Marshmallows, Yummy!

Marshmallows are so yummy. We look at their jet-puffed perfectness and float away on visions of marshmallow topped yams, hot chocolate, and moon pies.

I first got the idea in my head to make marshmallows when a friend of mine reported that her “cookie a day” update was for graham cracker cookies with a from-scratch marshmallow filling. How fabulous! Marshmallows from scratch? I went straight home and pulled up marthastewart.com and pulled up the marshmallow recipe. Then I Googled and compared Martha’s to a recipe on Cooks.com and then to a recipe blogged by Smitten Kitchen. Ultimately I found Martha’s recipe to be the most friendly to the lay baker, and was pleased with the ingredients she listed, minus the vanilla bean. Smitten Kitchen’s recipe called for egg whites and as we have an egg allergy in our house we try to avoid using eggs in too pure a form.

Here is my recipe as it ultimately was used:

3/4 ounce gelatin

1/2 cup cold water plus an additional 1/4 cup water

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup light corn syrup (which I used simply because I had some on hand, you can make them without as well)

pinch of salt

teaspoon of vanilla

vegetable oil (for greasing)

mixer

mixing bowl

non-stick saucepan

Step 1

Oiling the pan is an excellent job for little hands. They have a great time scrabbling around and being silly with the vegetable oil. But double check to be sure that they covered the entire surface! Even in their zeal they can miss spots and you don’t want your marshmallow to stick to anything! Its a bond that almost can’t be broken.

Comments

[inhaos]

may be straw marshmallow or some other juicy marshmallow???
i may try and post the steps too.

haha~~~~

[DELETED_jorgegunn]

this was a great instructable i love how you noted how to include the children. I have been baking with my nephew since he was 3 and its one of his favorite activities. He is almost 6 now and can crack an egg all by himself. Whenever I visit he allways ask me what are we gonna make this time. Next time i will reply "Marshmallows" thanks again--Jorgia

[SageMinto]

This is exactly what I needed! :D
I've come across so many recipes that require marshmallows, when I haven't got any. But for some odd reason I have the ingredients required to make marshmallows! Talk about fate! 8D

Thank you so much for posting this.

[rathmiron]

oh now is see. i missed that the bowl you put the sugar mix in, is the gelatin bowl.
another thing. the gelatin i bought, has an entirely different way of preparing. (it needs to bee cooked) but it's still 250 ml (1 cup). should i just do that?

[woowho]

try it and see what happens! :-)

[rathmiron]

maybe it was my mixer, but it wouldn't fluf up, it just stayed a clear liquid

[woowho]

maybe try a different gelatin? one you don't have to cook? or revisit the directions on your gelatin, we just poured the powder into a bowl and added water, we didnt' follow directions on the gelatin packaging.

[rathmiron]

maybe i'll try that

[silver912targa]

Hey thank you for this wonderful instructable. For years I was wonderig how to make these and now it's here right in front of me.
Just made a tray full and they are suuuuper.
Great for the kid's birthday party.

Thanks again!!

[kikiorg]

I've made peeps by clipping the tip of a ziploc filled with homemade marshmallows. (Make the bodies and pull off a tip for the tail, then go back and make the heads, pulling off a tip for the beak.) I've also made roses, but they didn't work nearly so well. If you use a ziploc with no metal icing tip, then you can microwave for 3-4 seconds when it gets too cool to pipe, which is often.

I've also substituted the sugar and water for maple syrup. It makes really great tasting marshmallows.

Lastly, the marshmallow is named for a plant (so it's not "mellow" but one of the mallow family of plants): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althaea_officinalis

Kiki

[woowho]

and i've changed the spelling, its been an issue, lots of discussion. you might have noticed it was spelled correctly in every other instance, bummer of a type-o in the title.

[woowho]

good idea about the ziploc and being able to microwave!

[tayzzmom]

Before Christmas I found a recipe for Dark Chocolate Dipped Homemade Marshmallows!!!!!!!!! I haven't made them yet, but can hardly wait.........yum, yum. 8-)

[rathmiron]

i think i missed it, but when do you add the gelatin?

[woowho]

step 3

[rathmiron]

and what is saran wrap?

[woowho]

its that clear plastic on a roll you buy in the section of the store with ziploc bags and aluminum foil. its for wrapping food. the brand is saran.

[HandyMan1959]

I make these wonderful delictables, and I add peppermint extract with red food coloring to give the red swirls and chocolate (use 1/4 cup coco powder in a 1/2 cup hot water and add at the last moment to keep white swirls in it.) I also use ice cube trays to mold them in instead of cutting them (I hate cutting them). (Use about 2-3 tablespoons of coco powder in the release mix of sugar and corn starch for the chocolate marsmallows.

[woowho]

ice cube trays are an excellent idea!

[jonomon2002]

thank you for the detailed instructions i will definitely be making these with my 7 year old (i think my other 3 will want to join in as well) and i will surprise my wife with them she is marshmallow crazy once again great instructable

[woowho]

i, too, am marshmallow crazy. chill the finished marshmallows and drizzle them with magic shell ice cream topping - yum!

[tovari]

I saw an episode of the TV show Good Eats where the host Alton Brown made marshmallows. He did everything you did with one addition; his second batch was deposited into a piping bag with a circular tip for small round marshmallows. If you were careful you could try piping star shaped mini marshmallows or what ever kind you would want to try.

[woowho]

awesome idea!! you could use the same method to pipe marshmallow accents onto cakes just like icing. neat!

[nutsandbolts_64]

In case of drowsiness, take approximately 4-6 marshmallows to relieve sleepiness. If symptoms persist, eat some more!

[mtnsofutah]

1 cup granulated sugar=200 grams granulated sugar

[JabariSmith]

It's actually spelled marshmallows, with an "a" where you put an "e".

[mcadorette]

That's your comment? This person gives you a recipe for a food which exists solely to be enjoyed over campfires and in hot chocolate and all you can do is point out a single spelling error? And who ever heard of enjoying marshmellows without also enjoying the fallowhip of friends? Who makes s'mores alone?

Woowho: I am going to make these mellow marshmellows during my snow day tomorrow and think warm thoughts. Thanks for the post.

[JabariSmith]

Just trying to help. No need for hostility.

[porcupinemamma]

If you would like to help authors with spelling, then may I suggest that first you thank them for their contribution, and then graciously mention the "typo" and finish up with a positive comment. I also suggest that you do it privately by sending the author a message that will not be posted on the public board.

[stoobers]

Nah. Don't bother even mentioning typos. Who cares, anyway?

Bringing up a typing error is like learning to luge or learning the biathlon. They serve no real purpose and are a couple of stupid things to do in the snow. (fun, though pointless.)

Totally pointless! Just like the comment I am typing right now. Blast! I've trapped myself in my own twisted logic!

Have a nice day!

[DELETED_jorgegunn]

I agree I'm dyslexic and despite spell check sometime i make errors ( mostly with words that have simular letter groupings) I have been called out on my spelling and it makes me feel horriable as I have been teased about it since i was young. Here on instrucuctables you knever realy know the background of the person your "righting" and how your coment might appear to them. I agree with stoobers its pointless in this situation. If it is completly non-coherent then you might nicley mention your difficulty understanding but other than that this sight isnt about perfection it's about sharing do it yourself projects wich are by a majority gritty and down to earth so who cares if the lanuguage matches. -Jorgia

[porcupinemamma]

jorgegunn I'm so sorry to hear that you have been bullied about your spelling. "Walk a mile in someone's shoes"... No one knows the battles we face. Today there is spell check, (which wasn't around when I was young,) but it's not always possible to access spell check. My suggestion is to write, write write. Don't impede your creativity! I used to write for a local newspaper. (I was approached by the editor.) She wanted to hire me. When I explained that I was worried about spelling /grammar issues, she said, 'that's why I'm the editor.I take care of that. Just write! You have great ideas!' (I ended up writing a weekly column and it was a very interesting/fun job). When I wrote my children's book, I had it professionally edited,( there were a couple of errors in punctuation) but first...I wrote out my story. Don't stop! Keep your head up. Famous people have dyslexia, and they've made huge contributions to humanity. Check out this link:

http://www.dyslexia-test.com/famous.html

You are in fabulous company!!!

[DELETED_jorgegunn]

Thanks for your encouragment Porcupinemamma. My mom actually embraced my diffrence and while she used to teach 1st grade when i was diagnosed she started developing techniques of teaching and working with dyslexia children. Now she teaches Middle school reading and writting Resourse including ESL and Dyslexia students. Daily i am encourged by her dillegence in helping kids simular too me. I am actually a poet and a went to school for photojournalism I love telling stories I've just learned to do it more with light and voice. Thanks so much for encouraging me.--Jorgia

[porcupinemamma]

{{{{{ }}}}} Rock on!! woo hoo! (see lol...I told ya so ;0);0) lol)
If you get a chance, take a look at my children's book. Info in my bio.
I've subscribe to your Instructables. You are being "followed" boo hah hahhhha) ;0)

[porcupinemamma]

I agree! I just wanted to point out a better way if the person feels the need to be the spelling police-also, the author can just delete the comment. It's all so petty. Let's foccus on the fact that whoohoo (love the name) shared a cool Instructable with the community :0)

[JabariSmith]

I'll keep that in mind, though I doubt I'll ever correct anybody here again.

[woowho]

mcadorette, you make me smile. enjoy!

[woowho]

oh thank you. you may notice that i spelled it correctly everywhere else. i couldn't see where to edit the title and i had things to do.

[nerys]

OK this is just plain cool! - I hate using corn syrup if I can help it. you mention you don't have too.

whats its purpose in this? do I just skip it or replace it with something else?

[makalove]

@nerys, this recipe (which is the one i use to make marshmallows - the author has an ENTIRE cookbook of marshmallow recipes) includes a recipe for a corn syrup replacement: http://howthecookiecrumbles.typepad.com/recipes/vanilla-marshmallows.html