A long time ago, I was introduced to Scotch Kisses. Don’t know what a Scotch Kiss is, you say? Brother, you have not lived until this little morsel of heaven passes your lips. To put it simply, it is a marshmallow enrobed in soft butterscotch caramel. That might not sound like much, but I cannot express to you enough how amazing these are. I imagine if you licked an angel, this is what it would taste like. I’m not much of a foodie, but I will admit to daydreaming about these on occasion. Anyway, a local gift shop used to sell these exclusively. Every Christmastime my family would make the trip to snatch up boxes of this coveted treat. You would have thought we were guarding the Pope once they were in our possession. Mom would hide boxes away to enjoy later in the year… by herself. Nana would also hide her stash from us so they would last. They knew. If any of us got a hold of them it would be like a shark feeding frenzy. We could easily devour a boxful without taking a breath. They are THAT good. I have to admit I’ve even eaten one or two with pieces of the wrapper stuck to it because I couldn’t justify throwing that bit away. (It’s just paper, I’ll live.) We looked forward to them every year, as they only came out around Christmas. Then one year, the little gift shop closed and our butterscotch dreams were brutally ripped from us, leaving us barren and forlorn. No seriously, we mourned. How would we ever be able to enjoy these delicious bundles of joy again? We couldn’t accept that they were forever gone. Years passed. Mom made many futile attempts around the holidays to find other places that sold them to no avail. She even called candy shops in the area to see if they would make a batch for us, but nobody understood our plight. Then one day, a ray of hope dawned! It seemed our cousin Carole had a recipe! We were ON it. And yes, they are as yummy as the ones we used to get at the gift shop! So today, I’d like to share this recipe with you. It looks very simple, and it kind of is, but takes some time and patience. So set aside a couple of hours maybe on some snowy afternoon to make these. It yields quite a bit and is totally worth the effort!
Scotch Kisses
(From Cousin Carole)
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light Karo syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 pint Medium All Purpose Cream
1 bag of regular size marshmallows (not the mini ones)
Roll of wax paper
Pam cooking spray
Cookie sheets
Skewers
Fork
Preparation
Cut all the marshmallows in half. Cutting them width wise is best, so you have two round pieces.
Cut wax paper into approximately 6″ x 6″ squares. Quantity = amount of cut marshmallows
Place wax paper sheets on your cookie sheets and spray with cooking spray
Now you’re ready to start
Combine sugar, syrup, salt and cream into a sauce pan over low-medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook until the caramel develops into soft, smooth consistency. You really have to keep an eye on it, but you’ll be able to tell once it’s ready to dip the marshmallows in. You can start testing when you think it’s ready by dipping a marshmallow in. If the butterscotch is too thin, you’ll see that by how it’s coating. You want it to be about the color in the photo, maybe a little lighter.
I use a skewer and a fork for dipping. Skewer the marshmallow and use the fork as a support and to slide it off the skewer. As you dip them in, get them covered as best you can then transfer them on to the cookie sheets. Once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty quick. Refrigerate them until they are dry to the touch, then take them out and start wrapping them in the wax paper squares. You need to refrigerate them first otherwise it will just be a big, fat, mess.
Word of caution: When cooking pay close attention to the heat! If you cook it too fast it will turn into hard butterscotch. This is also delicious, as I found out last year, but it’s a totally different experience and harder to eat. When it gets to the consistency that you want, remove it from the heat or turn it way down if you have a gas burner.
That’s it! Thanks for reading and feel free to share, and let me know how they turned out!
Julie
Hey, I'm Julie. Thanks for stopping by!