Homemade Marshmallows & Teacher Gifts

OK, so it's probably a bit too late for anyone to round up all the stuff to do this project, but maybe if you have a few extra minutes during holiday baking, I HIGHLY suggest making home made marshmallows. 

Our teacher gifts were pretty simple. Some pretty purchased mugs, ribbon, candy canes, coco packets, and these long thin bags I found in the cake section at our local store made by Wilton. They are supposed to be for candy pretzels, but made nice baggies to put our marshmallows in. We also tucked in a few Christmas napkins. I used shrink wrap to keep it all together. The kids had a BLAST with the hair dryer making it shrink. They weren't around for the marshmallow making. They could have helped, but it is EXTREMELY hot liquid poured over gelatin using a blender, so the helping part is better at the end. The eating them part. 

Let me discuss the marshmallows. 

They are AMAZING. 

No seriously. 

Like nothing else. Like eating vanilla air. OH MY. 

I was accused of being an over achiever by my friend Lisa. BUT, several cups of hot coco later, I believe she has taken that back since she has been very nice to me lately. Could it be she would like more? 

I made a recipe I found on The Joy of Baking website. The basic ingredients are below if you are curious. 

Homemade Marshmallows:

1 cup (240 ml) cold water, divided

3 - 1/4 ounce envelopes (21 grams) unflavored gelatin

2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar

1 cup (240 ml) light corn (or golden) syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

And to quote my sister in law, what would happen if I added my own marshmallows to Rice Crispy Treats or used Sugar Free Cherry jello and dipped the marshmallows in chocolate? YES, the possibilities are endless. YUM.