Beer Marshmallows

Difficult?  Easier than you think.
Time consuming? Moderately so.

Beer marshmallows taste way better than you think they should, and they'd be an awesome and surprising addition to any football party (GO BUCKS!).  These marshmallows are reminiscent of overly crowded basements at fraternity houses my freshman  sophomore junior year of college - that beery smell and taste but without the annoying girls and frat-tastic guys.  These remind me of giving my husband a smooch at a football game - an awesome combination of beer and pretzels (him) and chocolate (me, of course).  Basically what I'm saying is that even if you don't care for beer (like me), or love it and wish you could bathe in it (don't), you can basically connect some awesome memory to these delicious, homemade, sweet and salty beer marshmallows dipped in chocolate and coated in crushed pretzels.

Check out How Sweet It Is (where I found the recipe) for awesome photos and the original recipe (which I am sharing below).

The Recipe

 Makes a 13x9" pan

Ingredients:
3 1/2 envelopes (not ounces, envelopes) unflavored gelatin, Knox brand is pretty common
1 cup cold, flat beer, divided (any beer is fine, I think I used Yuengling)
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or meringue powder of equal portion
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 cups chocolate chips
pretzels, crushed (any kind is good but the original author suggests the hard sourdough kind)

Directions:

1.  Flatten the beer;  do this by taking the cap off and leaving the bottle open in the fridge overnight or by pouring cold beer into a bowl and whisking vigorously to reduce the carbonation.

2.  Grab your 9 x 13 pan, cover with oil (e.g., Pam, butter, crisco, etc), and dust with powdered sugar to coat. Set aside.

3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, pour 1/2 cup cold beer and 3 1/2 packs of gelatin. Gently mix with a spoon, set aside.

4.  In a medium sauce pan combine sugar, remaining beer, corn syrup and salt. Heat over low and whisk until sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and bring the sugar to a boil.  Stick in a candy thermometer. Let it boil for 8-12 minutes, until the sugar reaches 240 degrees F. The mixture will look light brown (darker or lighter, depending on the beer you use).

5.  Once the mixture is at 240 degrees, turn off the heat and gently pour it in the gelatin bowl with the mixer on low speed (Kitchen Aid speed 2) and the whisk attachment attached  (I recommend pouring a slow and steady stream down the side of the bowl so the whisk doesn't send how sugar all over the bowl).  Turn the mixer to high (Kitchen Aid speed 8 or 10) and beat for for 6-8 minutes. It will grow in size and be white and fluffy.

6.  While the beer/sugar mixture is going, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks in another bowl (a hand mixer works well).  Once stiff peaks are formed, add the egg whites and vanilla to the beer/sugar mixture and beat until just combined.

7.  Pour marshmallow into the 9 x 13 pan. It's very sticky, do your best getting it all out of the bowl.  Smooth down (a Pam coated spatula helps) then dust powdered sugar on top.  Let sit to firm up for 3-5 hours.

8.  Once firm, flip the pan onto a cutting board to remove the marshmallow.  Cut into desired sizes (if you taste-test at this time, you may not love the way they taste - I didn't and neither did my husband, but keep going).

9. Melt chocolate chips in microwave (30 seconds at 50% power, stir, repeat) or over a double boiler. Dip marshmallow squares in chocolate then roll in pretzel crumbs.  I added extra sea salt for a stronger sweet/salty punch.  Place on a wax paper lined baking sheet to harden.  You can speed up the process by putting a tray of coated marshmallows in the fridge.  Eat and enjoy!!

Recipe from How Sweet It Is.