Chocolate Dipped Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows

A wonderful friend of mine has had a "hankering" for marshmallows the past week, and I thought I'd give a homemade marshmallow recipe a try. Since I don't have a lot of experience working with gelatin, I tried a base vanilla recipe from www.mybakingaddiction.com. This website is by far my favorite for everything baking. Awesome recipes and tips, and where I got my inspiration to start my own blog! Definitely check it out. :)

So for the marshmallow, I used Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows from My Baking Addiction. These little babies alone are a treat, but I wanted to put a little spin on them by dipping them in chocolate and other sweet treats!  Here are a few ideas to get your brain going - the possibilities are endless!

Crushed Graham Crackers

Crushed Oreos

Crushed Almonds (or any kind of nut)

Reese's Pieces

Rice Krispies

Coconut

Chopped White Chocolate

Caramel Pieces

M & M's

I used coconut and graham crackers because it's what I had in my cupboard, but my oh my! The graham cracker ones tasted just like a s'more and the coconut ones tasted just like a Mounds Bar (my secret obsession). Next time I'm going to put almond extract into the marshmallow mixture to make an Almond Joy Dipped Marshmallow. YUM! Speaking of extracts, using peppermint extract would make a tasty peppermint marshmallow too.

The gelatin and water reacting together

Finished gooey marshmallow goodness!

To make the chocolate coating, melt 1 tablespoon shortening and 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips in a sauce pan over medium heat until melted. Turn off heat, but keep the pan on the burner. The residual heat will keep the chocolate melted while your busy dipping. Make sure to have your dipping condiments prepped before you start the chocolate coating. Below is a picture of how I let the chocolate dry - upside down on a raised cooling rack.. If you don't have a raised cooling rack, just take a few books and stack them on each end of a standard cooling rack. Voila - instant raised cooling rack! :)

Let me know what dipping ideas you have! Happy Baking!!