Recently I took a trip to Chelan, Washington where there was an abundance of fresh blueberries. I purchased ten pounds of berries for $5 – what a deal! Well, yes, it was a deal, but now I am faced with what on earth to do with a gizillion blueberries. There is only so much blueberry muffins, smoothies and syrup a family can take after all…enter my heavenly Blueberry Crisp Marshmallows.

I decided to get creative and make my favorite recipe for homemade marshmallows, but with a twist. Rather than dust them with confectioner’s sugar, I decided to dust them with a topping of graham cracker crumbs and swirl some fresh blueberry sauce in the marshmallows once completed.

The final result was fabulous and a great way to use up a bit of those blueberries. I fused several recipes together – Barefoot Contessa’s recipe for homemade marshmallows along with a Blueberry Sauce from All Recipes.

Blueberry Crisp Marshmallows

Ingredients
1 package unflavored Knox gelatin
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (crushed from about 7 squares)
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 T. sugar
3 T. blueberry sauce (recipe below)

Directions
Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes.

While the marshmallow is being whipped, add the crushed graham crackers, sugar and butter together. Set aside. Grease a 8×8 inch square pan with cooking spray or butter and dust the bottom with the graham cracker crumbs. Reserve the remaining crumbs. Like this:

Once the fifteen minutes has passed, your marshmallows will be light and fluffy. They will look like this:

Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly. Carefully fold in the blueberry sauce just until you see a ribbon of blueberry and a light marbling effect. Pour into the baking pan and sprinkle with some of the remaining graham cracker crumb mixture. Let the marshmallows set overnight or for approximately 6-8 hours.

Cut the marshmallows up once they are set and dust the remaining sides with the graham cracker crumb mixture. Enjoy!

Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup water
1 cup orange juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of water, orange juice, and sugar. Stir gently, and bring to a boil.

In a cup or small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. Gently stir the cornstarch mixture into the blueberries so as not to mash the berries. Simmer gently until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the almond extract and cinnamon. Thin sauce with water if it is too thick for your liking.