Homemade Marshmallows {How to Make Marshmallows}
Learn how easy it can be to make honey-sweetened Homemade Marshmallows without corn syrup. These healthy natural marshmallows are perfect for gifts, roasting, baking, or in a cozy cup of cocoa.
I told my friend Mary that I was making marshmallows and she kindly informed me “you can also buy those at the store”.
No kidding? What they won’t think of next….
It all started with a garage sale. I found an ancient candy thermometer for $5, and the woman insisted that it still worked. I’ve been wanting one forever and figured that for $5, it was worth a shot.
I needed to find something to use this on. STAT. I remembered reading about marshmallows in The Homemade Pantry; one of my favorite cookbooks of all time.
Alana’s recipe in The Homemade Pantry calls for white sugar and Lyles Golden Syrup, but I thought that perhaps I could replace both with honey. I aimed to find out. The recipe below is inspired by the one from The Homemade Pantry, with tweaks by me.
Try these homemade marshmallows in this Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge recipe, Addicting Smores Bark, or Nordy Bars.
What ingredients are in Homemade Marshmallows?
These homemade marshmallows are rocking:
- honey
- a pinch of salt
- unflavored gelatin
- vanilla (try making homemade vanilla extract)
Are Marshmallows Gluten Free?
Yes, you bet they are! No gluten, flour, or grains of any kind are in these homemade marshmallows.
How to Make Homemade Marshmallows
After two minutes:
After six minutes:
After eight minutes:
After 10 minutes:
PS, you can get your own Jessie Spano mug here.
More Recipes Like This
- Homemade Vanilla Extract
- Honey Simple Syrup
- How to Make Brown Sugar
- Homemade Peppermint Extract
- How to Make Powdered Sugar
Making this recipe or others?
Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #sustainablecooks. I can't wait to see your take on it!
Homemade marshmallows sweetened only with honey. Learn how to make homemade marshmallows in this easy to follow tutorial.
- 2/3 cup + 1/2 cup of water
- 1 1/4 cup honey divided
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp unflavored gelatin that is the equivalent to 3 small packets. I buy mine in bulk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Place 2/3 cup of water in a large pot. Add the honey and salt, and cook without stirring until the temp reaches 230 degrees.
Pour 1/2 cup of water in the bowl of a stand mixer, and sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Let sit for five minutes.
- Using the whisk attachment on the stand mixer, slowly pour the hot liquid mixture in and mix on low. Add the vanilla.
Slowly increase your mixer speed (I have a Kitchen Aid and I upped it from "stir" to a "3", and then after a few minutes to a "5", then up to a "7"), and mix for a total of 10-15 minutes.
- While it's mixing, butter a 9x9 baking dish. Pour the thickened mixture in, and push it down with your hands. Leave it uncovered for 12 hours. I often have to place a piece of parchment over the top of the pan if it is fruit fly season in my kitchen.
- After at least 12 hours, cut through the "brick" to create your individual marshmallows. I found that using kitchen shears was the simplest way to do it.
Inspired by The Homemade Pantry.
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Wow amazing tutorial! These are delicious! I subbed honey for maple syrup and they are “better than the store ones” according to my 4 year old who is hanging off me all day asking for more. Only problem I am having is they are sweating a lot. I put powdered sugar on them…could this be what’s causing the sweating? I was thinking of getting tapioca flour today to try to dry them out a bit. Still delicious but wet. Any tips for future batches?
I also only used 4 packs/tbsp of gelatin as that was all that was in the box I bought. Could this be the cause? They seem to be a perfect texture though…just sweating on the outside (even before I put the powdered sugar on but much worse once I added the sugar)
Amy, so glad you and the 4-year-old are enjoying them!
Are you sure each pack was a TBSP?
The sweating…I haven’t experienced it but let’s troubleshoot it a bit. What is the temp in your house (I always make these in winter)? How are they being stored? Were they enclosed in an air-tight container when they were still warm?
Thanks for the speedy reply! Wow!
Our house is air conditioned so quite cool. I had them setting overnight uncovered. The top was not sweaty after setting but the bottom of the brick was moist when I removed it from the pan before cutting. After cutting them into cubes I transferred them into a plastic freezer zip lock bag and kept them on my counter.
I don’t have a candy thermometer so guessed based off of my meat thermometer being maxed out for an extra 10 minutes. Maybe I didn’t hear it enough?
I measured the gelatin packs and they were 1 TBSP each so maybe it’s being short the 2 extra TBSP.
Again, they are still a great consistency just glossy/sweaty. When cut with teeth the middle isn’t wet so it’s only after sitting a bit. They are still amazing. Right now I have them uncovered in a mixing bowl hoping to dry them out a bit while I hide my time til I get the the store to get tapioca flour to coat them with. Hopefully that’ll dry them out a bit.
I’m thinking it’s a combo of not enough gelatin leaving excess moisture and then the powdered sugar mixing with the excess moisture left over from not enough gelatin making them extra slimy…? Sort of like iced marshmallows…could be a lot worse haha
Yes, there are worse things in life than iced marshmallows! 🙂
I think the lower amount of gelatin plus the temp of the liquid are the likely culprits here. I know when I make Almond Roca, the weather has to be just right, and if I don’t heat the liquids to the exact right temperature, it becomes taffy instead of toffee. Again, first world problems, but still.
I might store them in the fridge and see what happens.
Ahh ok then! Time to order a candy thermometer and get some more gelatin cause we can’t go back to store bought after these <3
Thanks so much!
The good news is that candy thermometers are super affordable! And now you can make Almond Roca during the holidays. Win win.
Ok, update. I got a candy thermometer and used 3 TBSP of collagen gelatin. Turned out PERFECTLY!! I am thinking the amount of gelatin was not the issue. I think it was the temperature. I did not boil the mixture as much as I had to to get it to finally reach 240 (my meat one that I used first only goes to 220 and then I was just guessing).
Thanks so much for this amazing recipe!!
I did 1/2 C honey, 1/2 Maple syrup-soo delicious!
Yassssss! That’s great news! Thanks so much for following up to let me know. 🙂
The girls loved them!
going to have to try this!
I make rice krispie treats almost daily. The gremlins love them and I rarely make cookies. (I’m lazy) does anyone know if these mallows will work for that?
I made them with homemade marshmallows, and they worked great! They weren’t as sweet as normal treats made with store-bought marshmallows, but they were delicious!
You could probably make this even cheaper. Marshmallows were originally made by boiling the roots of marsh-mallow plants. You then strained the resulting viscous liquid out and whipped the sugar into it.
You can do the same with a relative of this plant, common mallow, (aka cheeseweed) only you boil the seed pods instead of the roots. Common mallow is easy to find because it grows like a weed in people’s yards.
Presto! Now you don’t have to buy gelatin and it’s vegan!
Nice…two things came to mind as I read this:
1) I like your writing style. Seriously, how many blogs can you read “(insert fart noise here)”
2) I like that you allow your son to “play” with a knife. A lot of kids I come across have no appreciation for knives or firearms because their parents did everything they could to keep them away.
One of my favorite sources for good, basic recipes, and especially sweets, are simply old cookbooks. If you can find ones from the 40’s or earlier there are some great, basic recipes that aren’t too hard to guesstimate substitutions. In my opinion a lot of newer cookbooks just try to reinvent the wheel.
LOL, I write like I talk IRL, so just picture me actually making that fart noise when you read my writing!
It is a kid’s knife (dull and doesn’t have a pointed tip), but I agree that things are out there that are dangerous for kids. We can teach them how to properly use them, or we can just take them to the ER when they screw around with them and hurt themselves!
My only question is – are they puffy and squishy like the store bought kind. It kinda looks like a brick that Jack is hacking away at.
BTW, you have beautiful teeth!
Jaye
Totally puffy and squishy! It’s a dense brick when it’s 1 piece, but they felt like normal marshmallows after I cut them.
Thanks! I can thank my dad’s genetics, and my Sonicare. ;-D
OMG! Can’t stop laughing! The comment before this is about your boobs after years of nursing… then this comment asks you if they are puffy and squishy like the store bought kind.
I now have proof I *need* a stand mixer. I love that you let your kid play with a knife, and I appreciate the comment that your breasts were perfect prior to 2 years of breast feeding!
Great blog!
I have watched so many Law and Order episodes in my life, and I know this would totally stand up in a court of law as proof. It’s pretty much mandatory that you get a stand mixer at this point! ;-D
Dude, my boobs are a sad state of affairs. I wish I could go back and few years and slap myself for complaining how small they were. At least they were adorable!
I’ll have to give this recipe a go… I tried making them from a book that I have a couple of weeks ago and they were so terrible that I threw them out. I momentarily felt like a failure so made fudge and ate it and felt so much better lol
I like your thinking Elizabeth! Fudge does make everything better!
Homemade marshmallows are PERFECT in hot chocolate! They melt down so much better and they’re super creamy! YUM! 🙂
We make homemade marshmallows often (since I discovered how easy they were last fall). We’ve roasted them over fire. They don’t roast as nicely because they are more dense but they still taste good. I plan on trying the recipe with fruit juice some day and I have seen recipes using agar agar instead of gelatin.
You ROCK!
MUST.TRY.THIS.
Let me know how they turn out Karen!
I made peppermint marshmallows one year from Martha Stewart. Packaged them up in cute little bags and gave them as gifts with nice coffee mugs and hot cocoa mix. Everyone loved them. I’ll have to dig up the recipe and compare them….
I’m so glad you showed the different stages. I have a Kitchen-Aid, too, so the speed setting explanation was also helpful. I’ve been wanting to try homemade marshmallows, and thanks to you I’m not afraid to give it a shot now!
You can do this Katie!
You SHOULD stop referring to me as a hobag. But only if I can still call you a skank.
And fyi, Amazon sells them too. 🙂
http://www.amazon.com/KRAFT-JET-PUFFED-MARSHMALLOWS-Marshmallows/dp/B0005XNERS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341925408&sr=8-2&keywords=marshmallows
I believe you called me a crazy lady and a bean pole yesterday. Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones!
xo
I’ve been intimidated to try this, especially as I plan to try to use a vegan gelatin. Thanks for posting the pictures of what it should look like at different steps!
I honestly have no idea how it would work with the vegan gelatin, but I’d love to hear about it if you end up making it!
was the honey taste very strong? And I’m wondering if they are sturdy enough to roast over a campfire??
I use raspberry honey which is a very sweet and mild honey. Honestly it just tasted like a rich marshmallow to me!
We’re going to roast them next week during a trip to the ocean, so I will let you know! ;-D