smores

Happy December everyone! I LOVE DECEMBER because December means Christmas decorations! It's enchanting going out at night time seeing the colorful lights and wreaths and pine cones and everything you could possibly think of nailed to doors and bolted onto neighborhood welcome signs. Plus it gets even colder and everything is peppermint-ized :)

And so to kick off December I made Smores! And the best part is I actually made it from scratch (except for the chocolate)! I've had several marshmallow recipes bookmarked but most of them called for too much granulated and powdered sugar, and since I've been staying away from artificial sweeteners, those recipes would not suffice. 

 

I almost gave up searching until I came upon The Urban Poser and her recipe for paleo honey marshmallows. The recipe only called for 5 ingredients, and none of them had the word "sugar" in it :) I debated between making them peppermint flavored or cinnamon flavored, but cinnamon won. The marshmallows are fluffy and delicate, not too sweet with a trace of warm spice. Cinnamon and honey work really well together, and since it's the holidays I'll definitely peppermint-ize future marshmallow batches. 

Oh and I bought a candy thermometer! So excited to be making homemade candies from now on, no more artificial ingredients with laboratory names.

OH and a tip when making the marshmallows: if it takes you longer than 10 minutes and your mixture still hasn't thickened into marshmallow cream, DON'T FRET. It took me a good 30 minutes until my mixture actually thickened, so just be patient and you'll taste the sweet fruits of your labor ^_^

And what's a Smore without graham crackers! These grain free graham crackers are buttery, crisp, and lightly sweetened. I know, I know, I used butter. I'm making an exception. I feel like I'll be making a lot of exceptions...


Anyways, our house doesn't have a fire pit and we have an electric stove. So I stuck a marshmallow on a toothpick and "melted" it in our small convection oven, closing the door on the toothpick. My marshmallows melted rather quickly, but it wasn't necessarily heated all the way through, so the chocolate didn't melt when I placed it on top of the marshmallow. The Smores were delicious nonetheless, and I helped myself to thirds and yes, this was my dinner.

Cinnamon Spice Marshmallows

adapted from mommypotamus
yields about 20 marshmallows

Ingredients:

1 cup filtered water
3 tbs gelatin
1 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tbs salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

* You'll need a candy thermometer and a medium sized pot/sauce pan

Directions:

- Grease an 8x8 (or larger) pan really well and dust the entire pan with arrowroot starch or cornstarch.
- In a large bowl (if you're using a handheld mixer) or you're mixing bowl (if you have a stand mixer), add the gelatin with 1/2 cup of the filtered water. While that is softening, pour the other 1/2 cup of filtered water into a medium pot/sauce pan with the honey, vanilla, and salt.
- Turn the burner to medium high heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Place the candy thermometer in the sauce pan and continue to boil the mixture until it reaches 240° (the soft ball stage), then immediately turn off the stove and remove the pot/sauce pan from the heat. This will take about 7-8 minutes.
- If you're using a handheld mixer, turn it to the lowest setting (or leave it turned off and use it ask a giant whisk) and have another person help you slowly pour the honey mixture into the gelatin bowl. If you're using a stand mixer, turn it to low and slowly pour the mixture in with the gelatin. Turn the mixer on high and continue beating the mixture until it becomes thick marshmallow cream. Add in the ground cinnamon and beat to incorporate. This will take about 10 or more minutes.
- Once the mixture becomes thick (it shouldn't be runny when you lift up the whisk), turn off the mixer and pour the marshmallow cream in the prepared pan. Smooth the top of the cream and pat to smooth again.
- Let the marshmallows set for 4-6 hours, or even overnight.
- Cut to desired sizes, and be sure to dust all sides with cornstarch or arrowroot starch to prevent from sticking, and enjoy!

Grain-Free Graham Crackers

adapted from Deliciously Organic
yields about 20 crackers

Ingredients:

2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
6 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (I melted my butter and mixed it in)
3 tbs honey
3 tbs whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350° F and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon and mix until combined (you can do this in the food processor to make it easier).
- Then add in the butter by cubes (or pour it in if you melted it, I find this easier), and mix until the dough becomes crumbly.
- Add in the honey, whole milk, and vanilla extract and mix well until the dough becomes more compact.
- Roll the dough out on a cutting board or flat surface until it is about 1/8-inch thick, and cut them into 2x2 inch squares or desired size.
- Poke holes on top of each cracker with a fork, and line them up on the baking sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes or 15-20 minutes depending on your oven.
- Remove and let cool. The crackers can be stored up to 1 week.