Marshmallow Shortbread!

So one night this week I wanted a treat, but didn't want to go out to the store to buy one.  I had enough sugar, flour, and butter to make something, but didn't know what I could make.  I google searched "what can I make with sugar, flour, and butter?" and found a shortbread cookie recipe (my new recipe for this is near the bottom of this post).  It didn't call for vanilla, and the shortbread that I've made before has called for it, so I looked around my pantry in search for a flavor I could mix in.  I found a bag of mini marshmallows and thought, hmm clever, why not try it? 

The recipe says to mix the butter and the sugar together well before adding in the flour, so I added in melted marshmallows after I creamed the butter and sugar.  I took about 1/3 of a cup of mini marshmallows and put them in a single layer on a plate.  I microwaved them for about 20 seconds and then spooned them into the butter/sugar mixture.  Note: I didn't spray my plate with non-stick spray before using it, but I think that would have helped in getting the sticky mallows off of the plate after they'd been nuked.

 Next I added in the flour-I added in a little extra to compensate for the extra moister from the mallows, and my shortbread came out a little thick-so I recommend just putting in the cup of flour and making sure that you have 8 full tablespoons of butter to avoid this. 

The recipe that I was going off of told me to cut the dough into shapes, but I wanted to put it in an 8 inch round pan in stead.  I packed my dough into the pan and pushed down the edges of the dough. 

Then I baked this in a hot oven at 275 degrees for about 24 minutes-mine came out a little too crunchy for me so I would try 18-20 minutes.  You want it just turning light brown.

When my shortbread was done baking I put some mini marshmallows on top to give a clue of what's inside.  I did a little pattern on mine, but I wish I would have just put them all over the bread to give it a more even crust-might want to try that. Put the marshmallows on the hot shortbread, and then place a heat safe plate on top of the pan to help the marshmallows melt on to the surface.

Here's my recipe for Marshmallow Shortbread:

-8 full Tablespoons of butter (or a 1/2 of a cup)
-1/2 cup of white sugar (the finer the better)
-1 cup of white flour
-1 cup of mini marshmallows (1/3 cup for in the shortbread, and the rest for the crust)
-Have some cooking spray or something like it available

Cream together the butter and the sugar.  Spray a small plate with a light coating of cooking spray.  Melt 1/3 cup of mini marshmallows on the plate in a single layer in the microwave for 20 seconds.  Spoon the marshmallows into the sugar/butter and thoroughly mix together.  Add in about a 1/4 of a cup of a flour, mix well, and then keep adding until you've put a cup in.

Pack the dough in a 8 inch round pan and bake at 275 for 18-20 minutes (until just light brown).  To make a marshmallow crust take rest of the mini mallows and place on top of the hot surface then cover with a plate for a minute or two.

That's it!  I hope you like it :)