Scareos: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pumpkins
Welcome to Spoooky Season! Or if you’re a Murderino, we’re coming up on SpOo0ky Halloweeeen!
I, for one, am ready for all of it. We got our Halloween candy early (just for us), I’ve got my lineup of “anxiety-free” scary movies ready to watch, my daughter’s costume fits and she loves it (she asked to be a mermaid!), and best of all, in lieu of trick or treating, we bought mini pumpkins and cauldrons that we are going to fill with wrapped candy and hide around our backyard like an Easter egg hunt for her.
If you’re in Nashville, there will be a super fun Halloween bake sale to raise money for Planned Parenthood, so this is a no-brainer way to spend your Halloween weekend. It’s like trick or treat, but everything goes to a great cause and you don’t have to ring the doorbell of random strangers during a pandemic. If you do attend, please wear a mask and follow social distancing measures put in place by the organizers!
Also, no Halloween is complete without some fun, themed baked goods. Initially I thought I’d make Severed Hand Pies, but the cookie cutter hands were too delicate and the fingers weren’t thick enough to fill completely and honestly, they just kept falling apart. (Why is that so funny to type?) So, I was back to square one. I put out a request via social media for everyone’s favorite candy. While I was shocked and appalled that nobody said candy corn, I was nodding in earnest over the clear winner: Reese’s pumpkins.
Long story short, these glorious pumpkin shaped cookie sandwiches are what would happen if a Reese’s pumpkin and a Halloween Oreo made sweet love to each other. Think slightly crispy, deep dark chocolate cookies and decadent, gooey, peanut buttery marshmallow filling. And the googly eyes on top were just to make sure they were adorable! These cookie sandwiches are super fun to make, and I even added notes below for the Kiddo Friendly steps, so be on the lookout for those so you can make some memories together.
Happy Halloween, goofballs!
Scareos: Chocolate + PB Marshmallow Pumpkins
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookies
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
3-5 drops of black food coloring (if desired)
3 ounces very finely chopped chocolate
Candy eyeballs and/or sprinkles
Marshmallow Filling
3 egg whites (save one egg yolk, set aside for egg wash)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar, separated
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut powder, sifted
3-4 drops orange food coloring, or more as desired
Process
Chocolate Cookies, yields (18) 4-inch cookies
In a large bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Kiddo Friendly Suggestion: Add each ingredient into its own small, plastic bowl or into dry measuring cups so that kids can pour ingredients into mixing bowls!
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add in one egg and blend for another 2-4 minutes, until airy and light. If using food coloring, add it in now to ensure it blend evenly. Slowly add in dry ingredients in three parts, scraping down the bowl each time until homogenous. Mix in chocolate until evenly incorporated. Mixture will be very thick and a little crumbly. Cover with plastic wrap directly over cookie dough, cover bowl and set in fridge for an hour or up to 24 hours.
Kiddo Friendly Suggestion: Once dough is rolled out, let the kids press the cookie cutters down to make fun shapes!
When ready to bake, let cookies come to just colder than room temperature. Preheat oven to 350F. While oven is preheating, lightly flour a surface and the rolling pin, and roll cookie dough thin, about a quarter inch. Using a cookie cutter (get creative, or not!), cut out cookie dough and line them about an inch apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk one egg yolk (left over from the marshmallow filling) and one tablespoon of water and using a pastry brush, glaze egg wash over uncooked eggs. If adding candy eyeballs or sprinkles, do this step now and have fun with it!
Bake for 10-12 minute or until cookies are crackly and shiny, but not wet. Let cool for about 5 minute and then move to a cooling rack.
Marshmallow Filling
Note: The following steps are not kid friendly, as it requires handling very hot ingredients! To ensure kids feel included, this is something that can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator overnight.
The filling requires multi-tasking, so be sure to get your ingredient ready ahead of time.
While the cookies are cooling, pour corn syrup, water and 1/2 cup white sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and turn on medium, medium-high heat. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar on medium-high until soft peaks form. Once the sugar mixture gets to the softball stage (235-245F), remove from heat and, with the mixer on medium-high, pour mixture very slowly into the egg mixture.
Once sugar mixture is fully incorporated, mix on high for 5 minutes until mixture doubles in size. Add in vanilla, peanut powder and food coloring and whisk on high for one more minute. Once cool, use a spatula to spoon marshmallow filling into a piping bag.
Assembly
Kid Friendly Suggestion: Once piping bag is ready and cookies are lined, let kid try piping filling! It’s great for slightly older toddlers learning fine motor skills!
Line a layer of cooled cookies onto a cookie sheet face side down. Pipe a layer of marshmallow filling and then place another cookie, face up, on top. Let set for a few minutes to hold their shape.
Kid Friendly Suggestion: Show them how to plate them for serving to guests. While you may not be having any guests (hello, covid), but learning to plate items and have them look beautiful is a fun way to teach kids to appreciate their food!