Monday, July 27, 2009

July DB: Coconut-Marshmallow Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network. We had the option to bake either recipe, and I chose the marshmallow cookies.

I've been wanting to try my hand at homemade marshmallows for a quite a while now, so I was delighted to see it was part of the challenge this month! The marshmallows were much easier to make than I thought they would be. The "batter" (not sure what you'd call it since they're not baked!) was easy to whip up, and it piped beautifully. The gelatin worked perfectly to help the mallows set up firmly rather than drooping. The final marshmallows were soft, pillow-y, and perfectly sweet. I definitely want to try some of the flavored marshmallow recipes floating around soon!

The marshmallows are piped onto a cookie base, which I wasn't so crazy about. First, it was a huge pain to work with because the dough was so soft. Second, although the cookies were crisp and delicious right out of the oven, they softened up as they cooled, especially once the marshmallows were on them. Overall, they just weren't flavorful or crisp enough to stand up to the marshmallow. Next time, I'd use a crisp, buttery shortbread recipe.

Finally, you might notice that my cookies aren't dipped in chocolate! For whatever reason, the chocolate topping just didn't appeal to me. Usually I'm a chocoholic, but chocolate covered marshmallows have never really been my thing. So, instead I opted to toast some unsweetened coconut in the oven and sprinkle it over the mallows before they had set. Yum! Thanks to hostess Nicole for a great challenge this month!



Coconut-Marshmallow Cookies (adapted from Gale Gand)

3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
3 eggs, whisked together
Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
Unsweetened coconut, toasted until nicely browned

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a log, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Carefully slice the dough into thin rounds, returning the dough to the refrigerator as needed.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Immediately sprinkle over the toasted coconut and then let set at room temperature for about 2 hours.
10. The cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature.
Homemade Marshmallows:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
2 egg whites , room temperature
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

29 comments:

  1. Yes sometimes the chocolate is too much I did a number without the coating and they were just as nice. Wow toasted coconut would be so nice love it and your picture is nice it shows the mallow off very well. Cheers from Audax in Australia

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  2. YAY, it's up! Love the coconut, as you can see I went overboard with on my Milanos..lol Beautiful job, and minus chocolate (in this case, the recipe was so off, some had to be minus chocolate) IS sometimes better!

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  3. Your cookies look so nice. I like how you changed out your topping for something else. You're lucky that your marshmallows came out fine the first time around and that they were manageable. I should have read the instructions more carefully haha.

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  4. I bet the coconut adds extra delicious bites to your beautiful cookies :)

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  5. They look great even without chocolate and I bet they tasted delicious with the coconut. Everyone said how easy the mallow was, I'm not wishing I had tried it.

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  6. Coconut was a great choice! It just seems to suit it better than a coating of chocolate :)

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  7. I like the soft look of your cookies. I actually prefer the cookie dough to the marshmallow since it's a bit too sweet for me...

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  8. Beautiful in their simplisity. I bet it taseted divine.

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  9. Yum, toasted coconut! Good idea!

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  10. Great job on your challenge and I really like the sound of coconut mallows.

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  11. What a fabulous job Sara! I really like that you've added toasted coconut sprinkles!

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  12. Good idea with the toasted coconut! I'm not a big chocolate-covered-marshmallow fan, either, and I opted to skip them, but I should have gone a more creative route, as you did.

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  13. Oh goodness, coconut marshmallows are my ultimate weakness! Love this variation on the classic, now I wish I had thought of it. ;)

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  14. mmmm they must be very good!!!

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  15. Oh coconut marshmallow!! Yum yum! They look wonderful, great job with the challenge.

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  16. They look beautiful. My dough was quite soft too, but I rolled it and chucked it in the freezer for a bit, which made it easier to handle.

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  17. Great idea with the toasted coconut--your cookies look really good!

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  18. Well done, they look great. I liked the cinnamon flavour in the biscuit base but they were a pain to work with.

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  19. Sara, great job! Interesting what you wrote on the cookie flavor. I have the dough in the fridge, run out of time yesterday and only made the Milano cookies. I will try the Mallow, maybe today and will report on the cookies. I made my dough with very cold butter, it was frozen before and when I cut it it was super cold. The dough was still very cold when done mixing. Maybe your butter was too soft when you started.

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  20. Mmm, what a fun variation to use coconut instead of chocolate! Very nice!

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  21. Gorgeous cookies - I love the idea of using toasted coconut instead of chocolate =D. Yum!!

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  22. Lovely cookies! I love that you used the coconut topping instead of chocolate, these sound really yummy :)

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  23. I think the coconut topping is a great idea, very creative!

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  24. I just love your variation with coconut mallows - very pretty and good in a hot humid New York summer.

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  25. Great work Sara! I agree, I think a buttery crisp shortbread would be gorgeous with these :D

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  26. The marshmallows look perfect, like little tasty pillows. I love the idea of coconut on top! I imagine it added some crunch without all the sweetness of chocolate.

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  27. They look delicious!
    I really love that you've added toasted coconut sprinkles!

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  28. Beautiful, I went the coconut route as well!

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