M's Favorite

I have long ago stopped eating store-bought sweets because I could rarely be sure that what I am eating is not just a chemical concoction that is making my brain believe it is eating what it intended to eat. Glad that I wrote that sentence clearly. Now, if I crave something I go ahead and try making it myself. As I came to discover along the way - you can make pretty much anything you see in the store, and the home product will taste much better. It is also more fun and less expensive!

This was true for all but one - the muchmallow, M's favorite. Back when we were still in a long distance relationship, talking online and getting to know each other better, he told me that this is his number one cookie. His mom had a special recipe for a munchmallow cake that she used to make for him. Today, I cannot believe I made him go through his mother's recipes just to find the munchmallow one so I could try making it! He found it and emailed to me, and I made it in a lame attempt to impress him. It was a disaster: the cookie came out too thick and marshmallow cream too thin (I convinced myself that he simply copied the recipe wrong). I have never made it since, until I stumbled upon this recipe. I saved it and waited for a special occasion to surprise him and hopefully erase the embarrassing moment from our past when I had to show him my disasterllow.

To celebrate his recent achievement I prepared these as a special surprise. I guess I can say that I am in an all clear now.

Homemade Munchmallow

Cookies

Ingredients

225 g flour
50 g sugar
2 eggs
110 g butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Sift the dry ingredients together. Add butter and mix on low using dough hook. Add eggs one by one and mix until combined. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in foil and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Layer the cookie sheet with parchment. Divide the dough in two pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough as thinly as possible. Using a round cookie cutter cut out shapes and transfer them to the parchment paper and cookie sheet. Easier way would be to roll the dough directly on parchment paper, which is then transferred onto baking sheet (because the dough is rolled thinly, cookies lose shape when transferred; if you do it directly on cookie sheet or silicone mat, you won't need to move it and it will retain its round shape). Bake for 8-10 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Marshmallow filling

Ingredients

4 egg whites
120 ml water
320 g sugar
4 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp powdered kosher gelatin
5 tbsp cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine water, sugar and corn syrup in a sauce pan and boil it until the temperature of the mixture shows 115C (so-called soft ball stage). If you do not own a candy thermometer, use a cold water test: a drop of mixture placed in cold water will form a soft ball. In a small dish, combine water and gelatin, and let it sit for a few minutes until gelatin is dissolved. Whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Remove the syrup from the heat and mix in with gelatin. Pour this mixture in whipped egg whites in a thin stream while continuously beating. Add vanilla and continue whipping until stiff. 

Pipe small rounds of marshmallow on center of each cookie and let set for 2 hours on room temperature. You want to do this relatively quickly before the egg-white mixture dries out. Carefully dip each marshmallow-topped cookie in chocolate glaze and let excess chocolate drip back to the bowl. Place munchmallows on wire racks with baking paper underneath to catch any remaining chocolate. Let them set on room temperature, 1-2 hours.

Chocolate glaze

300 g semisweet chocolate

9 tbsp oil

Place a deep bowl over a pan with boiling water (I use a bamboo steamer). Make sure no steam is escaping on the sides. Combine oil and chocolate and let it melt (you want to end up with a thin glaze).
 
I wrote and photographed this post two months ago, but then decided to take better photographs and then post it. Unfortunately, I did not find the time to do it. Please note that what you are seeing is the first batch I ever made - the later ones were much more shapely. Enjoy!