Homemade Marshmallow Easter Eggs

I have been wanting to try my hand at making homemade marshmallows for quite a while now. I have seen a ton of recipes and blog posts taking about easy they are and how much better they taste than regular store bought marshmallows....plus you can make any shape you want when you make them yourself! But I was a little worried that homemade marshmallows were going to be SUPER time consuming and SUPER sticky, so I kept putting off making them. But since Easter weekend is here and I have been a major slacker about doing stuff with the boys lately, I figured homemade marshmallows would be a fun way to make up for it:) So yesterday while it was raining outside, we were making Hand-painted Homemade Marshmallow Easter Eggs...and they turned out really cute!

 I started by using Martha Stewart's recipe for homemade marshmallows. Basically you mix sugar, corn syrup, and water in a pot and then boil until it's at the soft ball stage. Next you pour the hot syrup into your mixer bowl that already has gelatin powder and water in it. Then you whip the mixture on high for around 12 minutes. BTW, I think Kitchenaid should sell earplugs with their mixers...that thing is LOUD when it runs on high for a long time! {Click over to MS to check out the whole recipe.}

 This is what your mixture will look like after you finish whipping it.

You pour the mixture into a parchment lined pan that has been oiled well. The recipe called for a 9 X 13 pan but I wanted my marshmallows to be a little thinner, so I used a cookie sheet. 

 Let the marshmallows sit uncovered for about three hours....and let someone lick the beater so all that yummy marshmallow creme doesn't go to waste:)

After the marshmallows have set for 3 hours, dump the pan out onto a surface that you sprinkle with plenty of powered sugar. You can use any cookie cutter you want, but since we were making Easter eggs, I used my egg shaped cutter. Dip your cookie cutter into a little bit of oil before cutting the marshmallow to keep the cutter from sticking.

 Use plenty of powdered sugar on the bottom, but be careful not to get too much on the top surface because that is the surface you are going to paint on and the powdered sugar will keep the color from sticking. Also be careful not to get too much oil on the top surface because it will keep the color from sticking too.

 After you have all your marshmallow eggs cut out, mix up some "paint". I used a little bit of gel food coloring stirred together with a little water. You could also use liquid food coloring diluted with just a little bit of water. Test out the colors on a scrap of marshmallow to make sure they aren't too watery before painting on your eggs.

 Then grab a few {just for food} paintbrushes and get creative.

The boys had a ton of fun "decorating" their eggs...but I think I may have had a little more fun than them! The best part about these Easter eggs is that they are SUPER sweet, just don't try hiding them!

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Pecan Butter Cookies

I love to bake! My love of baking is basically the downfall of any weight lose plan that I've ever been on....mostly because when you bake, you have to taste test! Plus there is always that one {or five} cookie that breaks that you just can't put on the serving tray. Anyway, last week my sister was down for a visit and she requested these cookies {Pecan Butter Cookies} because they are her absolute favorites. So of course even though I'm on a diet and don't need to be anywhere near cookies, I baked a couple dozen for her...and I maybe taste tested a few too:)

 This recipe is one that I tore out of a Martha Stewart magazine a few years ago. It was the Cookie of the Month....and after my first time making them I knew why they held that distinction! They are so yummy. They only take a few ingredients. And everyone LOVES them! I almost always make a double recipe of these cookies because they go fast!

Pecan Butter Cookies

{makes about 2 dozen cookies}

1 cup pecan halves of pieces

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Break pecans into pieces of give them a rough chop in a food processor. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until pale. Add vanilla and salt. With mixer on low gradually add floor, beating until just incorporated. Stir in pecans. Cover dough and refrigerate until firm or overnight. 

2. Drop 2 tablespoon scoops of dough onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until the edges of the cookies are gold, about 15 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Dust with confectioners sugar before serving.

Recipe from Martha Stewart

 These cookies are very delicate so you have to be extra careful when moving them from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack, or you may end up with a couple of broken cookies...and you may have to eat them yourself:)

 They look so pretty all dusted with confectioners sugar and stacked up high on a serving plate.

Do you love to bake as much as I do?

What is your favorite cookie to bake?

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Rainbow Ice Cream

St. Patrick's Day is a perfect excuse to make multicolored foods using all the colors of the rainbow! Two years ago we had Rainbow Cupcakes, and last year we had Rainbow Waffles. This year for St. Patty's Day, I decided to try something a little colder...ice cream! It's actually perfect  for this year because we have had an unseasonably warm winter, and this week the temps have been in the upper 70's and lower 80's! I would say a March that warm calls for ice cream:) The really fun part about this ice cream is that it isn't just rainbow colored {like most of my other fun foods}, but it is rainbow flavored too...thanks to a little bit of jello!

 Start with a small box of jello in each color {red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple} of the rainbow and a big tub of vanilla ice cream.

 I tried to take step by step pics, but my ice cream was getting too melty every time I stopped to take pics {thank you warm March weather}. Luckily making Rainbow Ice Cream is an easy process. Simple scoop out a little {or a lot depending on how much you want to make} ice cream into a bowl. Add in a few teaspoons of the jello powder, and give it a good stir. I used about 3 big scoop of ice cream and 3 or 4 teaspoons of the jello mix for each of my colors. You can increase the jello to make the colors more vibrant, but just be aware that the jello does give the ice cream a bit of a grainy texture so don't add too much!

Layer the colored ice cream into a freezer safe container. I used a glass loaf pan because I thought it would be a great shape to cut off a slice of the rainbow:) Starting with the red, add each colored layer, then let it set up in the freezer for a while before adding the next layer. Or you can do it the quick way and add the layers one after the other...just be careful not to mix the layers if you do it this way!

 Place the dish in the freezer to harden. I think the addition of the jello made the ice cream take longer to harden. Be patient or you may end up with a melty mess:) I was actually very patient and let mine set up for a few hours, but I was worried about it getting stuck in the dish so I dipped the glass into warm water to loosen it up...except I warmed mine just a little too long! I was kind of sad when this drippy, melty, red mess came out of my pan....

 ...and when I tried to slice into it, I made an even bigger {though very pretty} mess!

But a quick {okay a couple of hours} trip back into the freezer made things all better, and I was able to cut off a pretty slice of Rainbow Ice Cream! This was such a fun and {relatively} easy rainbow treat to make. The hardest part was all the waiting...and now my toughest challenge is going to be making the boys wait another two days to enjoy this yummy treat on St. Patrick's Day:)

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Corndog Pancakes

Last week {I think maybe Tuesday} was National Pancake Day. I can thank twitter for that knowledge... unfortunately I didn't see it until after the boys had eaten cereal for breakfast and headed off to school. If you've been around my blog long, then you know that a food holiday is the perfect excuse for me to make something fun and yummy. But I didn't want to just do plain old pancakes for dinner on National Pancake Day. No, we needed something new, something fun, something not sweet for dinner. I saw Rachael Ray make Corndog Waffles a few weeks ago...and I thought, why not turn my pancakes into corndogs {or my corndogs into pancakes}! And so the Corndog Pancake was born:) Now I know it sounds kind of gross, but I promise they are AWESOME!

I started with a box of corn muffin mix. Any brand will do, but I love Jiffy brand because it's a sweet cornbread. There is a recipe on the side of the box for corn pancakes. Follow the recipe on the box Basically you add more milk than the normal recipe plus a little bit of melted shortening along with one egg, {I had to tweak mine a little because we were out of eggs, but they still turned out great} then mix up your corndog batter.

Next, cut up a couple of hot dog wieners. Any brand will do...whatever your family likes. Little rounds would be fun in this, but I am still paranoid about my kiddos choking on hot dogs so I cut my little rounds into halves.

Toss the cut up hot dog pieces into the batter and give them a good stir.

Heat up your griddle, spray it with non-stick spray, and then ladle on the batter. Watch for bubbles to form around the edges of the pancake. This batter is a little thicker than normal pancakes so it can take a little longer to cook, and it can be hard to tell when they are ready to flip. I just watched the edges and lifted up the side a little to see if they were ready to flip.

The corndog pancakes will turn a golden color and some of the hot dog pieces may get a little brown...that's okay it will make them taste even better:)

Plate them up and drizzle on a little bit of ketchup, mustard, or both.

These were so fun to make and seriously really yummy! I think the sweetness of the corn muffin mix is what made them so good! We are planning on doing a lot of cooking on the griddle when we are camping in the Airstream, and these will be added to the camping dinner schedule for sure:)

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St. Patty's Day Roundup

Today I'm over at Amanda's sharing a fun St. Patty's Day tutorial. Hop over, check it out, and leave a little bit of comment love:) Since we have less than two weeks until the fun day of green and rainbows and gold, I thought I would share a little round up of my past projects for St. Patty's Day. 

Rainbow Cupcakes

Rainbow Waffles

Shamrock Marshmallow Pops

Leprechaun Jello

I am working on another cute rainbow treat for next week, and I'm hoping to get some cute green shirts made for the boys this year since St. Patrick's Day is on a Saturday this year:)
What kinds of fun things do you do to celebrate St. Patty's Day?
Leave a link to some of your posts or ideas and I may feature them next week! And don't forget to click over and say HI at Amanda's place today:) 

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More Dr. Seuss Snacks

I'm running short on time today so you  are just getting a picture tutorial...no time for words:) If you have any questions send me an email! Hopefully I can update the post later today with a few more details!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS!

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Updated Sweet Dr. Seuss Snack: aka Candy Green Eggs

For the last few weeks, my post {Sweet Dr. Seuss Snack} has been SUPER popular. I'm guessing that everyone is getting ready to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday tomorrow and they are looking for ideas. Honestly that treat was one of the easier and cutest things that I've ever made for the boys to take to school. And as cute as they were, I have to admit that it kind of bugged me that the little green M&M wasn't really proportionate to the white of the egg....still cute, but not really perfect {I have confessed my slight OCD here before haven't I}. Anyway, this year I decided to give those cute Sweet Dr. Seuss Snacks a retry before I sent them {all 50 of them!} off to school with the boys. Here's what I came up with....basically the same technique with just a little something extra:)

Start with white candy melts, green candy melts, and regular sized marshmallows.

Use your {very clean} kitchen scissors to cut each marshmallow in half. Actually you could probably get away with cutting them into thirds and it still looking great, but I did halves here.

Dip each marshmallow piece into your melted green candy melts then tap off any excess.

Place them on foil to harden.

While you wait, heat up your white candy melts and pour it into a squeeze bottle. You can draw your egg shapes free hand or print out a shape to trace. I printed the same one I used last year....click over here for a step by step if you need it.

Draw out your egg shapes, then place one of the green marshmallows on top before the white starts to harden.

I think they turned out really cute and I am much happier with the proportion of the green to the white this year:) I also got the best seal of approval ever from this little guy who got to sample the first one...and quickly devoured the whole thing in 2.4 seconds!

Check back tomorrow for two more fun treat to celebrate Dr. Seuss!

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