Homemade Marshmallows: Easy, Cheap, and Sticky

Don't ask why I wanted to make marshmallows. Probably just to say I've done it. So on this Fourth of July weekend I made a big, beautiful batch of homemade marshmallows that will hopefully be consumed by my coworkers on Monday.

I have three ways to describe making marshmallows. Easy. Cheap. And Sticky. And yes, if you have a dirty mind you're probably giggling to yourself right now.

There are really only seven ingredients and that's if you include water. I had everything in my pantry, except for the gelatin. You'll need a stand mixer, or at the very least a hand mixer and a very patient husband/child/neighbor who will be willing to mix marshmallow creme for 10 minutes.

The recipes I saw also called for a candy thermometer, but I just winged it, cooking the sugars for about eight minutes until they turned from a cloudy white to a clear syrup. If you have a candy thermometer, then I doubt you need my advice on making homemade marshmallows.

I used a recipe from Alton Brown, and just a note, it does take about 4 hours for the marshmallows to set.

Now to the sticky part. If a recipe says to lightly oil a spatula, do it. Don't assume that drop of water on the counter is water - It's probably corn syrup. And if you've every used super glue, you know what happens when you try to use one hand to clean off the other. Same thing goes for marshmallow goo.

It's a good to have a wet paper towel on hand to quickly clean up sticky fingers, countertops, handles, etc. It took me a good 20 minutes to find the sticky spot in the floor that I kept stepping in.

After I made the marshmallows, I melted down some dark chocolate. I wanted to dip the marshmallows in the chocolate, but that quickly became too messy, so I decided to drizzle it on top. The chocolate made this desert. My husband, daughter and I ate about 10 before finally putting them away.

If you're looking to make something fun, or want to entertain the kids or impress the co-workers, homemade marshmallows are the way to go. You can add food coloring, or drizzle them with different types of chocolate. And if they come out looking like crap, then there's always the fire pit (I'm talking about Smores folks).

And maybe one day, just one day, you too will be able to tell people you've made homemade marshmallows.

Thank goodness for my trusty stand mixer. 

Marshmallows in the pan. Now we wait. 

I used a knife and a pizza cutter to slice them into squares. It's just like making bread, but instead of flour you're using powdered sugar and cornstarch. 

The kid has caught on by this point. She's not short, she's just trying to be sneaky. 

Yum.