Every year I say I’m going to make my own marshmallows and every year I find an excuse not to… Well this year I finally bit the bullet and gave it a bash, and I’m left wondering why it took me so long! I always thought making marshmallows would be difficult. Turns out it’s super easy and with this recipe, you can happily give the kids homemade marshmallows this Easter with a clear conscience that they aren’t ingesting any nasty colourings, preservatives or even a big load of sugar! Yep, this recipe is actually what I call Healthy Homemade Marshmallows.
Why are they healthy?
I have made this recipe without the use of refined sugar and instead chose to use Pureharvest Rice Malt Syrup as the sweetener. I actually made a batch previously with honey, but our entire family found the taste so sickly so I decided to try it with the good old rice malt syrup and it worked a treat!
So why is Pureharvest’s rice malt syrup better for you? I am not an expert in the chemistry behind the multitude of sweetener options out there, but this link here from Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar website and this link here from Pureharvest might help clear up why Pureharvest’s rice malt syrup is way better for you. And with the number of marshmallows this recipe makes, the quantity of syrup per marshmallow is pretty darn small.
Plus, these marshmallows are gluten free, contain no preservatives or colourings and the ingredients to use them are mostly organic. Which is a nice change as I have found that most marshmallow recipes contain glucose – an ingredient that usually contains preservatives, and often call for colouring – especially ones referring to Easter…
Tips for making your Healthy Homemade Marshmallows
* First and foremost, it’s best to be prepared and have everything measured and ready to go before starting this recipe. This means have you pan lined and ready too. Once you have mixed things, you have to work quickly to put the marshmallow into a pan to set. Miss that window of opportunity and it becomes quite a sticky difficult job and you end up with not so pretty globs of marshmallow instead of a tray you can cut up easily.
* Use a timer! In the blink of an eye, your marshmallow mixture can go from liquid to fluffy clouds of deliciousness, and then just as quickly turn to the dark side and become a rubbery mess. Use a timer to keep things on track and you’ll have no worries at all!
* To ensure you keep your marshmallows are healthy as possible, I recommend using quality ingredients, such as Pureharvest Brown Rice Malt Syrup and Great Lakes Gelatin. You can buy the syrup and gelatine from most reputable health food or organic stores and the syrup is also available at Woolworths and Coles supermarkets too. I also use organic vanilla beans rather than the liquid vanilla extract as I find it gives a more pure flavour (I use Daintree Mountain View Organic Vanilla Beans – find them on Facebook) (NB: I don’t get any financial gain from mentioning these products – I’m merely recommending what I use :-))
* Remember to coat your pizza cutter or sharp knife in coconut oil to cut your marshmallow so it doesn’t stick
* Once your marshmallow is set, be sure to store them in an airtight container – leaving it in the pan for too long can change it’s texture and make it a bit rubbery or sticky
There are so many variations you can try!
* My daughter and I both love the rose water flavour of turkish delight, but often can’t have it because it’s full of colouring or preservatives, so we decided to put 2 teaspoons of rosewater in our last marshmallow mix and it was sensational! I’d imagine this would make a nice substitute for the strawberry flavoured pink marshmallows.
* There are also a number of ways you could coat your marshmallows… Icing sugar dusted on the outside, desiccated coconut (be sure to find organic or it will have preservatives) or for total decadence, dip them in melted chocolate. Yummo! You could also use some natural food colouring on the coconut to give a little colour.
* If you are dipping your marshmallows in chocolate, I recommend adding a little coconut oil in with your chocolate when you are melting it as it gives a lovely shiny finish and makes it a little easier/runnier for dipping the marshmallows
All in all, these delicious little pillows of yumminess have very few ingredients, take next to no time to whip up (although you do need to let them set for a few hours), are lower in sugar than normal and are free from nasty additives. And they don’t have to be just for Easter… With the weather cooling down here you could pop a few in your hot chocolate to warm up from the inside out 🙂
So go on! Don’t leave it too long like I did – get in the kitchen with the kids to make some homemade marshmallows now! And please send me some pics of your white fluffy marshmallows on The Food Werewolf Facebook page by clicking here – I’d love to see them!
After some more recipes for Easter? Click here to see what else you can bake with the kids.
Feeling inspired to do some more homemade baking? Check out Pureharvest’s recipe blog here. They are featuring great gluten free recipes and baking tips on their blog this month. Keep an eye out on my blog for the release of my new gluten free eBook where I will team up with Pureharvest to celebrate all things gluten free… It’s almost here folks!
Happy marshmallow making!
Loren x
