homemade marshmallows

Homemade marshmallows are pillowy soft, fluffy, and so darn creamy. You can’t beat the melt-in-your-mouth texture and rich vanilla bean flavor!

I don’t think there’s any homemade candy out there that is as good as a marshmallow. The difference between store-bought and homemade is unreal. If you’ve never had one, they taste like puffs of soft, sweet air. They have a plush, bouncy texture that melts in your mouth (thank you to our thermoreversible hydrocolloid friend, gelatin!) and gives way to a creamy burst of vanilla.

They are 100% worth making from scratch, and the recipe is actually pretty simple. I love to make them with our kids because they’re a perfectly blank canvas for colors, flavors, and add-ins. It also gives us an excuse to get the blow torch out-- nothing roasts up as beautifully as a giant homemade marshmallow. 

Whether you want to make super indulgent gooey homemade s’mores, have fun with peppermint swirled marshmallows, or dip them in chocolate for a Christmas candy EVERYONE will love, this vanilla marshmallow recipe is your first stop.

I hope to answer all the questions you might have and guide you along your journey to the best marshmallows ever!

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what are marshmallows made of?

Marshmallows are made with sugar and gelatin. Some recipes use egg whites, which can make the marshmallows even softer and fluffier. I prefer to keep ours simple and egg-free with sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin.

To make vegan marshmallows, you can find recipes that use agar instead of gelatin.

To make kosher marshmallows, substitute fish gelatin in place of standard beef gelatin.

Gelatin, however, is the key to marshmallows. It stabilizes the air bubbles that get whipped into the syrup and it gives marshmallows their bouncy, springy texture. It also starts to melt at around 86°F, which is why marshmallows melt so deliciously in a cup of hot cocoa and in your mouth!

marshmallow ingredients

how to make marshmallows

1. Combine half the water, vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds in the mixer bowl. 
2. Whisk in gelatin and set aside to bloom.
3. Combine sugar, remaining water, corn syrup, and salt in a pot and cook to 250°F.
4. Cool syrup to 220°F.
5. Turn mixer on and slowly stream in hot sugar syrup.
6. Beat on medium-high for about 10 minutes.
7. Scrape into a buttered and parchment-lined pan; do your best to smooth the top.
8. Cover loosely with foil and let sit 8 hours.
9. Cut into squares, dust with a mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch to prevent sticking.
10. Enjoy!

what else can you do with homemade marshmallows?

• S’MORES. There is nothing as gooey and luscious as a s’more from a homemade marshmallow. They melt very easily: use a blowtorch and very quickly roast the edges for the best results
• Make mini-mallows! Scoop the warm marshmallow mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip or plain round tip. Pipe onto a powdered sugar-cornstarch-dusted sheet pan. Let cool, then dust with more powdered sugar-cornstarch.
• Dropped into your favorite hot chocolate.
• Cut into small pieces and mix with dark chocolate for homemade rocky road candy!
• Folded into brownies or dark chocolate cookies.
• Coated in chocolate.
• Mix tiny bits into homemade fudge.
• Pour into a 9-inch x 13-inch pan (so it’s thinner) and use any cookie cutters to make custom-shaped marshmallows!

more homemade marshmallow tips:

• Use a good instant-read digital thermometer.
• For best results, use a digital scale rather than measuring cups.
• The whipped marshmallow is super thick and sticky. My favorite way to get the extra marshmallow out of the whisk attachment is to spin it off: with the mixer running on medium speed, slowly lift up the head and spin off the extra marshmallow.
• Butter the pan, line with parchment, butter the parchment. You don’t HAVE to butter the parchment and when the marshmallows are set, you can peel the block off the paper. But it comes off easier when the paper is greased, and I just love the buttery flavor it adds!
• Cover the marshmallow pan with foil! Plastic wrap inevitably falls into the marshmallow and will be stuck to the surface for the end of time. With foil, you can secure a sheet to the top edges of the pan so nothing sticks the marshmallows.
• Wipe down the knife with a wet towel after every few cuts to clean off the sticky residue. This will make cutting so much easier!
• Dust every new cut with the powdered sugar-cornstarch mix to prevent sticking. You can’t overdo this! Failure to aggressively powder your mallows will result in a giant, sticky mass of marshmallow pieces. Delicious, but not the goal.

are marshmallows gluten-free?

Yes! Marshmallows are made with sugar, gelatin, and cornstarch. Gluten-free but not vegan.

can marshmallows help a sore throat?

I’ll be honest. The first time I heard this question, I thought the person was on drugs. But as I dug into the history of marshmallows, I learned it’s a totally fair question!

Marshmallows are named after a wetland plant called the marsh mallow.

The mucilage in the roots was found to help sore throats and coughs and has been shown today to reduce inflammation of mucous membranes.

Over the years, the mucilage was extracted and boiled with sugar to make a cough syrup and eventually the French decided to whip that sweet mucilage with egg whites for a lozenge.

Overtime, gelatin was swapped for the marsh mallow root mucilage and the modern marshmallow was born!

So no, the marshmallows of today won’t do anything for a sore throat. But 200 years ago they did!

how to store homemade marshmallows:

Store homemade marshmallows in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to a month. They are the softest and fluffiest the first week of making, but they won’t go bad if they are kept longer. 

They don’t need to be stored in the refrigerator, and the higher humidity can make them sticky if the bag isn’t well sealed.

can you freeze homemade marshmallows?

Yes, marshmallows can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

more homemade candy recipes:

coconut marshmallows

chocolate covered marshmallows

peppermint marshmallows

peanut brittle

cashew brittle

pecan brittle

chocolate peanut clusters

chocolate covered caramels

sea salt caramels

butter toffee recipe (buttercrunch)

dark chocolate covered almonds

chocolate holiday bark

dark chocolate truffles

old fashioned chocolate fudge

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