Pretty Pink Peppermint Marshmallows!

 I had never made homemade marshmallows before, but I've always wanted to!  One, I never had a stand mixer (I totally do now!!! AND I got it for free!!!) and two, I was scared they wouldn't turn out... My first batch TOTALLY didn't turn out, so I was right to be scared!  I figured out my candy thermometer was off, so I tried again with a totally different recipe and cooked it to a lower temperature (according to my thermometer) and they turned out FABULOUS!  These are totally amazing... like the best marshmallows EVER!


Homemade Marshmallows

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
dash salt
1 tsp vanilla or peppermint extract
1 drop food coloring, if desired

Sprinkle a 9x13 pan with powdered sugar.  In the bowl of your stand mixer, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup of water.  Set aside.  In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt and remaining water.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 240° (soft-ball stage).  Remove from the heat and gradually add to gelatin.  Beat on high speed until mixture is thick and the volume is doubled, about 10-15 minutes.  Beat in vanilla or peppermint extract.  Spread into prepared pan.  Cover and let stand at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight. If you sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, the plastic wrap won't stick to the mixture.  Cut the marshmallows into 1" squares with a knife or pizza cutter sprayed with cooking spray or sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Roll each marshmallow in powdered sugar.  You could roll them in colored sugar or sprinkles instead, if you like.  I drizzled poured melted chocolate on top of some of mine and sprinkled them with smashed up candy canes after they were powdered sugared... They were fabulous!!!

Don't laugh at my first batch:

It may look nice and pink & fluffy like a cloud, but the texture was like RUBBER!  You could seriously bounce it on the table!  We ripped pieces of the rubber mass off and put it in hot cocoa and it melted down nice & fine, but WOW...  I made pink sugary rubber.  Apparently this is what happens when your mixture cooks to a hard crack stage due to a candy thermometer that is out of whack.  At least the rubber tasted good in hot cocoa *grins*