Naturally-Sweetened Homemade Marshmallows {A Fun Holiday Treat}
Homemade Marshmallows are one of those things that sound so elusive to most people. I mean, who makes their own marshmallows? Only crazy people, right?
Well, what if I told you that you can make homemade marshmallows that are not only easy to make, but also much tastier than their store-bought counterparts? And they just so happen to include only real food ingredients, including a completely natural sweetener.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not! I’ll show you how to do it, and soon you will be making your own homemade marshmallows for a fun treat that is sure to please the kids and adults alike.
Homemade Marshmallows Recipe (Naturally Sweetened)
Servings: 0
Ingredients
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 egg whites
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoon unflavored gelatin
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Place egg whites, maple syrup, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high until peaks form when you lift the beater out of the mixture.
- While the egg mixture is beating, heat the water and gelatin in a small saucepan over medium heat until the gelatin is completely melted.
- With the mixer still going, carefully pour the gelatin mixture into the bowl of the stand mixer. Try to pour it down the inside of the bowl so that it doesn't hit the beater and make a mess. Continue beating on high for 10 minutes.
- While the marshmallows finish beating, lightly great a 9x13 glass pan and then dust with coconut flour.
- Once 10 minutes is up, spread the mixture in your prepared pan. Allow to set for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Use a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to cut the marshmallows into desired shapes and sizes. You can also pipe the marshmallows onto a baking sheet that has been dusted with coconut flour to make fun marshmallow shapes.
Notes:
- This is not the typical method for making homemade marshmallows. Usually you heat up your sugar to a specific heat and then beat it with the gelatin. However, I have found that this method is much easier and faster, and it offers great results.
- You can substitute the maple syrup in this recipe for honey. I would recommend using the mildest honey that you can find because it will definitely give it a distinct honey taste that might turn some people off. If you have maple syrup, that is my first preference for this recipe.
- Try adding other extracts and spices to the marshmallows to create different flavors. Cinnamon, coconut, peppermint, and citrus are a few ideas that sound delicious!
- After cutting your marshmallows into your desired shape and size, you may roll each individual one in more coconut flour to prevent them from being so sticky.
Ideas for using the marshmallows:
- Put a few in a glass of steamy homemade hot chocolate.
- Top baked sweet potatoes with butter, cinnamon, and a few marshmallows. Then pop them under the broiler for a few minutes for a special holiday side dish.
- Roast them indoors and make homemade ‘smores for an extra special wintertime treat.
- Sprinkle the top of your unbaked brownies with homemade marshmallow, then bake as normal. This is totally worth the indulgence.
- Cover them in chocolate. This is one of my all-time favorite treats!
- Eat them plain. Savor each one, because they are that good!
What ideas do you have for using your homemade marshmallows?
No, no, no, no, no. Do not put marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes. That just totally ruins them. Okay, rant over. 😉 LOL
Haha, Stacy! While I would usually agree with you, I do have to say that the homemade maple marshmallows are actually quite good on top of sweet potatoes 😉
Agreed. 🙂
I’ve never heard of this before! I’m a marshmallow-a-holic, so I’m drawn to this like Gollum to The Ring. Question: Would they be heated up enough from the hot syrup to kill possible bacteria in the egg whites? Just curious about your thoughts on potential food poisoning from the raw egg whites.
Natalie, I would still consider the eggs whites in this recipe raw. So if you are not comfortable consuming raw eggs then I wouldn’t recommend this particular recipe for homemade marshmallows. 🙂
Can you use something other than coconut flour? Have a real aversion to anything coconut. :/
What is the shelf life? Do you need to store them in air-tight containers? Can’t wait to try these! Thank you.
Oooohhhhh! I make marshmallows each year using a non HFCs corn syrup…never thought to use maple. Do they taste like maple syrup? I am going to flavor some this year so that would be ok if some were maple, DH adores maple but whew it is expensive.
Yes, Michelle, there is definitely a maple taste to these. It’s what I love about them 🙂
(1) Stacy is correct; no marshmallows on sweet potatoes. 🙂
(2) Could I just make my own syrup and add maple flavor? Maple syrup is EXPENSIVE!!!!
Emily, I have sometimes made homemade syrup using sucanat or rapdura sugar (2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water- bring to a low boil and stir for 5 minutes), and then added maple syrup flavoring. The taste is a little different, but far closer to maple syrup than the taste of something like honey, so I bet that it would work.
Yum! This is easier than the other recipes I’ve found!
Do you have any idea how much of the recipe (or the whole thing?) you would use to make rice Krispy treats? (so, what would be the equivalent of a 10 oz bag?)
Thanks!
We made marshmallows for the first time this Thanksgiving. They were the highlight of the season for my 3 eldest kids. We baked yams and apples with cinnamon and butter and topped them with marshmallows. They were delicious. I am not normally a fan of marshmallow but the honey taste made them good enough to make up for the marshmallow texture.
Trying them right now! I’m super excited since my son cannot have food dye and even white marshmallows have dye in them. Thanks for posting!
I’m also wondering about the raw eggs – can you heat it up enough to make them safe?
How welldoes this recipe keep? I like marshmallows but I have s feeling we wouldn’t use them very fast. . . I do like home made though store bought”healthy”marshmallows are so expensive!
Stephie N
simplybeecause.blogspot.com
Stephie, these marshmallows do not stay good for an extremely long time. I would say they would last a week max when stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
These sound soooo easy and totally yummy! I must print this recipe. Thank you so much. I think I would cover them in chocolate, that is if there would be any left! And I know that raw eggs are totally safe to enjoy. See my post here:http://www.raw-food-diet-magazine.com/eating-raw-eggs.html
These look so easy and delicious! I think I am going to give it a try this season!
These sound wonderful. I am so happy I have found this website. thanks for sharing!!!
Is there something other than coconut flour that would work? We’re not coconut fans.
You could also use powdered sugar, Megan. If you’re trying to stay away from white sugar try making your own unrefined powdered sugar like Stephanie talks about here https://keeperofthehome.org/2010/12/how-to-make-your-own-unrefined-powdered-sugar.html
No Way!! I can’t believe I you have a marshmallow recipe w/out corn syrup! I’m thrilled!!! Thank you thank you! Can’t wait to try it!
I just made these, and they are good! I have a jar of egg whites in the fridge from a few batches of eggnog, and no one else in my house likes meringue cookies or pavlova, so this recipe was just in time!
I had to beat the egg whites (I used 4 tablespoons to equal the two whites) and syrup a long time before they got stiff enough to hold a peak, and I wasn’t expecting that! But I had never made homemade marshmallows before, either. Thankful for my stand mixer 🙂
My first bite, I was kind of like, “meh…” but my husband really liked them. So I tried another, and it was better, and now I’m kind of hooked. Thanks! 🙂 Will try in hot chocolate tomorrow 🙂
Any idea on what I can use to “coat” the marshmallows in besides coconut flour? I want to make these for my newphew and SIL but she is allergic to coconuts… I hate to cause her to go into shock and bring out my niece too early! (currently pregnant too!)
Hi! This recipe is so cool! I ja missed marshmallows! My batch came out a bit thick and gummy, so when I piped them, they didn’t look very pretty. The texture needed to be more silky and smooth, like it was before I added gelatin. The flavor is great, but they just don’t look pretty and they didn’t pipe smoothly. Any tips for me?
I just made these and can’t wait to cut them up in the morning!
I made a few changes:
I used duck egg whites, as I’m allergic to chicken eggs. As these are bigger, I may have a different outcome. I used part raw honey, and part maple syrup. I replaced the water with coconut “eggnog.” Lastly, I dusted my pan with arrowroot starch/flour after a light coating of EVOO spray. After I spread them in the glass dish I put them in a pre-heated oven @ 170 F with the door half-way open for about an hour to ensure they’re dried out in the morning.
I will roll them in more arrowroot after I cut them tomorrow. I don’t even like marshmallows, but am SO EXCITED about these as my kids love marshmallows and I’m sick of buying the junk-food store-bought ones and refuse to pay for the “natural” ones. THANK YOU!!! 🙂
Jennifer, I know you posted this a long time ago, but do you recall how they came out? i like your modifications and would like to try them as I too am sensitive to chicken eggs and have been using duck eggs.
Thanks!
Deanna
Thank you so much for your post! I have allergies to regular marshmallows among other things and love this recipe! My husband loves rice crispy treats, any idea if these would work in those? Thanks again for all your great posts!
Hi! I need help! lol I made this recipe and it looked great and amazing fluffly stiff peaks and white yummy goodness. However instead of setting, it separated and fizzed out…syurp to bottom meriunge on top. Any thoughts on what might have gone wrong? I live in a very humid climate and was thinking maybe that was it? I’d love to have these turn out. Instead of having marshmallows I rewhipped them back into the amazing fluff and we had marshmallow cream in our hot cocoa 🙂
How long do these keep in an airtight container? I am thinking of giving these as gifts…. Do they need to be refrigerated?
These were a bomb for me. The texture is not like homemade marshamallows I have made before. Very mushy… like you would expect jello and uncooked egg whites to be I suppose. :/ Am bummed I used a whole cup of organic maple syrup on these. The kids ate a couple but I’m trying to figure out what to do with the rest… Maybe I will try putting them on some baked sweet potatoes.
Do these need to sit in the fridge or counter overnight? This is the second recipe I’ve tried and I’m going to be pretty sad if they don’t work
Hi Mindy,
Thank you for this recipe! I cannot wait to try it. Do you think if I used Tapioca Flour instead of the Coconut Flour that would be ok? Also, where do you get your gelatin?
Thanks!
Deanna