Maple Bacon Marshmallows

Ingredients

• 1/2c candied bacon bits (just coat bacon in brown sugar and bake in the oven on a wire rack at 350 for 25-30 min, cool, then chop.)
• 2/3c sugar
• 1/2c maple syrup
• 1/4c corn syrup
• 1/4c water
• 1/4tsp salt
• 4.5tsp gelatin
• another 1/2c cold water
• 1/8tsp cinnamon
• powdered sugar

In a microwave safe bowl, add the 1/2c cold water and the gelatin. Let that sit at least 5 minutes. While that happens, in a saucepan, add the sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup, 1/4c water, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook until it reaches 240 degrees. When it's close, microwave the gelatin/water mixture for 30 seconds. Pour into a stand mixer bowl and set to low. When the sugar mixture is cooked, pour it into the stand mixer. Turn the speed up to medium-low and beat for 5 minutes. Then turn up to medium-high and go another 3 minutes. Then add the cinnamon and turn to high for 1 more minute. Then pour in the bacon bits and let mix thoroughly. Pour the whole thing into a 9x9 baking dish that you've covered in parchment and PAM. Smooth the top as best you can (it's sticky and very lightweight) and dust the top with powdered sugar. Let sit for 6 hours (or overnight), remove from pan and cut into about 36 pieces (halves then thirds in each direction). Don't worry, just crush through them with your biggest knife and they'll spring back. Toss the marshmallows in powdered sugar. Done!

Thoughts: Claire felt the bacon was a little off-putting? I think these would make AWESOME smores. No argument from Claire on that. We made these KIND OF thinking of matching them with the sweet potatoes for thanksgiving. So that will probably happen. Anyway, our first foray into making marshmallows (and cooking with gelatin) and it was incredibly easy. Homemade marshmallows are much more... airy and springy than the store-bought type. I guess that make sense. But maybe I will investigate recipes that use a little less gelatin? I'm not sure.

Not quite sure how to store marshmallows. My current vote is "cheek pouches."

Disaster Index: 1/10