Monday, July 27, 2009

MALLOWS - THE DARING BAKERS

As it incredible as it might seem, it is once again that very special time of the month when all Daring Bakers worldwide are invited to share their creations with the rest of the planet as well as ramble about the latest baking trial and it's successful or unfortunate outcome...

The July Daring Bakers' challenge is hosted by Nicole at "Sweet Tooth" (Philippines) who chose "Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies" and "Milan Cookies" from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

At first glance, both recipes didn't impress me much as I was expecting a totally different challenge. I was really looking forward to baking something summery, refreshing and less chocolaty (Don't get my wrong. I love chocolate, but when it's blazing hot outside, I'd rather eat lighter food...).

Of
course, I was nonetheless very excited because I was going to be able to make homemade marshmallows for the very first time of my life and was finally going to conquer my fear of that treat which I have always considered highly inaccessible and somewhat scary.

In fact, my fears were proven wrong and there was nothing terrifying about making marshmallows. It is easy as Sunday morning! Aaahhh, how stupid I can be sometimes. Setting mental barriers is not productive...

As I've been quite busy lately, I chose to bake only one of the two cookie recipes proposed and, naturally, I decided to face my phobia of making marshmallows and definitely put an end to it. Thanks to the Daring Bakers I have once again showed my inner demon that I am capable of vanquishing my anguish of failure and that I can serenely face challenges without flipping out!

Overall, those "Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies" were not really difficult to make, but were very time-consuming (the time listed on the recipe isn't accurate and the chocolate took a while to set), yet worth the effort. I ended up with an industrial quantity of cookies, so if you don't have friends or family with whom you can share them or if you are watching your weight closely, you'd better divide the recipe by two or three, otherwise you'll be stuck with tons of cookies...

Although, generally, chocolate and marshmallow combos don't particularly make me drool, I must say that those cute retro cookies were very enjoyable and contributed to making me change my mind on the subject. The lusciously buttery, delicately flavored and not too sweet cinnamon cookie base paired very welll with the soft, fluffy and sugary marshmallow centre, and the chocolate coating added a much needed contrasting bitterness which gave more body and character to the overall savor of those regressive little droolicious domes.

I
really want to thank Nicole for having chosen that recipe and helped me "master" the art of making marshmallows!

~ Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies ~
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website.

Preparation time: 10 min
Inactive preparation time: 5 min
Cooking time: 10 min

You'll need:
Cookies (recipe follows)
Homemade marshmallows (recipe follows)
Chocolate glaze (recipe follows)

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Cinnamon Cookies

Ingrédients for the "Cookies":
3 Cups (375g/13.23oz) All purpose flour
1/2 Cup (112.5g/3.97oz) White sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
3/4 Tsp Baking powder
3/8 Tsp Baking soda
1/2 Tsp Ground cinnamon
12 Tbs (170g/ 6 oz) Unsalted butter
3 Eggs, whisked together

Method for the "Cookies":

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

6. Preheat the oven to 190° C (375° F).
7. Roll out the dough to 0.3cm (1/8-inch) thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 2.5cm to 3.8cm (1 to 1 1/2 inches) cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours. 10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze. 12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. 13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Remarks:
If you don’t want to make your own mars
hmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 170° C (350° F) oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Vanilla-Flavored Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients for the "Homemade Marshmallows":
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Light corn syrup
3/4 Cup (168.76g/5.95oz) Sugar
1 Tbs powdered gelatin
2 Tbs Cold water
2 Egg whites , room temperature
1/4 Tsp pure vanilla extract

Method for the "Homemade Marshmallows":
1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 112.7° C (235° F) on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients for the "Chocolate Glaze":

12 oz (360g) Semisweet chocolate (60% cocoa)
2 oz (60g) Cocoa butter or vegetable oil

Method for the "Chocolate Glaze":
1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.


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Etant donné la longueur du texte original, je n'ai malheureusement pas pu faire une traduction française de ce billet et je m'en excuse auprès de tous mes amis lecteurs et blogueurs francophones! C'est pourquoi je vous suggère de vous rendre sur les blogs mentionnés ci-dessous. Vous y trouverez cette recette en version française.

Chez Vibi de "La Casserole Carrée" (Canada)
Chez Isa de "Les Gourmandises d'Isa" (Canada)

134 comments:

  1. Absolutely fabulous Rosa! The one with colorful sprinkle look really pretty and colorful. Well done!

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  2. Good for you for taking this on, Rosa! And, as usual, you did a spectacular job!

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  3. Just gorgeous Rosa. Your words are truly reflective of my thoughts-in totality! From the time I saw the challenge, to the time consuming bit, to industrial sized batches...to the joy of making them! Beautifully done my friend!

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  4. They are absolutely beautiful. I love the ones covered with chocolate!!

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  5. Your cookies have come out perfect. And those covered with sprinkles look quite summery - bright and colourful.

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  6. Your mallows are adorable! I love the sprinkles!

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  7. absolut perfekt gemacht. Ich nehm eins mit Schokolade !

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  8. I LOVE all your creations and the 100's and 1000's coated mallows are so delish looking and are so summery. Looking at your professional photos your coating skills are superb. Great to hear that you are over your marshmallow phobia it really is easy!!! Thanks for your very nice comments you left on my blog especially on my first batch of macarons.

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  9. Rosa, those are some of the most perfect Mallows I've ever seen, and the ones with the sprinkles are beautiful! Amazing job as always, and great photos as usual :)

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  10. Coucou!

    Alors, ça...c'est terrible juste avant le petit déjeuner! Ma tasse de thé commence déjà à faire la tête!

    Merci Rosa pour ces jolis cookies à croquer:)

    Bonne semaine :)

    Bisous:)

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  11. They look lovely Rosa. I love the hundreds and thousands. Excellent job :)

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  12. Très jolies ces petites choses! Elles sont originales en plus!

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  13. Amazing and gorgeous!
    ... the best way to begin happily a new week!

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  14. OMG!! i begged off this month's challenge cause I was really busy. YOurs mallows came out perfect as usual...all the photos are magnificent too!!

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  15. Excellent, surtout la version chocolatée ! Un DB a surveiller de près !

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  16. Rosa, they are gorgeous! And as you know I love these treats more than anything, you have also convinced me to try them. When you are afraid to make something it strikes a chord somewhere in me, so I am thrilled whenever you attack it first and say it is easy! These are perfect!

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  17. C'est vraiment originale comme recette. Tu a encore une fois relevé le défi haut la main.

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  18. Wow...your mallows look beautiful and love the titles you put on your pics ;)

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  19. Oh my word, so beautiful! I adore the cookie with hundreds and thousands!!

    Katie xox

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  20. Ooh these look soo good! I was just thinking about making marshmallows, and here I come across soo many DB posts about them!! They look delicious, I'm going to try this soon!

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  21. They are perfect! Brings back lots of nice childhood memories!

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  22. Cute, cute, cute. These look great. I so love the sprinkles! :)

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  23. You're the mallow master Rosa! How beautifully done... I espacially like the spirnkled ones... so juvenile! LOL

    P.s.: Not sure if the music on your blog is random, cause I never heard that one here... but it is really, really good!

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  24. Quels jolis cookies, tu as le tour de les rendre appétissant:)

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  25. Love those ones with the sprinkles on top. Cute!

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  26. Yum-o! Mallows look totally tempting.I dared to make just the milano :D

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  27. Comme c'est beau! J'adore la version avec les petits bonbons sucrés, c'est très créatif!

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  28. Perfect! They look absolutly perfect! Love them all!

    Cheers,

    Miette.

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  29. Absolutely beautiful and I really do so love the mallows with all the coloured sprinkles. It brings out the picture so well.

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  30. Beautiful. You have done a great job my friend!

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  31. Rosa! Well Done! These are more than fantastic! I love the sprinkles and the way you got the chocolate so even is just fabulous! So professional looking....!!!

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  32. De vrais petits joyaux tes biscuits!
    J'aurais aimé moi aussi avoir un dessert un peu plus estival...

    J'aime particulièrement ta version avec les petits bonbons!

    Félicitations et bonne journée!

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  33. C'est superbe, je vais en faire dès que j'ai une minute,c'est absolument craquant !!! je vais aussi me débrouiller avec la recette en anglais c'est quand même à ma portée !!!

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  34. They look lovely! And great clicks too..

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  35. ces petits biscuits sont a croquer!!!!

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  36. i am actually the opposite of you--the chocolate marshmallow combo does make me drool. so do your pictures.

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  37. These look fantastic! What a fun cookie to make, and I love homemade marshmallows.

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  38. I love all the different versions and your photographer is wonderful!

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  39. Wern't these fun! Great stuuning job as always.

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  40. Awesome marshmallows! I was not quite so brave, kudos to you!

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  41. Oh, your mallows are so perfectly shaped- Adorable!

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  42. Bien tentants ces ravissants biscuits ! je ne lis pas l'anglais couramment , j'irais voir la recette en français , en paresseuse !
    je vais être juré en ta compagnie chez Miss Diane , à bientôt donc !

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  43. These are really lovely and look delicious!

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  44. Woow, very nice Foodstuff, and nice Photos too. :) Greets Dirk

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  45. Irresistible indeed! Your mallows look wonderful!

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  46. wow ! Rosa ! m'en as tu gardé un avec tous ces petits bonbons ? ils sont tellement plus appétissants :)
    superbe comme d'habitude !

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  47. Waouh,que de gourmandises à tester!!!
    Bisous.
    Caro

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  48. The sweet heaven here deep, rich and pure sweetness Rosa!!

    Bliss only bliss on these mallows :)
    Sending to twitter right now...

    All the best,

    Gera

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  49. They look absolutely fantastic! Great job done on the mallows..!

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  50. Like you I was surprised by this months challenge, thought it would be something much more summery. Something seasonal with berries maybe.

    I found the mallow cookie a little rich, but yours do look beautiful.

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  51. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take part this month but congrats on your cookies, they're truly amazing and mouthwatering!

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  52. Love the retro sprinkle addition. Gorgeous photos too!

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  53. Your cookies look great. I love the ones with the sprinkles!

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  54. Amazing! The ones with the sprinkles are especially divine!

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  55. those mallow cookies are gorgeous! My daughter will love'em

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  56. the cookies with the sprinkles are so cute! Too cute to eat!

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  57. Rosa, Rosa, georgeous pics!!! and beauty mellows, I love marshmallows and all make with them, look divine!! gloria

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  58. Rosa,

    They're lovely! Especially the ones with the sprinkles. You turned them into summer cookies indeed!

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  59. Perfect marshmallow topping and sooo beautifully thin chocolate shell...nothing to fear indeed. These are just beautiful!

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  60. So cute, Rosa! I especially love the idea of covering them with sprinkles! Very fun!

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  61. Your mallows look great!Very nicely done.

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  62. Beautiful! The mallows with the sprinkles look so cheerful

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  63. Mmm, your cookies look amazing =D. Beautiful job on this challenge!! I love your photos!!

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  64. The one with the colorful sprinkles is super cute!

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  65. Fabulous! I especially love the retro ones with colorful sprinkles!

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  66. I absolutely love the ones with the sprinkles! It reminds me of a combination of Mother's animal cookie and mallow, so good!

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  67. I tend to have this craving each time I visited your blog and me kanna go for a rush now :D

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  68. absolutely gorgeous looking cookies rosa. my son will go for the sprinkles!

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  69. Mmmmmmmmmm. Beautiful photos, I love your mallows.

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  70. Those sprinkle cookies are SO cute!! Great idea :)

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  71. Chocolate covered gorgeousness... always a treat to eat them.. they sure look amazing.. would definitely give them a try!

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  72. ..totalement "hallucinant" !!!!tu me fascines ma chère Rosa..

    ..les fabriquants de cookies peuvent aller se r'habiller lol!!!!!!

    ~nancy xx

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  73. I love them all, this is something I will die for...........am drooling!

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  74. Beautiful mallows!

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  75. The photographs of the marshmallows are so beautiful then how tasty must they be. I want those for my evening snack.

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  76. ils sont tip top, s'il t'en reste, je prend!!
    bisous

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  77. The cinnamon cookies sound really good. Great pictures.

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  78. Ils sont trop mignons et bien gourmands ces jolis biscuits!!

    Bon mardi Rosa:)xxx

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  79. OMG
    They look amazing
    so beautiful
    I love the pictures - Bravo!

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  80. Those look REALLY good ... way better than the bought ones.

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  81. cette idée est superbe!!! jten piquerai bien 2 ou 3 moi!

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  82. Homemade marshmallows are so melt in your mouth and these cookies would have to be over the top.
    Happy Twirls

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  83. Beautiful job (as always . . )

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  84. Beautifully done. I especially like the ones with sprinkles all over them :) Colorful, fun, and delicious!

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  85. What beautiful photos. Certainly are inspiring me to try them myself!

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  86. AMazing!!!! You did such a great job! I especially love the one with sprinkles :)

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  87. Superbes, magnifiques et terriblement gouramnds!!! Bravo!

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  88. Yum yum (I know...bad joke)! Love the sprinkles, these look fantastic.

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  89. Beautiful job Rosa! They look delicious.

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  90. Rosa, just executed them just perfectly, so awesome beautiful! hahahah wish you would send me some! :)

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  91. WOW! Fabulous job on this challenge!

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  92. Any chance you can air-mail me a few dozen? ;)

    Gawd, they look amazingly good.

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  93. Absolutely stunning! Nicely done!!

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  94. Je ne sais pas quoi dire devant unepareille gourmandise!

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  95. Aww beautiful! One of my favourite biscuits when I was little was exactly like the hundreds and thousands one :)

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  96. these are outrageously gorgeous. Great job on you mallows!

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  97. The cookies with the sprinkles are just too cute. Congratulations on tackling your fear of marshmallows, they look wonderful!

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  98. Cookies look fantastic. Lovely presentation and absolutely amazing photography.

    First time here and sure would be here often. Keep it going.

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  99. Je vois que tu as bien travaillé pendant mon absence, bises !

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  100. De petites merveilles que voilà ! Merci pour cette fabuleuse recette.

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  101. trop appétissants! j'en aurais bien piqué quelques uns!

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  102. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the sprinkles! You do such a great job with your pictures--I enjoy reading your blog. :)

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  103. They are absolutely beautiful, Rosa! I love the ones with the sprinkles. So festive and fun!

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  104. Oh, qu'ils sont jolis!!!!!!
    Des p'tites merveilles!

    Bises ;-)

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  105. these are so pretty with hundreds and thousands!! they're like something out of a fairytale :) x

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  106. oh my god its look cutee :)) very very pretty :)

    ı love your blog , its delicious :))

    sprinkles absolutely beautiful :))

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  107. Your cookies look amazing! I am new at daring baker (getting ready to do my first bake with them!) and hope that mine treats look at good as yours!

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  108. Rosa, you variations all look so good... but loving the sprinkles!

    Kudos

    Lucy

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  109. Gorgeous cookies love the ones with the non-pareils! I truly enjoyed making these!

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  110. ROSA these look adorable...love the 'pouty' marshmallow drops on those delectable cookies :)

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  111. Je n'ai casiment rien compris, mais autant te le dire: les photos elles disent tout, j'en salive!

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  112. Great job on the challenge. I love the sprinkles! I found the recipe to be simple but VERY time-consuming as well. Hopefully we'll get a more summery treat for August!

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  113. Love the ones with the sprinkles, very retro!

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  114. These look divine!! Oh my.

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  115. Difficult or not, you always bang out some tasty treats from your kitchen!

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  116. wow!!!!! sooo pretty and colorful!! ye photography is stunning as usual rosaaa!! keep it up!

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  117. GASP! Those look wonderful! When I lived in NZ, that was one of my favorite snacks to get at the grocery store! I will have to make these and reminisce as I stuff my mouth with these lovelies!

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  118. Mallows always remind me of my grand mother! She didn't make them, but she liked the bought version which, I'm sure, is much less fantastic than the ones you and the rest of the DB made.

    Very nice!

    http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/foods-you-love-but-shouldnt/

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  119. Making your own marshmallows sounds like fun. Coating them in chocolate sounds even better!

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  120. My hubby loved the ones with the hundreds and thousands

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  121. Fantastic!
    I've only made marshmallows once, and my kitchen was not a pretty sight. At the time, I wished I had a way of using the marshmallows in a recipe, but I ended up plopping them in hot chocolate instead.

    I think I'll save these cookies for my next, sticky attempt.

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