The Maynard holiday gift this year was homemade vanilla hot chocolate. I decided to make homemade marshmallows to go with the hot chocolate because it sounded yummy and, more importantly, I needed to do something übercool for this Make & Takes post. ;)

I am the queen of shortcuts. Making homemade marshmallows is not something I would normally voluntarily do. But I’ve gotta tell you, they were easy to make. Seriously. And they are DELICIOUS. I’ve never eaten truly fresh marshmallows. This is what marshmallows were meant to be.

I used a simple recipe from Alton Brown. I was really happy with this recipe. It was easy to follow and the marshmallows came out perfectly…so smooth and melty. And I was right, absolutely perfect for our vanilla hot chocolate!

Homemade Marshmallows
From Alton Brown, FoodNetwork.com
- 3 packages unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup ice cold water, divided
- 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- Nonstick spray
Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer set up with the whisk attachment along with 1/2 cup of the water.
In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes (Jane note: it was longer than 8 minutes when I did it). Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.
Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. (Jane note: as you can see in the picture, I used my ingredient-pourer-shield-bowl-attachment-thingy and it worked perfectly for pouring in the hot sugar.) Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.
Combine the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.
When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan (Jane note: I also used my lightly oiled fingers to press the the mixture evenly into the pan). Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners’ sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
For mini marshmallows, click here and read Alton’s instructions at the bottom of the recipe.
Jane Maynard, writer and founder of This Week for Dinner, is a wife, mother to two beautiful girls and freelance graphic designer. Jane loves eating, which comes in handy for a food blog. Chocolate, cannoli, and H&H Bagels are her top foods of choice.

















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Thanks for the tutorial, I’ll do it with the kids!
let me know how it goes. I’m telling you, it’s so much easier than I thought it would be! :)
Just wish I had a stand mixer – not just a hand held one. I’m sure it would be easier but I still might give it a try, if I can get a helper that’s old enough. Don’t trust my 4 year old with hot sugar :)
So fun – I have seen people use cookie cutters to make them even more kid-friendly! (yeah, like marshmallows themselves aren’t kid-friendly enough…)
Oh darn – I wish I found this a week ago!! I just bought a package of these “fancy marshmellows” at Williams-Sonoma – they cost me $16.50! It was a small package too! Thanks for the post
Having just made marshmallow with marshmallow root… let me tell you this looks genius and simply perfect. Great step-by-step.
ok, I’m going to try these with my 2 girls today. I’ll post back and let you know how they turned out. :)
we made marshmallows last year and used a metal cookie cutter dusted with confectioners sugar to make star shaped ones
I’ve been meaning to try this recipe – thanks for the details! Though I’d recommend that people check out the comments on Alton’s recipe. Some people have ruined their mixers attempting this recipe. If you have anything weaker than a KitchenAid/Cuisinart stand mixer you’ll risk burning out the motor because the mixture gets so thick. I can’t wait to make this!
megan, good tip – there are lots of great comments attached to that recipe. and I didn’t read the comments about people ruining their mixers – crazy! it does get thick and you run your mixer for 15 minutes, so yes, you need a good one! :)
made peppermint marshmallows last night.. not the same recipe , but close. they are SO GOOD!
Love this idea! I have everything except for the gelatin. Why do you need to dust the cut edges with more of the powder mixture? Is it still sticky?
I’ll add gelatin to my grocery list for some fun next week. :)
yes, any edge that doesn’t have the cornstarch/powdered sugar dusted on it is super sticky! but the powder works perfectly…you basically coat it in the dust and the brush the marshmallow off and it just leaves a super thin layer without any stickiness. have fun making them!
allison – I am so going to try peppermint marshmallows next time – yum!
It would be great to use those mini cookie cutters pampered chef has ( i think they market them as cheese cutters) for fun shaped mini marshmallows! Might be alot of work to dust all those little sides though. We’re having a progressive dinner tomorrow night and I may just make these for dessert with our gourmet cocoa mixes!
I saw Martha Stewart do this once and it was way more difficult. It think she used some sort of plant that she grew.
yes, I think there is marshmallow root or something like that…when I looked for a recipe people had mentioned in the comments that this one was much simpler and didn’t require the plant. and, I can attest, they taste just like marshmallows! :)
3 packets of gelatin or 3 boxes (which have 4 packets, each)? I’m confused!
three envelopes/packets…not boxes! :) so, yes, 3 out of 4 envelopes that come out of the box. glad you asked! :)
Yummmmm – thanks for making me hungry! Happy Holidays.
http://slocooking.blogspot.com/2009/12/make-me-hungry-awards-christmas-edition.html
Fantastic recipe! We covered ours in chocolate and they were a huge hit at Christmas. I was shocked how easy making marshmallows could be.
We are going to make these the next day off school!! Everything is already on my grocery shopping list :) and they will be on this years Christmas goodie box list…everyone will go nuts
Hi Jane!
Visited your This Week for Dinner for the first time today and loved it! Saw mention of this marshmellow recipe and have decided to have a go…only problem is that I’m a Texan living in the UK and cannot lay my hands on corn syrup…any suggestions for a substitute? Thanks!
thanks for visiting my site, kimberly! :)
I did a quick Google search and there were several forums with this question, mostly from people outside the U.S. I think this recipe http://www.recipezaar.com/Homemade-Corn-Syrup-Substitute-Simple-Syrup-74080 looks like it would probably work…several sites mentioned using cream of tartar with sugar, which the recipe in this link has. you could probably dig around google or another search engine more, but I’m thinking this recipe will work. good luck – let us know how it goes! :)
Have you tried/thought about making fun shapes marshmallows out of cookie cutters?
that’s a great idea! will try that next time! :)