Cranberry-Orange Mallomars

Happy Thanksgiving week! I'm so ready for the holiday season. During my unemployed hours I've been preparing lots and lots of recipes for you! I'm most excited to share this first cookie recipe of the season with you. This cranberry-orange mallomar is sweet and tart and tastes just like christmas!

These cookies are my basic almond cookie with a few additions of orange zest and dried cranberries. The cranberry marshmallows take a bit of planning to make. I searched four different grocery stores looking for cranberry juice concentrated. I couldn't find it anywhere. In order to make my marshmallows I bought a 64 ounce jug of cranberry juice cocktail and reduced it on the stove to 1 1/2 cups. It took a long time. Plan ahead or find a well stocked grocery store!

I've been getting quite a few questions recently on how I prepare the marshmallow and pipe the mallomars. So I had a bit of fun with these mallomars and filmed a how-to video!  I'm still new at this whole filming and editing thing, so I hope it gets the point across!

Two Years Ago: Thanksgiving Casserole
Three Years Ago: White Chocolate Pastry Cream Crostata

Cranberry-Orange Mallomars

A Wilde Original

These mallomars are sweet and tart, the perfect combination of flavors. If you are lucky enough to find cranberry juice concentrate in your grocery store then you can omit the whole reducing process. 

Cranberry-orange cookies

1 stick butter, room temperature

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup almond flour

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Zest of 1 orange

1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped fine

In a large bowl, beat together butter, powdered sugar and salt until smooth.  Add almond flour and vanilla and beat until combined.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the edges.  Add egg and combine.  Add flour slowly until completely mixed. Add orange zest and dried cranberries and mix until completely distributed.

Scrape batter out of the bowl and onto a large piece of plastic wrap.  Place dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and fold over.  Gently press dough flat with your hands.  Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness.  Place dough on a baking sheet and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Lightly dust work surface with flour and unwrap chilled dough.  Stamp out dough with a 2-inch circle cookie cutter and place cut dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place this baking sheet in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Collect dough scraps and roll into a ball and re-chill and cut until you use all of the dough.

Preheat oven to 350 F while the cookie dough shapes are chilling.  Take cut dough straight from the fridge and place in the oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let cool, on the baking sheet, on a wire rack for 1 minute.  Remove cookies from the sheet and let cool completely before topping with marshmallow.

Cranberry Marshmallow

64 ounces cranberry juice cocktail

1/3 cup cold water

4 tablespoons gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light corn syrup

pink Kosher salt

For coating - White sanding sugar

Pour cranberry juice cocktail into a wide pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce volume of juice down to 1 1/2 cups juice.  This will take a while, up to an hour. Once reduced, pour into a liquid measuring cup and let cool to room temperature.

Combine 3/4 cup juice concentrate with 1/3 cup cold water.  Add gelatin and mix until gelatin dissolves. Place next to the stove.

In a 4-quart pot, combine remaining 3/4 cup juice concentrate, 1/2 cup cold water, granulated sugar, light corn syrup and salt.  Clip on a candy thermometer and set over medium-high heat.  Once syrup comes to a boil, wash down any sugar crystals from the sides of the pot with a wet pastry brush.  Do not stir the mixture.  Heat until the temperature comes up to 250 ºF.

Remove sugar syrup from the heat and add gelatin bloom. Whisk until smooth.  Pour this into the bowl of your stand mixer and turn up to medium-high speed. (You may want to drape a towel over the top to catch any splashes. After 4 minutes, turn speed up to high and whip for another 7 minutes.  Marshmallow will still be slightly warm and be light pink. (You can add some red food coloring if you want a darker color) Transfer some of the marshmallow batter to a piping bag with a 1-cm round opening.

Pipe blobs of marshmallow onto the tops of your cooled cookies. Allow the marshmallow to set for 30 minutes. Dip the marshmallow into the white sanding sugar to cover all the stickiness. Share with friends!

Cranberry Marshmallows

You should still have a whole bunch of marshmallow.  Lightly coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. Wipe out with a paper towel.  Pour remaining marshmallow batter into the pan and let cure for 4 hours.  Combine 1/4 cup corn starch with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Cut marshmallow slab into 1-inch cubes, coat in powdered sugar mixture. Yum.