Homemade Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pretzel Pops

Happy Birthday To You!

On Sunday my love celebrated his 3rd birthday, finally! It was a bit overdue but we made it happen. After being sick last year we were able to re-schedule.

This year, I decided that I'd make most of the food and I'll be sharing the menu with you in the next couple of weeks. The first item I wanted to share is this delicious homemade vanilla marshmallow pretzel pop covered in milk chocolate. When you bite into one of these guys, its soft and chewy, deliciously chocolaty and the crunch from the pretzel sticks provide a lovely texture. And the salt, you know I adore sweet & savory.

These. Are. Fantastic. Originally I was going to use a lollipop stick but I wanted this treat to be entirely edible so mini pretzel sticks came to mind. I also, wanted it to be a good size for toddlers to eat. The cutest thing ever was when one of my love's friends proceed to lick it like a lollipop.

Making homemade marshmallows is quite simple albeit messy. But so worth it. And the best part is that you can make your marshmallows in flavors such as lemon, peppermint, almond or your favorite flavor.

Printable Recipe
Ingredients
Homemade Marshmallows Courtesy of Smitten Kitchen
About 1 Cup Confectioner's Sugar
3-1/2 Envelopes (2 tbsp plus 2-1/2 tsp) unflavored gelatin
1 Cup Cold Water, divided
2 Cups Granulated Sugar or Cane Sugar
1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
1/4 tsp Salt
2 Large Egg Whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

1. In your stand alone mixer bowl or a large bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup of cold water and allow to soften, set aside. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites using a hand held mixer, stand alone mixer or by hand until they just hold stiff peaks. Set aside.

2. In a 3 quart saucepan cook the sugar, salt, corn syrup and 1/2 cup of the cold water over low heat and allow the sugar to dissolve, stirring with a wooden spoon. Once the sugar has dissolved increase heat to medium and bring mixture to a boil, without stirring until your candy thermometer reaches 240º, about 12-15 minutes or a bit more.

3. Remove from heat and pour over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Beat mixture on high until white, thick and tripled in volume, about 10  minutes. Set aside.

4. Oil an entire 13x9x2 inch baking pan and then using a mesh sieve dust the entire pan with confectioners sugar evenly and generously (you can do this ahead of time).

5. Beat the egg whites & vanilla into the sugar mixture until combined.

6. Pour mixture into your baking pan.

7. Sift 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar evenly on top. Chill uncovered for at least three hours, and up to one day. When firm, take a thin knife around the edges and invert pan and gently take hands and loosen the marshmallow. Trim edges with a large knife and cut into desired size, place back into the baking pan dust with confectioners sugar shake off access sugar and store in a tightly sealed container.

Tada, fluffy, soft, marshmallows! Now lets get ready to make them into chocolate dipped pretzel pops.

Directions
1. Melt two bags of Ghriradelli milk chocolates in a double boiler (I used a steamer basket, a medium pot and a stainless steel bowl filled with about 2 cups of water) on medium/low heat, stirring until completely melted. Take a mini pretzel stick and pierce the marshmallows turning the pretzel like a screw and stop when your about 3/4 up the marshmallow.

2. Dip the marshmallow into the chocolate. Take a spoon and cover the entire marshmallow with chocolate. Allow the access chocolate to drip off or gently scrap with your spoon. You can also roll the chocolate covered marshmallows in some sprinkles, nuts, crushed graham crackers or your favorite cookie crumbs!

Place the chocolate covered marshmallows on a lined baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes to set.

You'll instantly fall in love with these beauties. Great for a party and awesome gift ideas. Enjoy!