Guest Post Recipe: Julie's Gourmet S'mores

It's the last day of my Christmas Recipe Series!  Thanks for joining in Merry [home] Baking!  I hope that you enjoyed it and got lots of ideas from these wonderful, incredibly talented ladies! 

I'm so excited that Julie of The Little Red Shop agreed to do a guest post for me.  I found her blog a few weeks ago, and it was love at first sight!  Aside from being an irresistably creative crafter and shop owner, I knew as soon as I saw her Christmas music playlist that she was a woman after my own heart.  (I'm not even kidding.  Check it out and you'll see what I mean!  I couldn't have made a better compilation of my Christmas favorites if I'd done it myself!)

Julie's blog is endearing.  She combines her love for all things vintage with stories about her family, her shop, and lovely little things she works on.  For a California girl, it's as close to knocking the snow off my boots and sitting down for a cup of cocoa in a cozy kitchen as I'll probably get.  Julie makes her blog just as cozy and inviting as her home and shop look from the pictures.  I love it!

I've truly enjoyed corresponding with Julie as we talked about her guest post.  She is so sweet and enthusiastic, it's infectious!  I hope that you will all go over and visit her blog, The Little Red Shop, and be inspired!  Be sure to say hello!   

When Bethany was so sweet to ask me to do a little Christmas baking guest post for her blog, I had to stop and think of something fun & easy to do.  You see, during the holidays, I spend more time in my li'l shop than in the kitchen...

...stirrin' up things like this!

 

I threw this together with bits and pieces from my kitchen shortly before discovering that my computer had eaten most of my prep shots for this project.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

And then it came to me.

I'd make a couple of treats that I created a few years ago...

{Red band platter ~ Vintage, Cup/saucer ~ Wedgwood "Patrician"}

In The Little Red Shop, I carry vintage goodies and pretty new things for home & baby, and seasonal gourmet treats.  I used to carry something my wee friend Emily likes to call...

"Goodness of Happiness!"
aka
White Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallows

But guess what!

The company does not sell them anymore.

So, when Bethany asked me to share a recipe for a Christmas treat, I thought it was about time to dip the marshmallows...myself, and let you in on the secrets behind my...

Goodness of Happiness S'mores & Fun Milk!

Fun milk came to be one Christmas Eve, when my sister-in-law wanted her li'l kiddos to have milk with dinner.  All I had was the non-fat version, so I poured a couple of short cool ironstone mugs full of milk and topped 'em off with swirly mounds of whipping cream!  "Fun Milk" was born!

Now, onto the s'mores...

For my first batch, I mix several broken squares of Godiva Chocolatier White Chocolate Vanilla Bean bar with a small handful of Ghirardelli Chocolate Premium "White Classic" Baking Chips in a vintage milk glass pyrex gravy boat.

I absolutely love using milk glass for baking prep!

I then...

(STIRRING AT 20 SECOND INTERVALS)
Microwaved on "melt" for approximately one minute.

Carefully removed the dish from the microwave and stirred the white chocolate until all of the pieces melted.

Then using a wooden skewer, I stabbed one Kraft "Jet Puffed" Marshmallow at a time and dipped/rolled it into the melted chocolate.  I used the edge of another skewer to smooth the sides & to remove the excess chocolate. 

(Isn't "excess chocolate" an oxi-moron?) 

Just keep dipping marshmallows whilst the chocolate lasts!  The nice thing about making them like this...is you can do itty bitty bits at a time and not be overwhelmed by a huge bowl o' chocolate which does not want to stay melted.

I placed each fresh Goodness of Happiness Marshmallow on a piece of wax paper...on that li'l vintage platter to cool.

Too cool...and much easier than I thought it would be!

Cooling ~ {it doesn't take long in my chilly kitchen} I popped them in the fridge for 15 minutes or so to speed up the chocolate setting.

This is not my fridge.

On a microwave-safe dish, I placed:

 One Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Thin Cookie available at The Little Red Shop, or Ikea)

One Homemade Goodness of Happiness Marshmallow

&

Microwaved on "High" for just a few seconds
(or until the marshmallow expands enough to cover the cookie)

Carefully remove from microwave, place on a pretty plate, and top with another pepparkakor!

Mmmmm....
I have a confession to make.

I didn't just settle for

WHITE CHOCOLATE GOODNESS OF HAPPINESS S'MORES
&
FUN MILK

 

I made peppermint fun milk & chocolate chocolate-dipped marshmallows too!
(I used nonfat milk with peppermint whipping cream (Land O'Lakes) and Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips instead of white chocolate)

What's better than Deep Dark Chocolate Goodness of Happiness?

Gooey Deep Dark Chocolate Goodness of Happiness S'mores dipped in frothy Peppermint Fun Milk!!!

Please, try this at home!

Goodness of Happiness S'mores Fixings make a lovely gift!
Thank you so much, Bethany, for letting me visit with your friends!

Please feel free to stop by my blog, The Little Red Shop and say, "Hello!"

Merry Christmas!
May God Bless you and your loved ones throughout the New Year!

: )

Julie M.

ps The main model marshmallow in this post was from my second batch, for which I used ONLY the Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Baking Chips.  The Godiva Vanilla Bean chocolate has a smokier flavor and will give you a more speckled looking treat.