Mallow Squares

Chocolate! Marshmallow! Weetabix?! Yes, you did read that correctly. These Mallow Squares have Weetabix in the base. Mixed with some sugar and coconut, of course, I’m not going to try to pretend that these are some sort of breakfast food!

I guess it shouldn’t be all that surprising that there are traybakes out there with Weetabix in them, I have used Cornflakes (here) and Rice Krispies (here) before and I’m sure I’ve got a few recipes somewhere that use All-Bran. Breakfast cereals are a staple ingredient in the traditional traybake world!

If you’re in the US (or elsewhere) and haven’t heard of Weetabix, I’ve had no problems finding it at Trader Joe’s or even at my local Wegmans. It’s a bit of a classic breakfast food back home and is somewhat like Shredded Wheat. Although not quite the same. But, like I said, I’ve never had a problem buying it here.

So, the base for these does taste a little like sugary, coconutty Weetabix. Then you add a layer of squishy, sticky marshmallow and top it all with chocolate. And Mr Traybakes remarked that the mallow layer tasted like the filling in a Wagon Wheel. Only it’s a lot, lot thicker. What’s not to like!?

Making the marshmallow layer isn’t all that complicated. It does require quite a lot of whisking, so a free-standing mixer would be best here, but a hand-held electric mixer would also do the job. I did wonder if it would all work out in the end as the instructions are just to ‘boil for 3 minutes’ with no mention of temperatures or sugar thermometers. And it all came together beautifully!

Ingredients

Base

3 Weetabix, crushed

4oz/110g/1 cup desiccated coconut

5oz/150g/¾ cup brown sugar

4oz/110g/1 stick butter, melted

4oz/110g/¾ cup plain flour (all-purpose flour)

Marshmallow

8oz/225g/1 cup sugar

6 fl oz/180ml/¾ cup water

1 sachet gelatine (this is a ¼ oz/7g packet)

1 tsp vanilla extract

7-8 oz/200g chocolate, for topping

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 325F/160C.

2.  Mix all the base ingredients together and spread into a well-lined tin (the mallow is very sticky!) I used a 9″/23cm square tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes and set aside to cool.

3.  Dissolve the gelatine in the water in a saucepan, then add the sugar.

4. Bring this mixture to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.  Let the mixture cool and then whisk at high speed until thick, white and glossy.  This took me about 10-15 minutes. Add the vanilla at the end, then whisk briefly to incorporate.

5. Spread the mallow mixture over the base and let it firm up.  Then top with the melted chocolate.

6. Cut into squares when set. The mallow will be pretty squishy but it all springs back into place nicely after you’ve cut the slices. Enjoy!

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