Simple, no-thermometer method for light, fluffy, homemade marshmallows. Mmmm . . . (Skip to recipe.)
If you've never made marshmallows, you're in for a treat.
A surprisingly easy-to-make, melt-in-your-mouth, I-can't-believe-you-made-these-yourself! old-fashioned treat.
I should have known when I read the recipe in my mother-in-law Mabel's cookbook that these marshmallows were a no-fail project. After all, she's been making them for over 65 years, and was turning out batches of them as special treats for her seven children in a time when wood-burning stoves were the heat source, electric mixers were rare, and candy thermometers were for city folk. My husband's sister remembers the children sitting in the farmhouse kitchen and passing the bowl from one to another to take turns whipping these marshmallows by hand.
Whew. I am glad we have electric mixers nowadays.
Every homemade marshmallow recipe I could find online or in my cookbooks involved a candy thermometer and getting the syrup to the exact candy-temperature stage, then pouring it carefully in a thin steady stream over the dissolved gelatin while beating. Most recipes involve corn syrup as well as sugar, and some include egg whites. Many of them have alarming lists of all the different reasons why your marshmallows could fail/not set/stay sticky/get gummy/curdly/clumpy/weepy.
Yikes. Homemade marshmallows sounded like a project for the not so faint-of-heart cooks.
Until I found these. An old Canadian prairie recipe. So easy that anyone can make them. Even me. Even you.
They turn out wonderfully every time. If you make them with sugar they taste just like the store-bought ones. If you want a slightly healthier, refined-sugar-free option, try them with honey. We love them that way.
Roll the pillowy cubes in icing sugar, or potato starch, or toasted coconut or chopped nuts.
Let them melt into lusciousness on top of hot chocolate.
Or just pop them in your mouth and squish the sweet fluffiness with your tongue.
They get swiped by (almost) invisible hands as fast as I can make them.
* * * * *
Kitchen Frau Notes: Mabel's homemade marshmallow recipe uses 2 packages of gelatin (like Knox brand) and they are soft and fluffy. For the version using honey, I increased the gelatin to 3 packages to compensate for the extra liquid provided by the honey.
For a delicious variation, try these lovely pink Raspberry Honey Marshmallows made with raspberry juice.
Easy Old-Fashioned Homemade Marshmallows
From Mabel Johnson
- 1 cup (240ml) water, divided
- 2 packages gelatin (7 grams each) or 4½ teaspoons loose gelatin powder
- 2 cups (420gms) sugar
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- icing sugar to dust the pan
- icing sugar, *toasted coconut (about 1¾ cup), or **finely chopped toasted pecans (about 1½ cups) to roll the marshmallows in
Sprinkle the gelatin on top of ½ cup (120ml) of the cold water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Stir lightly with a fork. Let it 'bloom' for at least 5 minutes, until it is all moistened and softened. It will be very thick.
Meanwhile, heat the sugar and the remaining ½ cup of water in a medium-sized saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Add the dissolved gelatin to the sugar syrup, using a spatula to get every bit of gelatin out of the bowl.
Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. (It will get foamy and you can't stir down the bubbles.)
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Let sit until lukewarm (about 20 to25 minutes).
Pour the syrup into the bowl of a mixer. Add the vanilla and salt. Beat with a stand mixer (using the whisk attachment) on high speed until thick and tripled in volume - about 7 to 8 minutes, or with a rotary hand mixer, which will take a bit longer - maybe 10 minutes.
While it is beating, prepare a 9 x 13" (23x33cm) pan, by lightly greasing it and dusting it with icing sugar. Tip the pan over and knock out any excess icing sugar.
When the marshmallow mixture has finished whipping, scrape it into the prepared pan, and use a wet spatula to smooth the top.
Allow to set until cold, about 4 hours (or less if placed in the fridge) or up to overnight.
Cut into squares with a knife dipped in water between each cut. If the top of the marshmallow mixture has dried out too much to stick well to the coconut, wet your fingers and smooth a thin slick of water over the top to moisten it again.
Roll the marshmallow cubes in either the icing sugar, toasted coconut, or chopped nuts. Shake off excess if using icing sugar. Press down firmly into the coconut or nuts if using them, so they stick to the marshmallows.
Place on a rack and allow to air dry for 3 to 4 hours, then store in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Makes about 70 homemade marshmallows.
*If using coconut to roll the marshmallows in, toast it first by heating it in a skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly once it starts to brown, since it can burn easily. Toast to the depth of brown you'd like it.
**To toast pecans, place them on a cookie sheet in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes, until they are fragrant and golden. Chop very finely so they stick to the marshmallows.
Easy Honey Marshmallows
- 1 cup (240ml) water, divided
- 3 packages gelatin (7 grams each) or 2 tablespoons plus ¾ teaspoon loose gelatin powder
- 1 cup (240ml) liquid honey
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- potato starch or other starch to dust the pan
- potato starch or other starch, *toasted coconut (about 1¾ cup), or **finely chopped toasted pecans (about 1½ cups) to roll the marshmallows in
Make recipe as above, replacing the sugar with the honey.
To keep the marshmallows refined-sugar-free, roll them in potato starch or other starch, toasted coconut, or finely chopped nuts, and use starch to dust the pan.
Guten Appetit!
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Sandy Porter
Good morning .... at least it is here in Dubai. Thanks for getting back to me ..... but I left things to late to get organized. Thanks again. Will be in touch. Sandy
Trying to get the Super Bowl but can not get telivision or Internet coverage.
Margaret
Oh, lucky you - Dubai sounds so wonderful just about now! Have a great trip - would love to hear all about your amazing adventures when you get back!
June
Margaret, this is an awesome article. Thank-you for recreating Mom's recipe with a honey version, I'm definitely going to have to try them this way.
Margaret
I just loved your story, June, of you kids sitting in the kitchen and passing the bowl around to whip the marshmallows. I could visualize it in my mind - all that hard work beating the dickens out of the mixture till it finally got fluffy, and the anticipation of the delicious treat to come (which was probably devoured in a very short time when it had to be divided so many ways!). I'm sure it tasted so much better after all that elbow grease! We forget how easy everything is now! It's a treasure to have these great recipes.
Heather
How long does it take to beat by hand? Can you share more tips from your story on passing the work around the family? We don't have a beater...
Margaret
I think you might find it rewarding to beat these by hand, then! I think the time would depend on how vigorously the whisking was done. I'm guessing it might take up to twice as long, maybe 15 to 20 minutes, but if the job is shared by a few willing hands - it might even be fun! My mother-in-law says she mostly made these marshmallows for Christmas - they were a special treat. And with seven kids, the whisking was a fun holiday group activity (no electronic gaming to distract the work crew!)
Christel
Yes, it’s a lovely story, with the addition of a great sounding marshmallow recipe which I will try. I won’t make them by hand though 😉 You could make this a great game, who can whisk the longest and the winner gets to lick the bowl 🙂
Margaret
I'm afraid I'd have the bowl licked clean before I ever finished whisking. 🙂 Thank goodness for the ease and convenience of electric mixers!
Lisa
Thanks for this recipe. I would like to try this with my children on Valentines Day using valentines themed cookie cutters. Do you think if I were to spread the mixture on a cookie sheet to make them thinner that it would work with the cutters? We will dip them in chocolate and add sprinkles and coconut to the tops and maybe add caramel to some to make Samoa marshmallows 😋
Margaret
Absolutely. They work wonderfully that way. Your kids will have fun helping you with these. I've done a blog post on a Valentine's version where I made them thinnner. Happy marshmallowing! https://www.kitchenfrau.com/cooking-with-kids-raspberry-honey-marshmallows-and-instant-cocoa-gifts/
Lori bamsey
Wow never knew this was possible. I'm trying it tomorrow to take to work Tuesday so I can get happy people points. Love getting your blog, take care.
Margaret
Thanks, Lori. I was so thrilled to learn this, too, and can't believe how simple it is. I hope you get lots of "happy people points!" 🙂 (Love that.) My crew loves the coconut ones the very best and they disappear within hours of me making them, even when it's only Raymond and Andreas here to sneak them. Happy Cooking!
Christine
Not only fun, but you never cease to surprise me. I have always wanted a good recipe for making marshmallows. Wow, you have them all! Thank you.
Margaret
You're so welcome! This one is definitely a well-tested recipe from Raymond's family, and I'm lucky to be able to pass it on. Those old recipes have sure stood the test of time, and were made when people had none of the fancy appliances of today. I love those kinds of recipes the best!
Elsa
Margaret, the marshmallows look so good. I had no idea how to make them, love the idea of using honey.
I will have to tell the Europeans about making marshmallows, they can not get them as easy as we can. But they sure can make them.
Margaret
Thanks, Elsa. And they're fun to make, too! Marshmallows really are quite a North American thing, aren't they? I remember my uncle taking bags of them back to Germany when he visited when I was a kid. Luckily, with a few ingredients, a person can be eating marshmallows in no time with Mabel's recipe!
Stephanie
Margaret, just like you, I've seen those fancy marshmallow recipes floating around . . . and also been scared off by the "steady stream" and everything else complicated. But it's a good thing I waited -- because now I can just go straight to trying your recipe. I love your idea of using honey instead of sugar, too.
Margaret
Thanks, Stephanie. I think the old ways are sometimes the best, aren't they? Things weren't so complicated, and people had to be ingenious to make things work with what they had. Hope you have fun making them!
Lori Bamsey
Hi again, so I made the marshmallows and took them to work, and drum roll
got 10 out of 10 from the radiologist and everyone loved them, Many many happy people points and I told them all to sign up to your blog so hoping you got lots of new followers. Take care, oh ya its a chilly 9.5 degrees here C. I always try to let you Alberta people and Mom, who loves it a lot, know how our winter is going in Lotus land.
bye for now
Margaret
You made me chuckle! Glad the marshmallows got you those Happy People Points! (And thanks for spreading the word! 🙂 )
As for your 9.5 degrees - that should be illegal! I'm sure that deep, deep down you must be missing the feel of air so cold it hurts to breathe, and roads like treacherous skating rinks, and bundling up in 100 pounds of snow gear to walk half a block - come on, you know you miss it! (Tee-hee)
Marla
While searching and searching, I came across this recipe, which seemed almost too easy... Just finished making and testing these fluffy little clouds -- they came out perfectly! Delicious and melt-in-your-mouth good. Perhaps a given but, much better than store-bought. Thank you so much for such a simple and beautiful recipe. Will be writing this one down to save.
Margaret
Aw, thanks, Marla. I, too, was so thrilled with how simple these marshmallows were to make when I first found them in my mother-in-law's family recipe book. My husband remembers them as a special treat at Christmas and other holidays. I've been making them often lately, and have made a raspberry version that was a real hit, too. https://www.kitchenfrau.com/cooking-with-kids-raspberry-honey-marshmallows-and-instant-cocoa-gifts/
Thanks for visiting my site. Wishing you 'sweet' times in the kitchen!
Andrea
I just made these today - I didn't have unflavoured gelatin so had to use raspberry jelly powder but they still turned out perfectly. Rolled them in cocoa powder to cut down the sweetness a bit and they're lovely - so glad I found this recipe! Cheers!
Andrea - UK
Margaret
I am delighted to hear that your adaptation with the jelly powder worked, too. And chocolate and raspberries are such a lovely combination - brilliant thinking! So glad you enjoyed them. It's such fun to hear that the recipe is being made across the ocean. Food bridges the distances so easily, doesn't it? Happy cooking!
Mohseena
Hello...i would like to do different flavors of the marshmallow, like, coffee, chocolate etc. How should I proceed please?
Margaret
The best way to do it is to mix the amount of instant coffee or unsweetened cocoa powder that you'd like, right into the water and sugar that you boil together to make a coffee or chocolate-flavoured syrup, or use cold, strong brewed coffee instead of the water called for in the recipe. I hope you enjoy them - wishing you fun in the kitchen!