmallow runs out and it gets quite messy. So I switched to half a marshmallow and not so much ran out but also there wasn't as much marshmallow "filling" that way - I'd recommend making a couple each way before doing the whole batch so you can see which you prefer. The ones with more marshmallow probably taste better 'cuz they are gooier but they are also quite delicate because they crack so much, not as "pretty". The half marshmallow still tastes good and holds it shape better, but not as "marshmallowy"...so depends on what you're going for!

one year ago today: fix those uncomfortable (but cute) shoes! 

Cassandra's Chewy No-Bake Cookies

I was whining that I don't like to make no-bake cookies cuz it's always a crap shoot if they'll turn out - I seem to either get runny and not set or hard and dry (does this happen to you too?). Maybe out of pity, maybe to be nice, or maybe to shut me up Cassandra gave me the recipe she always uses - says they are her dad's favorite - so I figured I'd make them and see if I could get them right for once. These are different from any no-bake I've had - chewy and gooey, more cookie-like than traditional no-bakes, and they are really really good. I am SO happy she gave me this recipe! Thanks Cassandra!

In a saucepan put 2 cups of sugar, 1 stick butter, 2/3 cup cocoa, 2/3 cup milk. Boil for 1 and 1/2 minutes, turn off and add 1 Tablespoon vanilla and 2/3 cup peanut butter. Stir until the peanut butter is melted, then add 3 to 3 1/2 cups of oatmeal and mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper.

Notes: I didn't have regular whole milk so I used 1/3 cup cream and 1/3 cup skim milk - maybe that's why they turned out SO good?  I don't know how long it took them to set up, I scooped them onto parchment using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop and walked away for a couple hours. When I checked they were done, and sort of addicting - I just wanted to try a bite of one but couldn't stop eating...and they're especially good with a glass of milk! Made 28 cookies.

Let me know how they turn out if you make them, I need to know if I just got lucky this once or if it's a no-fail recipe! Enjoy!