DIY Homemade Marshmallow Recipe
I’ve already received my first Christmas card (from the same friend who is always on top of her game!). I adore seeing a holiday envelope in the mailbox, however, it does leave me with that tinge of guilt that I need to get going on mine. So, this year I’ve enlisted my children to help address, stuff, and seal our cards. However, my little elves might have needed some motivation to put their skills to use. I’ve been bribing them with hot chocolate and marshmallows. And to up my game, we made our own homemade marshmallows!
I’ll admit, I’ve never made marshmallows!! In fact, to look at them in the store, I wasn’t completely sure that the puffed confections could be made by anything but machines. But, the texture and flavor of our first batch totally sold me. And they are fun to make with your kids, too!
Our homemade marshmallow versions melted easily in the steamy hot chocolate, and yet were solid enough to be cut into fun candy cane shapes using our holiday cookie cutters.
If you’re a newbie like me, here’s a great recipe to try with your children for making homemade marshmallows. You’ll need:
- 1 cup cold water, divided
- 1.5 cup white sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 packages of unflavored gelatin
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- Light coating of nonstick spray
How to make marshmallows:
- Use an electric mixer to blend in a bowl the gelatin packs with a 1/2 cup of the cold water.
- In a saucepan, stir together the other 1/2 cup of water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring the mix to a boil. Pop a candy thermometer in the pan (making sure not to touch the pan itself) and heat the mixture until the temperature reaches 240 degrees.
- With the bowl of mixed gelatin/water, drizzle in the hot sugar mixture. Once all ingredients are combined, the fun begins! Turn your mixer to medium and mix for about 10 minutes, when the white mixture will thicken.
- In the meantime, in a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch. Lightly coat a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray, and then lightly dust with the sugar/cornstarch mix. You will have a lot of leftover mix from this that will be used to dust your marshmallows before cutting and plating them.
- Finally, pour your marshmallow and let it sit, uncovered, for at least four hours and as long as overnight. Fresh marshmallow can be used for as long as two weeks when stored properly.
- Turn over the pan to release the marshmallow cake. Cut it into cubes or other fun shapes! Holiday cookie cutters (3” or smaller work best) are a fun way to make these extra special. Consider dusting your knives and cutters with the sugar/cornstarch to minimize the gooey mess!
Homemade marshmallows package really well for a great hostess gift with your favorite hot cocoa mix. Or, you can use them to treat your helper elves to some decadent hot chocolate as they tackle your giant stack of Christmas cards. Hot cocoa not required to enjoy!!
xoxo, MJ
