This whole holiday season situation is already stressing me out. It’s going way too fast. There are too many sales, too many DIY snow globes on Pinterest and seriously the photos of snow everywhere are making me jealous. I realize it’s not real life making me stressed, but internet life. It’s intense right now! I vote for us to put on some comfy socks and make/eat some marshmallows.
I’ve been dreaming about making coffee-flavored marshmallows for FOREVER! Forever. If you’ve never made marshmallows before, they’re muuuuch easier than you’d think.
If you’ve got a candy thermometer, you’re half way there!
The coffee flavor in these marshmallows isn’t overly strong, so all my coffee-haters out there (I don’t understand you but love you anyway) shouldn’t be too turned off.
Basically if you love coffee ice cream, these will be a-ok. .
The flavor of coffee is these marshmallows is brought to you by strong instant espresso powder. I like using it in baked goods because it dissolves easily and has a pretty strong coffee flavor. I would never drink it. Never.
Since I’m a brat about coffee, the coffee that I tend to drink usually is lighter in roast and has a “gentle flavor profile” which wouldn’t be strong enough for marshmallows. Blah. I hate myself a little right now.
The perfect option would be for us to all use coffee extract but seriously ain’t nobody got time fo’ that. We have enough on our plate; we don’t need to drive all over town looking for some obscure coffee extract, you know
And you’ll see below that there’s a bit of cocoa powder used too. In addition to it being used for coloring purposes, I also love the flavor it lends to coffee everything. They’re a good lil’ pair.
Ingredients
Prep:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- Vegetable oil
Marshmallows:
- 3/4 cup warm water divided
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
- 3 envelopes of Knox gelatin
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1/4 of a vanilla bean scraped or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Vegetable oil for the pan
Instructions
Prep:
- Before you begin, let’s do some prep. Start by sifting together powdered sugar, corn starch and cocoa powder onto a large plate. Next, grease a 10″ x 8″ (this size can vary) casserole dish or pan with vegetable oil. Add a teaspoon or two of the cocoa powder/sugar mixture to the casserole dish and shake it around until the bottom and edges are dusted. Set aside.
Marshmallows:
- Combine 1/2 cup warm water and instant espresso granules. Whisk until granules are dissolved. Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator to cool. Pour the cooled coffee into the bowl of a stand-up mixer (or you can use a large bowl and a hand-mixer). Sprinkle the gelatin atop the cooled coffee mixture and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, with a candy thermometer attached to its side, combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and remaining 1/4 cup of water. Heat the mixture over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat up to moderately high heat and bring the mixture to a hard boil and cook for 1 minute, until the candy thermometer reaches 240 degrees F.
- Lower the whisk attachment and turn it on low. Carefully add the boiling liquid to the gelatin mixture. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 8-10 minutes, until the mixture has doubled in volume and holds stiff peaks. Sift in the cocoa powder and pour in the vanilla caviar or extract. Beat for an additional minute or so until the both of them are incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish or baking pan, smoothing out the top until it’s evenly disbursed (it’ll be sticky!). Dust the top with a few tablespoons of cocoa powder/sugar mixture. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and allow to set until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.
- Take a knife and run it around the edges of the casserole dish or pan and invert the marshmallow sheet onto a large cutting board, smacking the bottom of it, if needed. You also may need to use your fingers to loosen the marshmallow sheet from the casserole dish and gently glide it onto the cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut the marshmallows into 1-inch cubes. Store the marshmallows in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
First off, I just killed TWO mixers on this recipe. TWO burnt out motors.
Second, what am I supposed to do with the plate-ful of conf sugar, corn starch and cocoa?? It’s sitting on my counter, waiting for a purpose.
If you have ny spare mixers around, please send.
How much does the use of dutch-processed v. natural cocoa powder matter in this recipe? Will it have a big effect on the taste?
Love the recipes, for the marshmallows though, I want to replace the vegetable oil and the corn syrup. Suggestions?
You know, marshmallows are the only thing I use corn syrup for. Maybe brown rice syrup will work? Not positive.
I stored them in an airtight container but they seem like they are wet. Is this bad? How do I get them dry? Lol
Have you cut them yet? I’d say tossing them in a bit of powdered sugar and letting them sit out on the counter with a sheet of plastic just kinda veiled over should dry them out a bit!
One life hack I use when making my own homemade marshmallows, turn them out of the pan and cut them using a pizza cutter. It goes right through them and doesn’t stick to the blade and is super quick.
I made these without a candy thermometer and they turned out just fine! But, I didn’t have any corn starch so I just used the cocoa and powdered sugar and let it set over night. When I checked it in the morning the powdered sugar had crystallised on top and were a bit hard, I tried peeling it off which was surprisingly easy and the mashmallows set perfectly but they’re really moist? Do you think if I sift corn starch on top of them now it would dry up or have I just really ruined them lol
I don’t think you need to! They sound ok. I think if you just cover them with plastic wrap you’ll be good to go
Oh I reread your comment and understand what you’re saying. You’re saying they’re a bit too moist right? If so, I’d maybe sift a teaspoon of cornstarch on top and then cover them with plastic wrap. That should help!
I don’t have a candy thermometer. Can I still make these? Any tips?
You can try it! I’d time out the hard boil to one minute, exactly and see how it goes…
Ummm … wow. Making. Loving. Sharing. Enjoying. Thank you!!
These look amazing! Perfect for the hot chocolate. Thanks for sharing!
I Made It Will Real Espresso And They Turned Out Awesome!
Weeee! YAY! Also, good to know that these turn out great using real espresso. Thanks for that!
Oh my! These are terrific! Made a mess making two batches, second batch went much better. My daughter and I made hot choc, watching the Voice and loving these marshmallows!
Can I just use espresso instead of instant granules in water?
That should work. I’d probably decrease the chocolate by 1 tablespoon just to make sure you get the coffee flavor.
I am thinking what a neat little gift for my coworkers and for the college kids with some packets of hot choc. Can’t wait to try
Love that idea!
This is a fab idea!
xo Jennifer
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