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.
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This looks very good. I’m already wondering about modifications, though. Do you think this would work with maple syrup? How about with coconut sugar (either the liquid variety or the shaved variety)?
I’ve heard that maple syrup works well, and I don’t see any reason that it wouldn’t. As far as the liquid variety of coconut sugar, I am not as sure of as it doesn’t have quite the same thickness, but since you are boiling it into a syrup, it may work. The only way to tell is to try!
I have made marshmallows with coconut sugar.Very good!My kids loved them.It was a granual variety that I used
Coconut sugar, what was the color like, and how much did you use? I use coconut sugar because I’m diabetic so it’s great for me. Hope to hear from you soon
I was just wondering yesterday if there was a healthy recipe for marshmallows & today it showed up in my inbox! Thanks so much!
What kind of gelatin do you use?
These look awesome!! I am so excited about this recipe, because they use honey but mostly because you used a hand mixer! I don’t have a stand mixer and I’ve never been sure if I could use a hand mixer or not. Now I’m super excited to try 😀
Hi!
I second that question, what kind of gelatin do you use?
Thanks!
I use an all beef gelatin I got through my co-op. Maybe the brand was Frontier? I have it in a jar now without the label.
Thanks! I’m in a frontier coop locally I will have to check to see if they have that. I hadn’t thought of checking their catalog before for gelatin!
I will definitely give these a try- thanks!
Oh, Thank you Kimi for this recipe! I have been craving marshmallows lately and we are going vacation in a couple of weeks, so this recipe showed up just in time!
I have been wanting to make homemade marshmallows, but never have for obvious health reasons. We seem to be going to more than our typical share of bonfires with smores going on and my husband can’t refuse a smore. I can’t wait to bring these next time! Thanks!
Thanks! I have had a hankering for marshmallows. I want to make a recipe for a 1950’s type dessert that calls for melted marshmallows–will these melt and have a consistency of conventional melted marshmallows?
Julie,
They will definitely melt. It may melt a bit more than normal marshmallows and become more liquid-y.
What a great recipe!
I’m so grateful for your timing!! My family loves camping, but we don’t eat normal marshmallows either. If it’s just us camping, of course, it’s not really an issue– we just don’t bring marshmallows. However, we’re getting ready for a camping trip with some friends, and this will help us (and probably them too) feel less awkward when marshmallow roasting time begins. 🙂 Thank you!!
Looks GREAT! I’ll have to try 🙂
It’s so great to find recipes for foods that would typically not get bought or eating, that we can make using honey instead of sugar! Such a nice treat.
I am very excited about these. I hope mine come out as good. Wish I had time tonight. Thanks
What a great idea! I didn’t know you could make marshmallows this “natural”!
AAAAAAGGGHHHHH GAPS-FRIENDLY MARSHMALLOWS!!!!!!!! I can’t believe it – you’re the best!
Any chance there is a substitute for the gelatin for those of us vegetarians? These look great. Love the honey!!
I suspect you can make something work with agar agar, but it might take some experimentation to get the proportions right. There are agar agar marshmallow recipes online, so you might be able to combine those with this one.
These look terrific! I will make these for an At Home America show Fri night ! Thank you and God bless you!
Can they be toasted like regular marshmallows?
They will toast, but they can melt all of a sudden when they reach a certain heat. On the plus side, they brown much quicker than storebought.
I am not a marshmallow fan, but my kids are and they have been begging for smores. Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
How do you store them and how long do they last?
Thanks.
Store in an airtight container. Keeps a week at least.
Thank you. I’m really new to getting rid of processed foods. This is a simple recipe. I’m looking to try it out real soon. On a side note, I am so excited to learn everything I can to keep my family healthy and be a good steward of all the blessings God has given us. Thank you for providing a stepping stone.
Thanks for the recipe! I was trying to figure out how to make healthier marshmallows for the kids. 🙂
I’m so glad you posted this. My son will be able to have these. I am also looking forward to your cookbook.
What a great recipe! I love that they use honey and don’t use egg whites (my husband is allergic)! We’ll be trying these very soon. VERY excited for your cookbook to come out!
AAAWESSSSSOME! Marshmallows for hot chocolate AND smores! Yes!
*bouncing up and down* Yayyy!!!!! Can’t wait to try!
Kimi, have you ever frozen them and then thawed them to use normally? Just curious. Thinking about trying to make a bigger batch that lasts the winter with cocoa time. 🙂
Thanks, btw, this is fantastic!
I have never frozen them, but that’s a great idea. I read online that you should just use cupcake liners or parchment paper to keep them separate. 🙂
So excited about the recipe! Do you think these could be made with either stevia powder or liquid stevia? Would I just add more water to make up for the fluidity difference?
I’m so excited! This recipe looks amazing, and I’ve been wanting to make some marshmallows with my son, but never get to it because it’s so hard to justify all of that sugar, and so many recipes call for corn syrup.
We just made these and they turned out great. However, your recipe says if it’s doubled to use a 9×9 pan but I needed a 9×13 pan. I think even using a jelly roll type cookie sheet would work well too. Thanks for a healthy alternative!
These look wonderful! I can’t wait to make them and dip them in chocolate atop a grain-free graham cracker to make mallomars. Thanks for the great recipe!
Finally a healthy marshmallow! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you soooo much for posting this. Every recipe I have found calls for corn syrup and my daughter is allergic to corn. She loved marshmallows and can’t eat them any more, now she can!!
Hi, thanks for this awesome recipe! I love the caramel tinge on those marshmallows (drooling now). Your recipe doesn’t call for any starch dusting mixture though, will the marshmallows be sticky?
I’ve been thinking about making a batch of homemade marshmallows – specifically with honey, glad I found this post. Those marshmallows look amazing! I look forward to trying this. I’ll be substituting the gelatin and see how things go.
can i skip the vaniila extract?
Yes, you can. 🙂
Wow! This is INCREDIBLE! For health reasons, we haven’t had a bite of that melt-in-your-mouth marshmallowy goodness for quite some time, but the moment this touched my tongue…Oh, the memories!!! It truly is remarkably like the colorfully-bagged, sugary marshmallows of old. Wow!
Have you used this recipe to try to make “peeps”?
I just made these and the kids love them! The only problem I had is trying to get them smooth to cut out into shapes. When I spread them out it got a bit clumpy…any thoughts on what I may have done wrong? I used coconut oil on parchment paper. Thanks for the recipe.
Have you tried to use the marshmallows to make Marshmallow Fondant Icing?
I also have the same question. . . .
Are these sturdy enough to place on sticks, like cake pops? Thanks!
One more question . . . have you ever made these vegan? I tried using Agar Agar instead of gelatin and it did not fluff up. Have you had success with this?
Do you know if you could use these marshmallows to make something like rice krispie squared? I have a recipe for a breakfast square that calls for marshmallows and I was looking for a healthier alternative.
I just did! I doubled the recipe, and it made about 8 cups of fluff. So I split it and made a dish of marshmallows, too. Also, just like the rice krispy treat recipe, I added butter. I don’t recommend that. Try it with just the marshmallow fluff. The “treats” tasted delicious, but i think the butter softened the rice krispies too much.
I just saw this on my friend’s Facebook page today and am so excited I came across it! I have been looking for marshmallows that I can eat for years! Thank you for sharing!!
My 2 year old granddaughter is allergic to cane sugar and her birthday party is in a week. Can’t wait to make these for her. Thank you!
Made these today for my 5 yr old who we recently found out is sensitive to corn and corn syrup. They are SO yummy!! Glad she can participate in the roasting around the fire pit at her grandparents tonight!
Hello – I am SUPER excited to try these!!! But I have a quick question: I am not quite understanding the “greased loaf pan” AND the “greased parchment paper”?? And what do you mean by “hang over the sides one way”? Can you please explain? I really want to make these in the next day or two, but I don’t want to mess them up! =) Thanks so much!
Carissa: I have made these before and did not have success with greasing both and having the loaf pan lined with parchment. ( I couldn’t get the parchment to stay down in the loaf pan. ) What I have done is grease a shallow glass pan, then dust it with tapioca starch. ( I also dust the individual marshmallows later with more T. starch. ) This not only makes double sure the marshmallows don’t stick to the pan, but that they aren’t sticky at all – also it is much more like real marshmallows you buy at the store that are dusty. Today I think I am going to try just spreading it out on greased and dusted parchment. It’s not a super soft fluff and it should work just fine. Happy marshmallow-making!
Will these work for krispie treats?