Dress up the dessert table or cookie exchange with this colorful treat! Church Windows are a holiday tradition that everyone can enjoy.
Remember the Orange Juice Balls that I posted a little while ago? It was a recipe that my Grandma Rench made every year for the holidays. I dubbed it “vintage” because it’s one of those recipes that’s been around for ages and makes an appearance in church cookbooks and hand written recipe books. This is another one of those vintage recipes: Church Windows!
The name Church Windows comes from the colorful marshmallows. They are supposed to look like stained glass panels in windows covered in frosty snow. I’m not sure if they really live up to their name, but they do look pretty on the table and the recipe is so easy.
Every year for as long as I can remember, our family has celebrated New Year’s Eve (which is also my dad’s birthday) with two other families from church: the Wilsons and the Welshes. And almost every year, Mrs. Welsh made a plate of pretty church windows for us to snack on during the festivities. This particular recipe is included in one of our church cookbooks. 🙂
Church Windows: vintage recipe series
Ingredients
- 1 bag 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 bag 10.5 oz. colored marshmallows
- 1 cup chopped nuts optional
- 1 bag shredded coconut
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate chips and butter over low heat. Stir until smooth and let cool to room temperature. (You don't want to melt the marshmallows.)
- Stir in the marshmallows and nuts, if desired.
- Spread coconut on wax paper, scoop out chocolate mixture over the coconut, and roll into a log, coating all the sides in coconut.
- Wrap tightly and freeze.
- While still frozen, remove the wax paper and slice into 1" slices.
You don’t need to keep these frozen or refrigerated after they have set. Serve at room temperature if you’d like (as long as your house isn’t 85 degrees for some reason.) 😉
If you like vintage recipes like Church Windows, check out these other classics!
Nicole Burkholder
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Carol Gallmeyer says
My mother talks about these every year. I’m going to have to make them and suprise her this year. I vaguely remember them on grandma’s table but that’s been a long time ago!
Heather says
I’m going to substitute graham crackers for the coconut but don’t know what else to include considering I’m not a nut fan. Any suggestions are welcome!
Thank you ?
Nicole Burkholder says
You could just as easily leave them out. The log will be smaller in size probably, but I don’t think it would be a problem. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure I didn’t include them in mine, either. I like the idea of graham crackers on the outside! Let me know how it turns out.
Daniel Molitor says
My mother never put the nuts in and didn’t even do the coconut on the outside.
This is one of my favorite recipes because it so easy and quick.
Nicole Burkholder says
I just made them last night for a cookie exchange and this time I left the nuts out as well. I also just dusted with powdered sugar, rather than rolling in the coconut. It was the “quicker, cheaper” version and they still tasted great! 🙂 They are so nostalgic for me <3
Shirley says
I am looking for a recipe for marshmellow rolls made with cocoa.
Nicole Burkholder says
Maybe something like this? http://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2014/12/hot-chocolate-cake-roll.html
Try searching for those keywords on Pinterest as well as Google. There’s lots to choose from and maybe you’ll find the one you’re looking for 😉