Sweet

So when Nemo came through last weekend, I got a little stir-crazy. The weather reports kept saying that we had to stay off the roads, we’d be buried in foot after foot of snow, and there might be power outages. Looking back on it, that was a little bit of overkill. Especially since our power didn’t flicker, our roads were clear until about 7 p.m. on Friday night, and my car miraculously had no snow on it in the morning. I apparently have a snow-repellent car. Everyone else on the street had to shovel out their buried cars.

So on Saturday morning I had two choices, either forego breakfast because I was lazy, or make pancakes. The later would require me to be creative since, heck, I just can’t make a simple meal. Also, my friend L bought me the most adorable cookie cutter for my birthday that had fashion shapes – a ballgown, a sheath dress, handbag, and high heeled shoes. They gave me an idea – peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes!

Chocolate Chip Shoe Pancakes

Need (This makes 4 servings, cut in a quarter for a morning breakfast for yourself):
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup chocolate chip morsels
&
Any cookie cutters you have to make shaped pancakes

Mix milk, butter, peanut butter, and egg. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips.

Heat a skillet on the stove and keep on medium-high heat. Spray pan with Pam or coat lightly with vegetable oil so the pancakes won’t stick. Place cookie cutter on the pan and spoon in pancake batter into the mold. You’ll want to fill it just a quarter of the way up. It’s because the pancake will rise.

Cook until small bubbles appear, flip pancakes. I keep it in the cookie cutter, but that’s your call if you can get it out without ruining it. Cook for another minute or two.

Pull off the pan and push the pancake out of the cutter. This might take a few tries to get it right, but if you have a cutter that has smooth edges (shapes like hearts, squares, gingerbread men work best), you shouldn’t have a problem.

Serve with maple syrup. Yum!

I can’t follow a recipe. Yup, I’m admitting it again. I tried, I really really tried to follow the recipe, but I couldn’t do it. In other news, the cookies came out really good despite me ignoring orders.

So remember that wonderful cookie book I got from my secret Santa at our work event? Well, I finally made cookies with it. The recipe called for 3/4 a cup of dark chocolate, but I didn’t have that, so that’s when things started going awry. I also didn’t have mini marshmallows, but instead had big ones. Also didn’t have butter….. shortening is totally the same thing, right?

So I made the cookies with my adjustments, and to tell you the truth, they came out pretty darn good, and my family liked them (or else they are being really kind about the whole me baking a lot of food thing.) I’ve posted my adjusted recipe below, try it and let me know what you think.

Chocolate Marshmallow Button Cookies

Ingredients:
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 up shortening (I used the sticks because you can cut your portion)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
6 large marshmallows, cut into eight or so pieces

Preheat oven to 320 F. While that’s going, melt white chocolate and milk chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 seconds until melted. Put back in at 15 second intervals until it’s smooth. Let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, mix the shortening and sugar with a mixer (or really strong helper with a spoon) until combined. Add eggs and stir, then add chocolate and stir until completely combined. Gradually add flour mixture, a little bit at a time until mixed.

Using spoons or an ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto the baking sheets (you can line it with parchment paper if you like before placing down the cookies). Press one or two (I prefer two) pieces of marshmallow on each cookie. The two marshmallows gives it the button look when they’re done.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove and let cool on rack. You can get about 30 out of this mix if you do it just right. Enjoy!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Or at least winter with these white winter marshmallows. They’re just sweet candy goodness. Now, this might not be the best Pinterest win, but it’s certainly a start and I’m working on the final product. I need a bit more finesse before these make the cover of any magazine.

These ended up being for a present. Paired a cute mug and peppermint hot cocoa, that’s pretty cute right? Believe me, it’s all in the packaging. I wouldn’t send these winter marshmallows over without making them look cute. The plate isn’t the best option for displaying, but it was good enough to at least show you all my beginner progress.

There’s really nothing better than snuggling up to a warm cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows when it’s cold out. Okay, maybe snuggling up with a mug that’s been topped off with some Bailey’s.

How to Get Your Own White Winter Marshmallows

This was super easy. I took a cup of white chocolate chips and put them in a bowl with a teaspoon of water. Then into the microwave they went for 30 second intervals (stirring between each 30 seconds), until the chocolate was nice and smooth. You can also use a double boiler, but I was being lazy.

Once melted, dip marshmallows one at a time into the warmed white chocolate until you’ve halfway covered the marshmallow. While the chocolate is still sticky, add sprinkles or pearl candies to the marshmallow by rolling it into a bowl of your topping. Then place the candied marshmallows on some wax paper. Into the fridge overnight and you’ve got yourself some lovely candied marshmallows!