Our family is going on what we hope to become an Annual camping event with friends and family. It’s been fun to plan and anticipate the trip. One of the top items on my “to buy” list for the trip was corn syrup free marshmallows. Because the Doodles has such severe reactions to High Fructose Corn Syrup and Corn Syrup it’s become a no-fudge or exception item. We stopped by Whole Foods in hopes of finding the pillowy treats there. After searching the store top to bottom I finally found some tiny little bags of powdered treats. I did mention tiny right? The price tag *wasn’t* so tiny. At more than $6 per bag and figuring that it would take at least 3 bags just for our small family to have 2 nights of roasting around the fire it made them way too expensive for my budget.

A friend came to the rescue and posted this recipe for homemade marshmallows. I love Alton Brown. He loves food and manages to mix science and food together in ways that my brain can actually understand.

Since his recipe called for a couple of items on my DoNotBuyEverAgain list I decided to modify it with some ingredient substitutions and changed up the amounts as well based on what I had on hand.

• • 3 packages unflavored gelatin (I used Knox)
  • 1 cup ice cold water, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups raw sugar
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup Powder Sugar
  • 1/4 cup potato starch
  • Olive Oil Spray
  • Optional! All Natural food dye added until desired color is reached. We chose to use Pink because these are primarily for the Doodles and she kinda has a thing for pink right now.

  Directions

  Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

  

  Knox Gelatin

  

  Knox gelatin mixed with cold water

  In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, honey and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 12 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.

  

  Bubbling honey and sugar mixture

  Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and food dye drops (if you decide to use any) during the last minute of whipping.

  

  When syrup was first added to gelatin

  

  Starting to get nice and thick!

  While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

  Combine the powdered sugar and Potato Starch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and potato starch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

  A side note about reading labels: The last time I bought powdered sugar it used Arrowroot powder which I prefer. This time it had Tapioca Starch. Label reading fail.

  

  Label on back of powdered sugar bag

  When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

  

  Mallow Mixture in prepared pans

  

  Tops dusted

  Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners’ sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. I cut most of them in the squares as suggested but experimented with cutting one in a heart shape. It came out pretty cute!

  

  Pink HeartaMellow

  

  Pink Mallow Squares

  These were pretty delicious. My Man informs me they remind him of Peeps because they have a softer, more delicate texture than regular marshmallows do. I trial roasted one over a hot eye and they melt faster than the average mallow that is for sure. They will be *amazing* in hot drinks.