Homemade Marshmallows

So, I'm really getting all Martha-esque now. This is a great, pretty easy, creative, and somewhat original idea. It's a great gift idea..you can pair it with a nice fancy canister of cocoa, maybe some nips, and some truffles. I made these marshmallows last year and did just that for a Yankee Swap at work. Here are some pictures of the process and the finished product. It sounds a little involved, but it's really a quick easy recipe!

This is one of the key ingredients to the marshmallows. You can always be creative and substitute a different extract but the peppermint made them smell nice and minty and worked well with hot chocolate.

My KitchenAid hard at work. He's starting to get old and groans when I turn him on, but he's my number one used appliance in the kitchen so he'll have to suck it up and keep mixing

When dealing with sticky and potentially messy ingredients such as the ones in marshmallows..be a step ahead and prepared...

Here's what they looked like after setting

they got a powdered sugar bath

The finished product stored in a tin until they got wrapped in gift bags and tied with ribbon. You can cut them as big or as small as you'd like...I thought the cube shape worked well and gave the statement of a distinguished, fancy marshmallow...not the cardboard-y ones swiss miss gives you

Homemade Marshmallows
courtesy of  Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
3 (1/4-ounce) packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
Confectioners' sugar, sifted, for coating

Directions:
Lightly spray a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Line pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water; let stand for 10 minutes. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; boil rapidly for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and, with the mixer on high, slowly pour the boiling syrup down the side of the mixer bowl into gelatin mixture. Add salt and continue mixing for 12 minutes

Add peppermint extract and mix until well combined. Spray a rubber spatula or your hands with cooking spray. Spread gelatin mixture evenly into pan using prepared spatula or your hands. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place, spray side down, on top of marshmallows. Let stand for 2 hours.

Carefully remove marshmallows from pan. Remove all plastic wrap and discard. Cut marshmallows into 2-inch squares using a sprayed a sharp knife. Place confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Working in batches, add marshmallows to bowl and toss to coat. Marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.