Making marshmallows is a lot simpler than you might think and allows you to make personalized flavors and shapes for fun gifts and party favors.
By Kelsey Hilts
I successfully made my first batch of marshmallows without a candy thermometer and they turned out to be so much easier than I anticipated. From comments I read, this recipe from King Arthur Flour makes a stiffer marshmallow which was perfect for my family because it was easy for my boys to cut them into shapes with cookie cutters. And the s’mores that my husband and son roasted with the homemade marshmallows were a pretty tasty treat. I can definitely see more marshmallow-making in my future and I can’t wait to experiment with different flavors and ways to decorate them {coated in chocolate, sprinkles, crushed candy, etc.} for gifts and party favors. 
Homemade Marshmallows
- Total Time: 3 hours 12 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
Description
Making marshmallows is a lot simpler than you might think and allows you to make personalized flavors and shapes for fun gifts and party favors.
Ingredients
- 3¼-ounce packs unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup cool water, divided
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- ? tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract or other flavoring
Instructions
- Combine the gelatin and ½ cup cool water in a mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment.
- In a large saucepan, combine the remaining ½ cup cool water, 1½ cups sugar, ? tsp salt and 1 cup corn syrup.
- Cook the mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly.
- Increase the heat to high and cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. If, like me, you don’t have a candy thermometer, cook the syrup for 8 minutes.
- Remove the syrup from the heat.
- With mixer on low, pour the syrup into the softened gelatin and whisk to combine.
- Increase the speed to high and beat the mixture for 8-10 minutes until it is thick, fluffy and cool enough to handle with your fingers.
- Whip in the vanilla extract toward the end of the mixing time.
- Dump the marshmallow mix into a greased 9×13 pan.
- Sprinkle the top of the marshmallows with powdered sugar. *If covering your Peeps in sprinkles, don’t sprinkle powdered sugar over the top or the colored sprinkles won’t stick.
- Cover the pan with a greased sheet of plastic wrap and let the marshmallow rest for several hours or overnight.
- Cut the marshmallows with a greased knife or greased cookie cutters, and roll in sprinkles or other toppings as desired.
- Servings depend on size of the marshmallows.
- Store marshmallows in an air-tight container at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 12 mins
