It’s a Marshmallow World 💕

 

I have to admit – I still love marshmallows in my hot chocolate. Adult or child alike – who doesn’t?

So, Leia and I decided it was time to make some homemade ones. {This 4-year-old thrives on one on one attention … she is a handful most days – but sit her on you lap, read her a story or let her help in the kitchen with momma and she is lovely!}

The recipe is from Strangers & Pilgrims, which originally inspired us to make these fun treats.

 

 

Homemade Marshmallow Recipe
{We doubled the recipe as I knew they would be eaten within a few days of making them.}

1 tbsp. gelatin
1/4 cup of cold water

Dissolve the gelatin in the water and set aside.

Next, mix 1 cup of sugar into 1/2 cup of hot water and start boiling on the stove.
We were able to make this on the cookstove with no problem.
Watch for it to reach a soft ball stage, which is achieved by reaching temperatures of 235° F–240° F . You can test this by dropping a bit of your sugar syrup into a cold bowl of water.
If the syrup forms a small ball that does not flatten, it is ready. You can read more about it here.
We do not have a candy thermometer so we only used the cold-water method of testing the syrup.

Once your syrup has reached the soft ball stage, remove it from the heat source and add 1 tsp. of vanilla and a sprinkle of salt, if you please, along with the gelatin mixture.

Pour into your mixer and turn on medium speed for 10-15 minutes. You will see your marshmallows fluff begin to form after quite a few minutes. Be patient. 🙂

Once the fluff is made, pour it immediately into a baking dish to let it sit overnight or a few days,
if you can wait that long.

After sitting overnight, you may cut out your marshmallows and roll them in a mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch {approximately 1/8 cup of each ingredient). You may eat them immediately or store them in a container or the freezer.

 

 

 

It was hard to photograph the mixing process because six little girls were intermittently gathered around the mixer, oohhhing and ahhing over the wonders to behold of creamy marshmallows forming magically in front of their very eyes.

Once it was ready, the marshmallow fluff was setting very fast so daddy assisted with the step of spreading it into the pan.

 

After waiting nearly all day for the marshmallows to chill in the fridge, we could resist no longer. We pulled out the pan and attempted to cut the fluffy, little treats for our hot chocolate. They ended up being very sticky to cut but dried out nicely one they were shaped – and now reading other recipes, I probably should have been more patient and waited a few days to cut them. It was nearly impossible to cut them with a knife, much less a cookie cutter (I had grand intentions of having heart shaped marshmallows) – but in the end, it did not matter … they still tasted supreme.

 

{not so photo-worthy but still wonderfully tasty!}

They still tasted scrumptious! Everyone was pleased as they watched their homemade marshmallows bob along in their steamy hot chocolate.

Have you made homemade marshmallows? I think we will try them again and see if leaving them longer to set for a few days would help with the cutting stage. It would be cute to have little shapes {hearts!} or even decent shaped squares.

 

If you do not want to make your own, take a look at this sweet business that does the job for you. The flavor ideas are wonderful!