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Peppermint Marshmallows are deliciously soft, springy, and fluffy, and are surprisingly easy to make at home!
These homemade sweet candy treats melt in your mouth. They make wonderful gifts for any holiday or Christmas cookie exchange, or for stocking stuffers.
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Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask.
Holiday gifts
These are great for gift-giving during the holidays!
Pop them in a cute plastic bag, and tie with pretty ribbon. Place the bags in big mugs along with packages of gourmet hot cocoa. That’s a gift anyone will love!
But be sure to save a few to enjoy in your hot chocolate.
Other peppermint treats
Mint is one of my favorite flavors! I enjoy it year-round. If you want more minty goodness in your life, be sure to check out my Peppermint magic bars, Chocolate mint rugelach cookies, and Peppermint mocha no bake cookies.
Making your own marshmallows is actually pretty easy. And once you make them yourself, you’ll never wonder, “how do they make marshmallows squishy and fluffy?”.
Marshmallows are made of air suspended in the liquid sugar mixture. It’s the gelatin that binds that air in and provides the structure that keeps the sugar in place.
When the ingredients are all whipped together, that gelatin holds the liquid into the mixture. and gives the marshmallow its great texture.
Corn syrup helps prevent the crystallization of regular sugar and gives the marshmallow it’s soft fluffy texture.
Keep in mind that corn syrup is not the same thing as high fructose corn syrup.
I have not tried any substitute for corn syrup in marshmallows, and highly recommend that you stick with the recipe as written here.
How to make homemade marshmallows
Be sure to scroll down to the printable recipe card for full instructions and ingredient amounts.
Prep work
Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch or 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable oil. Dust the pan generously with powdered sugar by putting it through a sieve. Knock out any excess sugar.
In a stand mixer, add ½ cup water. Sprinkle gelatin over the top of the water and stir to make sure it all comes in contact with water. Set aside to soften.
Make sugar syrup
In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue to boil without stirring until a candy thermometer reaches 240° F (soft ball stage). If the mixture bubbles up, turn down the heat a bit.
Remove saucepan from heat and let stand briefly until bubbles begin to dissipate.
Beat
With the mixer on low speed, pour hot sugar syrup into the softened gelatin by drizzling it in a thin stream down the side of the bowl.
Gradually increase mixer speed to high and beat until marshmallow gets thick and forms a thick ribbon when whisk is lifted, about 5 minutes.
Beat in the mint and vanilla extracts. Beat in a few drops of green food coloring, if desired.
Place in pan
Working quickly to prevent hardening, scrape marshmallow into the prepared pan (it will be very sticky) and use wet fingertips to make sure it’s even and smooth on top.
Let baking pan stand at room temperature and uncovered for at least 4 hours, but ideally overnight. The surface should no longer be sticky and you should be able to gently pull marshmallow away from the sides of the pan with your fingertips.
Remove and cut
Dust a cutting board with powdered sugar and use a rubber spatula to pull the sides of the marshmallow from the edge of the pan. This may take a bit of work and you may need to also use the spatula to loosen the marshmallow from the bottom of the pan. Invert marshmallow onto cutting board and dust the top with confectioners’ sugar.
Using a long thin knife brushed with vegetable oil and dusted with confectioner’s sugar, cut marshmallow in half, and in half the other way. Cut each quarter into quarters, making 16 marshmallows. This gets you 16 large marshmallows.
Of course, feel free to cut them into any size you’d like.
Coat marshmallows, one at a time, in confectioners’ sugar and use a pastry brush to brush off any excess.
Decorate
You can leave your marshmallows plain, or decorate them as you like.
Melt some chocolate. Use your favorite: dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate. And dip the mallows into it. Dip the top half or the bottom half. Or coat one side of the marshmallow. You can even drizzle the chocolate over the top.
Crushed candy canes are pretty too, and give the recipient an idea of the flavor of the marshmallows.
Get creative and have fun!
Other homemade marshmallow treats
Feel like you got the hang of this marshmallow and want to test your skills out on more recipes? Be sure to check out my Chocolate s’more pie and peppermint s’mores.
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Recipe
Peppermint Marshmallows
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil for pan
- 1 cup powdered sugar divided use
- ½ cup water
- 3 (¼ ounce) envelopes powdered unflavored gelatin
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Green food coloring optional
- Melted chocolate for dipping if desired
Instructions
- Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking pan with vegetable oil. Then, dust the pan generously with some powdered sugar by putting it through a fine mesh sieve. Knock out any excess sugar.Vegetable oil for pan, 1 cup powdered sugar
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with whisk attachment, add ½ cup water. Sprinkle gelatin over the top of the water and stir to make sure it all comes in contact with water. Set aside to soften.½ cup water, 3 (¼ ounce) envelopes powdered unflavored gelatin
- In a heavy 3- or 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue to boil without stirring until a candy thermometer reaches 240 ° F (soft ball stage). If the mixture bubbles up, turn down the heat a bit.1 ½ cups granulated sugar, 1 cup light corn syrup, ¼ tsp salt
- Remove saucepan from heat and let stand briefly until bubbles begin to dissipate.
- While mixer is on low speed, pour hot sugar syrup into the softened gelatin by drizzling it in a thin stream down the side of the bowl.
- Gradually increase mixer speed to high and beat until marshmallow gets thick and forms a thick ribbon when whisk is lifted, about 5 minutes.
- Beat in the peppermint and vanilla extracts. Beat in a few drops of green food coloring, if desired.1 teaspoon peppermint extract, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, Green food coloring
- Working quickly to prevent hardening, scrape marshmallow into the prepared pan (it will be very sticky) and use wet fingertips to make sure it’s even and smooth on top.
- Let baking pan stand at room temperature and uncovered for at least 4 hours, but ideally overnight. The surface should no longer be sticky and you should be able to gently pull marshmallow away from the sides of the pan with your fingertips.
- Dust a cutting board with powdered sugar and use a rubber spatula to pull the sides of the marshmallow from the edge of the pan. This may take a bit of work and you may need to also use the spatula to loosen the marshmallow from the bottom of the pan. Invert marshmallow onto cutting board and dust the top with confectioners’ sugar.1 cup powdered sugar
- Using a long thin knife brushed with vegetable oil and dusted with confectioner's sugar, cut marshmallow in half, and in half the other way. Cut each quarter into quarters, making 16 marshmallows. Or cut into any size you'd like.
- Coat marshmallows, one at a time, in confectioners’ sugar and use a pastry brush to brush off any excess.
- Store marshmallows in an airtight container layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper in a cool, dry place for up to a month.
- Dip or drizzle with melted chocolate as desired.Melted chocolate for dipping
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Kathrin Hofmann
Hallo, kann man auch Clucosesirup verwenden anstatt Maissirup?
Debi
Kathrin, , I’m not familiar with glucose syrup, and haven’t tested that. But, the AI overview on Google say, “Yes, you can use glucose syrup instead of corn syrup in most recipes, as they perform a similar function of preventing sugar crystallization and adding moisture. However, keep in mind that glucose syrup is generally less sweet and can vary in thickness depending on its source, so you may need to adjust your recipe accordingly.
How to substitute: Ratio: A 1:1 substitution by volume or weight is a good starting point.
Sweetness: Glucose syrup is less sweet than corn syrup, so you may need to add a bit more sugar to compensate for the flavor.
Texture: The final texture might be slightly different if the glucose syrup has a different viscosity than the corn syrup your recipe was designed for. For example, a thicker glucose syrup could result in a slightly firmer candy.
Let me know if you try it. I’d love to hear.