Better Than Bagged Homemade Marshmallows

The consistency, the shape, the taste, and the ingredients are all much different than you’ll find on any brand name or generic brand of marshmallows in the store. But have you ever had homemade marshmallows on homemade sourdough graham crackers with homemade dark chocolate? Well, subtract the chocolate and I have! I can attest to its deliciousness. I will soon be seeking my 9 year old nephew’s dairy-free, dark chocolate recipe. Then we’ll have a fully homemade s’more.

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What you’ll need for homemade marshmallows

• standing mixer with whisk attachment or hand mixer (but note that you’ll maybe want a friend to tag-team all the mixing)
• small bowl
• sauce pan
• mixing spoon
• spatula
• 9×9 baking pan or dish
• cutting board
• large knife
• cooking spray
• parchment paper
• unflavored gelatin
• sugar
• powdered sugar
• corn starch
• vanilla extract (this must be the secret ingredient to all baking recipes. Can you even bake without it?)
• water

Worth noting

When I seek recipes to try, I look for how many ingredients and if I have those in my pantry already. Same goes for the materials I’ll need.

I do not own a 9×9 baking pan or dish but I did have an 8×8 which is what I used for this recipe. This did make my marshmallows thicker which I decided would benefit from a longer than 2 hour set up time as this recipe calls for.

These marshmallows were great for us on an evening we prepared them turned out to be too windy for a bonfire. We ended up making our s’mores inside with the toaster oven.

The next day our marshmallows had a firmer consistency which I find better in a marshmallow probably because I’ve only ever had bagged from the store marshmallows.

Timing is everything

With homemade marshmallows recipe, I made use to use a timer during instructions instead of trying to keep an eye on the clock. It’s fairly important to only do what the recipe says for that amount of time.

The Recipe

• 5 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin (or 2 packets of Knox gelatin)
• 1/4 cup of cold water
• 2 cups of organic raw cane sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

Instructions

1. Pour gelatin in a bowl with 1/4 cup of cold water and mix together well. Let the gelatin “bloom” for about 10 minutes.
2. Line your 9×9 baking dish with parchment paper and spray a fine coat of cooking spray (I like organic olive oil spray) and set to the side.
3. In a large sauce pan, combine 1 cup of water with 2 cups of can sugar and dissolve over low heat for a few minutes, stirring often.
4. Add the bloomed gelatin to the sauce pan and stir until fully dissolved. As soon as you see gelatin dissolved, STOP stirring!
5. Increase heat to medium and bring to a low boil. Boil mixture for 15 minutes without stirring at all. Set a timer and stand with the sauce pan. You’ll need to monitor it to adjust the temperature to keep the boil low but steady.
6. When the 15 mins is up, pour the sauce pan mixture into your standing mixer with the whisk attachment. CAUTION: mixture is very hot and steaming so be careful when adding it the mixing bowl!
7. Mix on a 4 if using a KitchenAid mixer or medium speed for 2 mins. Set a timer.
8. Next, add your vanilla extract and increase the speed to 8 or a KitchenAid or high for about 10 minutes. You’ll notice the mixture just about double in size.

YOU’LL WANT TO WORK QUICKLY FOR THIS PART:

9. Pour the whipped mixture into your baking dish and smooth with a silicone spatula.

10. Allow your marshmallows to set up for at least 2 hours.

11. When ready to cut the marshmallows into shape, mix powdered sugar and cornstarch into a bowl and sprinkle cutting board liberally with it. Put marshmallows on the board and sprinkle the top of the mallows too.

12. Using a large knife that has been sprayed lightly with cooking spray, cut your marshmallows however thick and wide you’d like them.

13. Now, sprinkle more sugar/starch mix on your cutting board and dip all sides of each mallow into it. This helps cut down on the super sticky factor.

14. Enjoy homemade marshmallows in a s’more or rice krispie treats!

Try it!

You’ll want to save this recipe to your Pinterest to try later! Trust me. I saw this one over a year ago for the first time and thought I’d stick to bagged marshmallows instead. Here I am now making my own from scratch marshmallows. Go ahead and Pin it to Pinterest… you’ll need it later. 😉

Tag me on Instagram @johnsonhomenc when you try it!