How to Make Marshmallows at Home

Whether dunked in hot chocolate or secretly eaten in rocky road crunch bars,marshmallows are always a crowd pleaser. It’s like nibbling on a cloud! If I happen to walk by a bag of marshmallows in the store, I never think twice before grabbing it. But that was before I knew how easy it actually is to make marshmallows at home (sans the artificial colours). All you need is a handful of pantry ingredients and a bit of patience since marshmallows need to sit for several hours before you can dig in. It’s a fun kitchen project, especially for a Sunday with the kids. In this guide to DIY marshmallows, we share a classic recipe, plus several fun ways you can cook with marshmallows.
  

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp unflavoured gelatin
2 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
¾ cup water
Vegetable oil, for brushing

Instructions:

1. Brush a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with oil.

2. Put granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let the mix cook for another 9 minutes without stirring.

3. Meanwhile, melt the gelatin in water in a double boiler (approximately 5 minutes), beat in vanilla with a stand mixer and add the previous mix of corn syrup, salt and granulated sugar.

4. Now pour into the prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula. Set aside, uncovered, until firm (about 3 hours).

5. Sift 1 cup confectioners' sugar onto a clean surface and unmold marshmallow onto confectioners' sugar.

6. When the marshmallows are ready to be cut, dust 1 cup confectioner’s sugar (sifted) onto a clean surface and unmold marshmallows onto the sugar. Use a sharp knife lightly brushed with oil and cut marshmallows into 2-inch squares. Sift remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar into a small bowl and roll each marshmallow in the sugar to coat.

Note: Store in an airtight container.
  

Once you master the technique, it’s easy to add flavours or mix-ins and cut the marshmallows into different shapes. You can adapt the marshmallows to whatever ingredients you’re in the mood for. If you’re craving chocolate, you can add cocoa powder for chocolate marshmallows or use different extracts such as almond extract to change the flavour. You can even press chocolate chips or pieces of your favourite candy into the finished marshmallows, and of course bathe them in chocolate for a luscious treat and maybe even add a splash of liqueur.
  

Inventive Marshmallow Ideas

The s’more rage is proof that toasted marshmallows are always fantastic. Our suggestion? Toast marshmallows, add them to ice cream and put the mix between two chocolate chip cookies. Yes, toasted marshmallow ice cream cookie sandwiches exist. You can also make Mallomars – a home-made graham cracker topped off with a marshmallow and dipped in dark chocolate – basically dessert perfection. And, my personal favourite – Rocky Road Brownies. These super rich, gooey, chocolate-y treats are spruced up with a layer of marshmallows, nuts and even more chocolate (obviously).