Fluffy sweet yumminess!

Isn't that what you think of when you hear the word marshmallow? Marshmallows are one tasty versatile confection. You can toast them and make them into s'mores or you can layer them with yams for a tasty Thanksgiving side dish. Melt them down and mix them with cereal for a a crunchy treat! Marshmallows are awesome. But have you ever thought of taking regular store bought, jet puffed tubes of sugary goodness...and upgrading them to a gourmet level? How do you do this, you might ask? Why make them yourselves! Yes! I said make those tasty babies yourself! And trust me, it is not as tricky as it might seem. Making marshmallows is actually quite simple!

First, you need something to put your mallows in. I use foil pans, they are quite convenient for such things. Spray a foil pan with cooking spray (an 8x8 for toastable mallows and 8x11 is great for snacking size, but you'll determine a lot of the size by how you cut them, this is just for thickness). Then liberally dust it with powdered sugar. Set aside. Next pour 1/3 a cup of water into the bottom of the work bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle with three packets of unflavored gelatin. Let sit. Meanwhile in a medium saucepan put one cup of granulated sugar, a pinch of salt and one cup of light corn syrup. Using a candy or deep fry thermometer, cook over medium heat to a temperature of 240 degrees.

Once you get the proper temperature, add the syrup to the work bowl of the mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat the mix on low for about two minutes. Kick it up to high and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Keep beating the mixture until it turns white and glossy! Looks like marshmallow cream now! Now using an oiled rubber spatula, pour the mallow mix into the foil pan you prepped. Wet your hands and press it all out into place. Let this sit for about an hour.

After your hour is up, dust a surface, like a cutting board or counter top, with more powdered sugar. Run a wet knife around the edges to loosen up the mallows, flip them over onto the sugared surface.  Use a wet knife, or even better, a pizza cutter, and cut the marshmallows into squares. Wet the cutting utensil as needed. Dust with powdered sugar. I found using a freezer bag full of sugar and tossing the suckers in works well. Just shake up the bag to coat the inside so the marshmallows don't stick. There you have it! Marshmallows!

Now why stick with plain ol' vanilla when you can take things up to the next level!? By substituting the vanilla flavoring, you can make pretty much any flavor you can find extract for. Why not banana? Or cherry? Maple? Even root beer! So far my most popular flavor has been 1/2 a teaspoon of coffee and 1/2 teaspoon hazelnut with a tiny splash of cinnamon. And instead of powdered sugar, I dusted them with dutched cocoa. AMAZING! You can even dip these little suckers in melted chocolate or almond bark for added texture and taste! Roll them in shredded coconut. Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes and food coloring to add a bit of flare! The possibilities are endless!

Making marshmallows is a fun, sticky, sweet way of having some fun in your kitchen. Get the kids involved! They can be pretty clever with flavoring ideas! Never be afraid of trying out something new just because the idea of it sounds complicated! I know I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make my own marshmallows and now I whip up batches on a whim, such as Red, white and blue stars for the Fourth of July. White were bourbon vanilla, red were cheery and blue were raspberry.





Try making your own mallows! Play with the flavors! Trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Brightest Blessings!