Fluffy Honey Sweetened Homemade Marshmallows

My husband has been very kind to help edit my new cookbook. He is probably 75% done. If anyone has ever had to edit a cookbook before, you know how tedious it can be. I actually find it rather boring to even write out a recipe so I am thankful that he is willing to help me finish my project. Overall the experience of writing a cookbook has been very good, though included many, many hours of work. With the added benefit of having so much extra energy, I really enjoyed the process. But I am glad that it’s almost ready to go to print. (We should have an ebook version ready soon too).

As my husband continues to edit, I have a few unrelated posts that I thought I should share before I get into all of my recipes and, hopefully, videos that go along topically with salads. Today’s post is really almost the anti-salad recipe. Homemade marshmallows. Not only can you make your own marshmallows, but you can also make them with honey! (I’ve also heard that maple syrup works well too). Pretty cool, huh?

My dad recently asked me to make some marshmallows for my 4 year old, as he was planning on having a “campfire” for the grandkids and knew that Elena couldn’t have normal marshmallows. These are fun to whip up, soft and squishy, and toast fairly well too (just remove them from the heat once they are browned as they will suddenly melt when too hot).

Still quite sweet, these are a once or twice a year treat in our household. They are great to have on camping trips or just for a bonfire at your house. (Though it did occur to me that these would also be tasty on top of coconut milk hot chocolate during the winter too!).

Fluffy Honey Sweetened Marshmallows

Please use caution with the hot syrup you make in the recipe. It can cause severe burns if spilled on skin. This makes about 12-16 smallish marshmallows. Double, if desired and use a 9 by 9 pan.

1 1/2 tbsp. gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup honey
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Lightly grease a loaf pan. Then cover with parchment paper (with enough to hang over the sides of the pan one way), then grease the parchment paper.

2. Put ¼ cup of water in a medium bowl (or in the bowl of a mixer with attached whisk) , and sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Set aside to soften.

3. In a small pot, place the honey, salt, and the other ¼ cup of water. Heat on medium heat. Using a candy thermometer, bring the mixture to 240 degrees. (Because this is such a small amount of liquid, I had a hard time getting an accurate temperature. You can also test it by dribbling a little of the liquid into a bowl of ice cold water. It should be in the candy stage of forming little soft balls when cooled in the water and taken out. It takes about 7-8 minutes to reach this temperature. ). Remove from the heat as soon as it’s at the right  temperature.

4. Using a hand mixer on low, very carefully mix in the hot syrup into the gelatin mixture by pouring the hot syrup in a drizzle down the side of the bowl. Once it’s all combined, add the vanilla and increase speed to high. Beat for 12- 15 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and fluffy (it will look like marshmallow fluff). Scrap into the prepared pan and leave, uncovered, for 4-12 hours to dry. It’s just about perfect in my climate when left overnight. Cut into squares, serve as is.

Coconut Version: Toast about ½ cup of coconut flakes, unsweetened. Sprinkle ½ of it on the bottom of the pan, scrap in the marshmallow mixture, and sprinkle with the rest of the coconut flakes.

Cocoa Version: Roll finished and cut marshmallows in cocoa powder.