Since we had a choice between the two items, I decided to go with the item that required me to make my own marshmallows - something I had never attempted! The somewhat time consuming process to make these little numbers was worth it. They were great! Thank you, Gale Gand, for the recipe and Nicole, this month's DB host, for the idea.
For the first step, you make the cookie base. The dough is chilled after mixing it up but you will need to let it set after you take it out of the fridge. I chilled mine overnight and found it nearly unworkable until it had warmed back up a little. As you can see, this makes a ton of cookies! If you're going to go with this one, plan on having some people over to help you eat them. I'm sure they won't mind.
After the cookies have cooled is when you put together your marshmallow concoction and pipe it out over all the cookies. Although the recipe says that the marshmallow will be "stiff", it certainly doesn't have the traditional stiff peaks that egg white will produce. I basically just beat the heck out of it and went from there. Work quickly though as the gelatin involved WILL start setting whether you're ready for it to or not.
After you let all the little marshmallow clouds firm up it's time for the chocolate. I love this part! I had to melt down about twice the amount of chocolate chips suggested to get all of my cookies well dipped. I also think that it would probably work better to use shortening, not vegetable oil, with the chocolate chips. The chocolate wouldn't harden until I actually refrigerated it and even then, it was kinda soft. Maybe adding some paraffin would help as well. You'll also want to watch out because anything and everything that touches the marshmallow sticks to it!
I'm ready to make these again but probably only for a special occasion. All the time required to harden, set or chill makes this impractical for a busy mom!
