Author Notes: I fell in love with making homemade marshmallows a couple years ago. It took only one batch to realize how easy they are to make and that most people are very surprised to learn marshmallows can be made at home (one of many reasons I like giving them as gifts). After finding a no-fail recipe in Gourmet, I’ve felt much more comfortable tweaking elements to create my own. These are perfect for the winter – a vanilla-infused marshmallow that’s been swirled with chocolate and sealed in a cinnamon-cocoa powder coat. For the chocolate, I like to go dark (here, I used a bar with 75% cacao to offset the sweetness of the rest of the square). – notlazy.rustic. —lifeaswecookit
Food52 Review: If you’ve never made marshmallows you should try these — we had a ball with this recipe! You pour hot sugar syrup into gelatin and then let the mixer work its magic, whipping up the marshmallow until it fluffs and gets bouncy. Once the marshmallow is shaped and set, you snip it into whatever size or shape marshmallows you want. For a child’s treat, notlazy.rustic.’s marshmallows have an adult touch — they’re scented with chocolate and cinnamon, and not too much of either. You’ll probably eat all of them plain, but you might also try dropping a few into hot chocolate. – A&M —The Editors
Makes: one 9×9 square
Prep time: 2 hrs 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients
Chocolate Swirl Marshmallow
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2 1/2
ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces
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1
cup water, divided
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3
packets (.25 ounces each) unflavored gelatin
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1 1/2
cups granulated sugar
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1
cup light corn syrup
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1
pinch kosher salt
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1
tablespoon vanilla extract
Cocoa Powder-Cinnamon Coating
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1
cup confectioners’ sugar
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1
tablespoon cocoa powder
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1 1/2
teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions
- Lightly grease a 9×9-inch metal baking pan with cooking spray or oil; set aside.
- In mini food processor, chop chocolate 45 seconds, or until the chocolate is the size of tiny pebbles; you could also use a knife or spice grinder for this. Set aside.
- Place 1/2 cup water in bowl of electric mixer; sprinkle gelatin over water, distributing well. Let stand while you prepare the syrup.
- In medium sauce pot, combine remaining water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt; cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to medium; bring to a boil without stirring. Add candy thermometer; cook, without stirring, but brushing down sides with a pastry brush dipped in cold water, until the mixture registers 240° F (soft-ball stage). Let sit 1 minute.
- Turn electric mixer on, on low speed. Carefully pour hot sugar mixture in a stream into mixer bowl; once the mixture is incorporated, gradually increase speed to high. Beat 12-14 minutes, or until mixture is opaque and very thick. Turn mixer off. Add vanilla extract; beat 30 seconds. Add chopped chocolate and beat 15-20 seconds more, or until just melted and swirled through, but not completely combined.
- Immediately transfer marshmallow to the greased pan (use a greased spatula to transfer any that sticks to the bowl). Lightly wet your hands and smooth top of marshmallow. Set aside, uncovered, until firm (about 2 hours).
- Meanwhile, in bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and ground cinnamon.
- Using scissors dipped in confectioners’ sugar mixture, cut marshmallow into squares, tossing in powder and dusting off excess as you go. (They will be incredibly sticky, but as soon as you toss them in the sugar-cocoa powder mixture, they will be easy to package.) Package in an airtight box or plastic gift bag that is tied very well.
![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 2 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/68d58e0f-f8e6-4a28-a29b-98b2534e983f-121509F_563B.jpg)
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Merrill sprinkles gelatin over water right in the mixer.
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 6 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/bff3b9d5-ebbe-4ca0-ba7b-4bf1815b1e76-121509F_131.jpg)
Meanwhile, we combined corn syrup, sugar and water in a saucepan. The corn syrup had been sitting in this bowl and when we went to pour it, the skin that had formed on top worked like a dam…
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 7 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/7c0943d4-59a6-4254-883a-b6454aca452a-121509F_136.jpg)
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Merrill took to the stove while Amanda measured out confectioners' sugar, cinnamon and coconut powder, which will later be used for dusting the marshmallows — and preventing them from sticking…
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Merrill diligently wets down the sides of the pan as the sugar syrup heats.
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 11 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/37f0a7a9-ed30-43fd-bc36-8be34d32492f-121509F_222.jpg)
The syrup is ready when it hits 235 degrees on a candy thermometer. This is the second batch. The first turned to caramel.
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 12 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2589ff3f-7c4e-4f58-82a5-c4ac7bb94ae3-121509F_237.jpg)
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Amanda gives her mixer a stern talking to.
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As the mixer whirrs away, we pour the sugar syrup — now at softball stage — into the softened gelatin. The two collide and explode into a pouf of marshmallow!
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 15 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/376c414c-f14c-4021-bb59-a805edd7d0d4-121509F_192.jpg)
Sugar strand frozen in time.
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This is your brain on marshmallow.
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 17 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/122adb51-cf99-437c-b4df-2260980737d2-121509F_298.jpg)
See the chocolate swirl!
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We pat it into the pan using wet hands — cool trick (thanks notlazy.rustic.).
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 19 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/53101146-eed4-4c58-a71b-05f64a2a2892-121509F_509.jpg)
Getting it out of the pan is another story — use a non-stick pan if you have one.
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 20 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/6292812c-a532-44db-a29b-3fa2b86db8c9-121509F_519.jpg)
Time to make the marshmallows.
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![Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows 21 Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows](https://wikirecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/76fd6960-7418-40c6-b3d9-4b0853e2f1ef-121509F_548.jpg)
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