Everything is better on a stick...

especially humble (dare I say, trashy?) snack foods. Hot dogs are better on a stick, especially when battered and fried. Snickers bars, too. And Twinkies. And everyone knows there is no heaven like a perfectly toasted marshmallow on a stick. But it's not always summer time and we don't all have wood burning stoves. Some of us are currently frozen inside of our homes thanks to several inches of ice, and while a roaring fire would sure be nice, it ain't happening. I can microwave the you-know-what out of some chocolate though, so there is hope for today (hope and Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts, but we'll get to those later!).

My darling little cousin Owen gets to hand out my Little Monster Valentines to his preschool class next week, so I had to make him something a little special to go with them. No pencils for my buddy! These chocolate coated marshmallow stirrers were just the thing. This is certainly not a recipe, but it is an excellent way to put the snowed in kiddos to work if they are getting cabin fever. Just be careful, you might end up with most of them in your mouth, even if they are meant for stirring into cups of hot cocoa!

Chocolate Marshmallow Cocoa Stirrers

Ingredients:

1 bag of large marshmallows
1 bag of grill skewers or long lollipop sticks
2 cups of chocolate chips or candy melts
Assorted sprinkles
Baker's twine
Plastic treat bags.
Wax paper

Preparation:
Line a baking sheet with wax paper and pour sprinkles into a shallow dish. Stick a marshmallow on all of the skewers.

Pour chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 30 seconds. Stir and continue heating in 30 second intervals until chocolate is just about melted. It will continue to melt as you stir after about 2 minutes of total heat.

Dunk marshmallows into the melted chocolate, turning and tapping to allow excess to drip off. Dun into sprinkles and stand on baking sheet. Continue dipping until they are all coated. If you move slowly, you may need to zap the chocolate for another few seconds in between dips!

Let stand for about an hour before wrapping them in a plastic treat bag and tying with a length of baker's twine.

And there you have it! Cocoa stirrers ready for sliding through your Valentines and passing out at school! You can do these with milk, white, or dark chocolate (coloring white chocolate with red or pink would be very cute!) add some peppermint extract to your chocolate, or add nuts or other candies. My only wish is that I could stir one into a big mug of hot chocolate spiked with Bailey's and topped with fresh whipped cream right now. *sigh* But that kind of behavior is frowned upon :) Soon, baby, soon!