Homemade Marshmallows!
{We are so excited to be adding to our Unglued crew with our team in Sioux Falls! Allie is a part of our Sioux Falls crew and also is an incredible baker (find her HERE) – check out getting all DIY and sweet below with her awesome blog on marshmallows! If you try this recipe out and tag @ungluedmarket on Instagram with a photo of your finished product – and yourself – we’ll get you a $5 gift card just for getting all creative with us!}
We really love desserts here at Unglued! With the warm weather and the 4th of July around the corner, it is the perfect time to get CRAFTY with marshmallows! One can definitely go to the store and buy a bag of Marshmallows for pretty cheap, but they aren’t as tasty and pretty as homemade. One could get pretty crafty with making homemade marshmallows, that is why we are bringing you the idea and sharing the simple recipe!
Here are a few things that could be done with marshmallow making – coloring the marshmallows with food dye (you could color half of the batter and make layers of pink, white, pink), you could dip the marshmallows in chocolate, or even flavor them with different extracts such as strawberry or any other flavor. One could color them red white and blue for the Holiday, or color them pink for a baby shower! They are simple and sweet (Just like all of us?!).
Homemade marshmallows aren’t exactly healthy, but they are at least free of unnecessary ingredients and can be an extra special treat. Making marshmallows is surprisingly pretty easy. However, you must give it your devoted attention and it can be a bit messy. Hot sugar is HOT and hot marshmallow clings to everything. But, melted gooey marshmallow.. come on, doesn’t that sound delicious?! Be ready for a bit of stickiness, but the whole process is pretty fast and believe me, pretty dang tasty! Be ready to lick the spatula and be ready to have a whole NEW love for simple marshmallows.
Supplies Needed:
Vegetable cooking spray
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin (3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons)
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Parchment Paper
Directions:
1. To get started, Spray a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with vegetable oil. Line with parchment paper, allowing a 1 to 2 inch overhang on the long sides. Spray parchment with oil and set aside.
2. Measure out all ingredients (as you can see, it doesn’t take much!). Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Now let it boil, without stirring.
Keep boiling until mixture registers 238 degrees on a candy thermometer (approximately 10 minutes).
3. While the syrup is boiling, it is time to make your gelatin Bloom. Put 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle gelatin on top of the water. Let this mixture sit and soften for 5 minutes. It will then look like this:
4. Once your syrup has cooked four about 10 minutes and reached 238 degrees – Attach bowl with gelatin to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. With mixer on low speed, beat hot syrup into gelatin mixture (be sure to mix the hot syrup in immediately, for it will start to harden fast). Gradually raise speed to high and let the mixture continue to whip. It will start to get white and start to fluff up. Keep whipping.
Beat until mixture is very stiff and fluffy/gooey (about 12 minutes).
Beat in vanilla. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with a spatula (I used a flat scrapper, but any spatula would work and the marshmallow mixture tends to settle a bit also).
Let sit uncovered until firm, about 6 hours or overnight.
5. Now, get ready to cut the marshmallows! Sift 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar onto a work surface.
Unmold marshmallow onto confectioners’ sugar.
Remove parchment. Lightly spray a sharp knife with oil, and then cut marshmallows into about 2 inch squares. You will have to continue to spray your knife with oil in-between cuts. It gets a bit sticky and it goes easier if you keep the knife clean.
Sift remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, and roll each marshmallow in the sugar to coat.
Voila! Tasty, springy and gooey Homemade Marshmallows.
Happiness is Homemade.
Marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week!
Get a bit CRAFTY! …
Once my marshmallows were all good and ready to go, I decided to dip some of them in chocolate. I used a bag of Dark Chocolate chips with about 1/4 to 1/3 cup butter melted over low/medium heat. Dip half of the marshmallow in chocolate and place onto parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. These marshmallows are also a great size for S’mores. They toast up perfectly golden – and smoosh into perfectly gooey S’mores, perfect for your Summer Campfire Nights!
You would bring extra love to the campfire with these babies!
Stay tuned for the next DIY blog post of an easy S’mores Pie. Right now, we are all about Marshmallows, Summer fun, and of course, Handmade!
– Allie (message Allie on her Facebook baking page with any questions you have on homemade marshmallows!