Star Aligned Trifecta: Marshmallow Chocolate Pecan Cookie

It started with having no baking powder.

And then having to google cream of tartar and finding out I don't have that either.

[like, who the @#$* can say, "oh, the salt is right in that corner, behind my cream of tartar"]

the texture of this looked nothing like the picture online, making me very nervous. but god does this look good. 

liking to nom on raw dough is normal, right? especially raw dough...with...marshmallows???

Which resulted in me having to start from square one and finding an entirely new recipe. One that would let me utilize my 2 cups of flour and 1.4  cups of sugar.  By this point it is 11 pm, and I hadn't even had coffee all day. (SO. MANY. OBSTACLES.) 

But somehow, admist all of this, a beautiful trifecta was born. Queue in chocolate truffle-chips, marshmallows and pecans. These three were destined to be best friends since the day my exhausted, slightly desperate brain decided to put them together in a bowl. What a beautiful, beautiful improvisation. (and I am being zero-amounts of sarcastic, good food just gets me that emotional) 

look how beautifully the marshmallows turned out

So here's the skinny: since my original idea of making strawberry shortcake cookies failed miserably, (edit: found out later I actually had baking powder THIS ENTIRE TIME. But no regrets, these cookies were Fate's calling to me, to bestow to the world the tastiest, and greatest of all sweets. I'm basically like a prophet of cookies, a cookie prophet, if you will)  I needed to make another type of cookie I could bring to work. 

I am baking specifically to celebrate IT Guy's last day at the office, but because I have so many friends  I want to share my baked goods with, cookies are the way to go.  I'll be like the Easter Bunny, hopping around Longwood with a basket of sweets that I shall distribute to the people I love. 

hoppity hop hop

So as I am trying to figure out what to make, I realize we still have a box of marshmallows in the pantry. I have been wanting to experiment baking with marshmallows for awhile, and so finally settled with a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe to serve as a base, which I would just tweek by adding marshmallows. I know, I am breaking all kinds of boundaries here, folks.

These cookies were really a gamble all the way through, , starting with my haphazardly measured sugar (guestimations ftw: I took into account how my family and I don't like overly sugared things) all the way to hand cutting individual truffles to act as 1 cup of chocolate chips. 

it kind of looks like I murdered someone...made of chocolate...sadface

artisan cookies right hurr 

Yeah, that actually happened. And I started with more flour than the chocolate chip cookie recipe had wanted, so I was afraid things might all be out of proportion. And it occurred to me a little too late that I actually had no idea what happens when you stick marshmallows in a 300 degree oven. Do they melt...or explode? Because given my past experiences, nothing would surprise me.

fresh out of the oven

So the entire time I am baking, I am already stressed out and uncertain, every  single step of the way. But I realized I just had to get through it and see what happens, because one) it was getting really late and I really wanted to watch the new Glee Project episode before I slept and two) my curiosity was getting the better of me.


Well, the cookies turned out bomb-tastic. Like, a bomb of delicious explosions all over your taste buds going KABLAM!!! Like, I want to die and eat these cookies forever.

The level of sweetness was just right, allowing the delicious truffle chocolate to subtly stand out more. I'll admit, the extra effort was worth it for those truffle-chips. And the marshmallows became just the right amount of gooey without making a mess or burning, adding a cool extra texture to the cookie. Both the truffles and marshmallows themselves are not sickeningly sweet . And I was super happy with the spread and shape of the cookies too, how delicious and homey they look!

It's to the point where I am confident that these cookies will have the ability to reincarnate Betty Crocker back to life following her tragic suicide over that shitfesteria that was my strawberry cobbler.

Difficulty: 5.5
Willingness to make again: 9
Over-all: 9.8 (actually 10, DING DING DING)
Notes:
1) the 15 minute bake time was perfect
2) if feeling up to it, can toast the pecans prior to adding them to the batter
3) as of now, these are my favorite cookies ever 

amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/01/chocolate-chip-cookies/


I find it interesting how often times the best outcomes don't come from religiously following recipes and trying extra hard. [Mom may or may not have been trying to tell me this exact thing a zillion in a half times, but I tend to be super original and mess up at least ten times before ever listening to my parents] 

may also be one of my most photogenic creations to date

So yeah, being a little bit creative and going with the flow of things can produce unexpectedly tasty results, as my tummy was able to discover tonight. Yums! Next time,  I'll just proceed with more confidence, and not automatically assume the worst outcomes just because I am improvising.

Oh, also, how is it that I managed to post TWO pictures of Dora the Explorer but not mention that today the Supreme Court ruled Obama's Affordable Care Act Constitutional. God, I am a horrible public health student...and person. On behalf of me and my homiechica Dora,  lo siento! 

#orgasm #iwouldsellmybabiesforthese #shamelesslynotsorry

Amongst a bajillion other things, Obamacare is going to let me stay under my parent's insurance post-graduation until I turn 26, woohoo! This means I have 6 more years of irresponsibly shoving all sweet things into my body with the knowledge that future heart bypass surgeries  will be covered by my parents.

Great,  so I'll just help myself to another cookie then...