Recipe: Vanilla Honey Marshmallows [omg]

Sunday, August 15, 2021

I have made these vanilla honey marshmallows one million bajillion times since I first posted about them...ten years ago, lol. They're easy, they're delicious, they're impressive, and they're even better toasted over a fire. Now that we harvest our own honey, it works out even better!

It's time for me to put together the adaptations I've made to the original recipe from Joy the Baker.

Homemade Vanilla Honey Marshmallows

Ingredients:

• 2x 0.5c cold water
• 3x 0.25oz packets unflavored gelatin
• 1.5c sugar
• 0.25c honey (good quality! wildflower is better!)
• 2/3c light corn syrup
• 0.25tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• half a vanilla bean, seeds scraped out and reserved (if no vanilla bean, add an extra tsp of vanilla extract)
• 1/3c cornstarch (powdered sugar can be used, in a pinch)
• 1/3c powdered sugar
• Candy thermometer (!!!)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and powdered sugar.
2. Spray a 9x13" baking pan with non-stick cooking spray, and coat with the starch-sugar mixture.
3. Pour 0.5c cold water into a stand mixer bowl with a whisk attachment.
4. Empty the three gelatin packets over the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
5. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar, honey, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 0.5c cold water to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
6. Using the candy thermometer, bring mixture up to 240 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not stir, just get it hot hot hot! This may take a bit of waiting, be patient!
7. When the sugar is 240 degrees F, turn the mixer with the gelatin and water on low speed.
8. Carefully stream the hot sugar mixture into the bowl as the whisk moves slowly. Be careful not to pour into the whisk and spatter the hot sugar all over the sides of the bowl!
9. Gradually increase the speed of the mixer until you’ve added all of the hot sugar mixture. Beat on high for several minutes until a thick, fluffy, white marshmallow batter has formed (~8 minutes).
10. Add in the vanilla extract and vanilla bean and beat for another 2 minutes.
11. Spread the marshmallow mixture into prepared pan and smooth with a clean, wet spatula to prevent sticking. Do not attempt to get all of the batter out of the bowl. It will not happen. It is very sticky.
12. Dust marshmallow with cornstarch and powdered sugar mixture and let set for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight).
13. When set, remove marshmallow from the pan and place on a large cutting board coated with a dusting of the cornstarch and powdered sugar mixture.
14. Use a pizza cutter, coated with non-stick cooking spray to slice marshmallows.
15. Once sliced, toss the cut marshmallows in the cornstarch and powdered sugar mixture and store in an airtight container for up to one week.
16. Note: Clean-up is far easier with quite hot water!

A Better Microwave-able Marshmallow:
If you'd like to make s'mores without a fire, and use your microwave instead, we've found these steps to be handy:

1. Follow the above instructions for making the marshmallow, but instead of heating to 240 derees, only heat to 230 degrees. This produces a much lighter marshmallow that melts very quickly over a fire, but actually tastes better untoasted than the recipe above!
2. When set & cut, you can heat up a graham cracker and chocolate in the microwave for ~25 seconds. Add a marshmallow to the top and heat for an additional ~5 seconds.

You can really start to see the vanilla bean flecks there!