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I have been wanting to make homemade marshmallows for a long time now. They always look so fluffy and beautiful, and in my opinion, homemade is always better. Now that we’re officially into winter, all I want is to cozy up on the couch with a cup of rich hot chocolate and a big old gob of marshmallow.
Most of the recipes I found involved a candy thermometer and that was intimidating. To me, that meant they were a challenge and probably tricky to get right, so until recently, I never even tried.
Boy was I wrong! They are so insanely easy and now I can’t stop making them. So far, I’ve made two different flavor combinations, but you could mix in any extract and flavors you want! I have plans to try peppermint, pumpkin spice, coconut, and a few other other tasty flavors.
These marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week, although I doubt they’ll last that long 😉
One tip before you get started – make sure to use a LARGE saucepan. The mixture will bubble up and get all over your stovetop if you don’t and trust me… that’s not a mess you want to have to clean up. I know from experience.
Vanilla Cinnamon Jumbo Marshmallows
These are the first marshmallows I made. After comparing several basic marshmallow recipes and a bit of trial and error, I discovered the perfect ratio of ingredients. The base flavor is pretty simple, but the cinnamon adds a nice touch and makes these marshmallows the perfect pairing for my cinnamon hot chocolate.
Vanilla Cinnamon Jumbo Marshmallows
Ingredients
- 4 packets Knox unflavored gelatin powder (about 3Tbs)
- 1/2 C cold water
- 3 C granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 C water
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 C cornstarch
- 1/3 C confectioners sugar
- baking spray
Instructions
- Start by adding the gelatin to the 1/2 C cold water and mix to form a paste. Let that sit for about 10 minutes and move onto step 2.
- In a large saucepan over low heat, add the granulated sugar and 1 1/2 C water. Stir to dissolve, and keep stirring.
- Once the gelatin has set for 10 minutes, add it to the water/sugar mixture and keep stirring until it’s fully dissolved. You will start to see a lot of bubbles.
- Raise the heat to medium/high and keep stirring.
- Once the mixture starts to boil, stop stirring and turn down the heat to maintain a steady, slow boil. Let it bubble for about 15 minutes and refuse the urge to stir it!
- Add the mixture to a large bowl or mixer, along with the vanilla and 2 tsp cinnamon. Beat on medium speed until it turns white. It should be opaque and thick, like marshmallow fluff.
- Spray a 9×9 pan with the baking spray and dust it with a mixture of the cornstarch, powdered sugar, and remaining 1 tsp cinnamon. I use a sifter to evenly distribute it and to avoid lumps.
- Add the marshmallow mixture and be sure to lick your spatula because it’s freaking delicious. It is hard to spread it out evenly, but after a few minutes it will settle pretty flat.
- Let the marshmallows set completely – about two and a half hours.
- Once fully set, remove from the pan and cut into squares. For these large marshmallows, I find that a pizza cutter works better than a bench scraper.
- Dust the squares with the remaining cornstarch, powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Cinnamon Caramel Marshmallow Bites
These marshmallows were a complete accident, but what a good accident they were! I was multitasking and when I while I thought I had turned down the heat enough, when I checked it, it was aggressively boiling and bits of caramel were bubbling up. Thankfully I caught it before it started to burn, but the smell was intoxicating, and I knew something great was happening.
These marshmallows have a nice toasty caramelly flavor that just can’t be beat! They pair very well with my homemade cinnamon hot chocolate, but they are also fantastic on their own.
Cinnamon Caramel Marshmallow Bites
Ingredients
- 2 packets Knox unflavored gelatin powder (about 1.5 Tbsp)
- 1/4 C cold water
- 1 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 3/4 C water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- scant 1/4 C cornstarch
- scant 1/4 C confectioners sugar
- baking spray
Instructions
- Start by adding the gelatin to the ¼ C cold water and mix to form a paste. Let that sit for about 10 minutes and move onto step 2.
- In a large saucepan over low heat, add the granulated sugar and ¾ C water. Stir to dissolve, and keep stirring.
- Once the gelatin has set for 10 minutes, add it to the water/sugar mixture and keep stirring until it’s fully dissolved. You will start to see a lot of bubbles.
- Raise the heat to medium/high and keep stirring.
- Once the mixture starts to boil, stop stirring and turn down the heat slightly until you start to see bits of caramel bubble up. Once you see these bits and the mixture starts to turn a caramel color, turn down the heat to maintain a steady, slow boil. Let it bubble for about 15 minutes and refuse the urge to stir it!
- Add the mixture to a large bowl or mixer, along with the vanilla and cinnamon. Beat on medium speed until it turns into a very light tan color. It should be opaque and thick, like marshmallow fluff.
- Spray a 9×9 pan with the baking spray and dust it with a mixture of the cornstarch and powdered sugar. I use a sifter to evenly distribute it and to avoid lumps.
- Add the marshmallow mixture and be sure to lick your spatula because it’s freaking delicious. It is hard to spread it out evenly, but after a few minutes it will settle pretty flat.
- Let the marshmallows set completely – about an hour and a half.
- Once fully set, remove from the pan and cut into squares. My favorite tool to do this is a bench scraper but a pizza cutter or even cookie cutters work well, too.
- Dust the squares with the remaining cornstarch and powdered sugar.