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These coffee marshmallows are fluffy and cloud-like. With a delicious hint of coffee and cocoa powder, they’ll add such a delicious flavor to any s’more or cup of hot cocoa. Pair them with my Oat Milk Hot Chocolate or a cup of Homemade Hot Chocolate.
What To Expect with Homemade Marshmallows
You will need a stand-up mixer OR an electric hand mixer. This is unfortunately, a recipe you can’t really do by hand. It’s too much work!
This definitely qualifies as candy-making (similar to making Honeycomb Candy.) But not to fret, it’s super easy! It just requires you to get everything prepared before you begin. It goes quickly, and you want to be ready.
Homemade marshmallows are 100% the extra effort. They are so fluffy and delicious. And these have the best cocoa powder and coffee flavor profile. I guess we can consider them mocha marshmallows.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Coffee Marshmallows
If you’ve never made marshmallows before, you’ll be shocked at how easy they are to make. Here’s the simple list of ingredients you’ll need:
- Gelatin – For that bouncy, spongy, extra fluffy texture. You can buy gelatin packets at any local grocery store. They’re usually located where the Jell-O is sold. I used the brand Knox.
- Cocoa powder – Simple baking cocoa powder (that is unsweetened) is perfect for this recipe. It’s used to give it a coffee-like color and complements the coffee flavor well.
- Instant espresso – This imparts the perfect amount of coffee flavor to the marshmallows.
- Light corn syrup – This will prevent sugar crystallization and keep the marshmallows soft and fluffy (without egg whites).
For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe index card below!
How to Make Coffee Marshmallows
- We have to do a little prep work. Sift together the powdered sugar, cornstarch and baking cocoa. This is going to coat the pan.
- Rub oil on the baking pan. I used a 10×8-inch pan but you could do this in an 9×9 or 8×8 inch pan. Or something comparable.
- Dust the pan with the powder mixture. You want to coat it almost like you would do a cake.
- Dissolve the instant espresso in warm water. Chill the instant espresso/coffee in the fridge. When it’s chilled, sprinkle the gelatin atop the coffee.
- In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Cook the mixture until it reaches a hard boil and a digital thermometer reads 240F.
- Using a stand-up mixer with the whisk attachment on low speed, slowly pour in the corn syrup mixture. Then beat the mixture on high speed for about 8-10 minutes.
- It’ll go from a syrup to super light and fluffy!
- Sift in the cocoa powder and pour in the vanilla. This will give it that coffee-like color. Beat once more until combined.
- Transfer it all to the prepared baking dish. It will be sticky! Smooth it out into an even layer. Dust the top of the marshmallow mixture with the remaining powder mixture. Lightly cover with a clean kitchen towel at room temperature to set, about 4 hours.
- Invert onto a cutting board and cut into squares.
Tips and Tricks
Do all of your prep before starting the cooking process. This recipe moves quickly, so make sure your stand mixer and baking pan are ready to go before you begin.
Oil your spatula. When smoothing out the marshmallows in the baking pan, it will be very sticky! Adding a little oil to the spatula makes this step a bit easier. I also oil my knife before slicing up the marshmallows after they’ve set.
Toast your marshmallow. I love a crispy, melty toasted marshmallow! I just use a torch or carefully toast them over the stove until golden brown all around and top my Homemade Hot Chocolate with them. So good!
More Cozy Recipes
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Coffee Marshmallows
Equipment
- 1 Digital thermometer
Ingredients
Prep:
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1 tablespoon baking cocoa powder
- Neutral oil
Marshmallows:
- 3/4 cup warm water, divided
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
- 3 envelopes of gelatin, (I used the Knox brand)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons baking cocoa powder
- 1/4 of a vanilla bean, or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Neutral oil , for the pan
Instructions
To 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 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.
To Make the Marshmallows:
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer (or you can use a large bowl and a hand-mixer), combine 1/2 cup warm water and instant espresso granules. Whisk until granules are dissolved. Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator to cool. 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(or you can use a digital thermometer), 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 or digital 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 dispursed (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.
To Cut up the Marshmallows:
- 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.
Notes
Tips and Tricks:
Do all of your prep before starting the cooking process. This recipe moves quickly, so make sure your stand mixer and baking pan are ready to go before you begin. Oil your spatula. When smoothing out the marshmallows in the baking pan, it will be very sticky! Adding a little oil to the spatula makes this step a bit easier. I also oil my knife before slicing up the marshmallows after they’ve set. Toast your marshmallow. I love a crispy, melty toasted marshmallow! I just use a torch or carefully toast them over the stove until golden brown all around and top my Homemade Hot Chocolate with them. So good!Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These sound amazing! Gorgeous photos, too. Also, don’t understand those coffee haters. Um, what?!
Aliens.
I love the idea of coffee marshmellows, a must on my list. You are so right with internet overload, sometimes we need to unplug and focus on what is really important!
Happy holidays to you and your family.
I think I am going to have to make these. I have been toying with the idea of making marshmallows and this just convinced me it needs to happen. Thanks for sharing!
Marshmallows have been on my bucket list for a long time… high time I did something about that – and coffee is definitely the way to go1 Thanks for a great idea.
Having wasted a significant amount of time cleaning coffee grains out of a fine sieve the other day (time I will NEVER EVER get back) I am now embracing instant coffee even more, so much easier, less hassle and flavour-wise usually no compromise. As for the marshmallows – love this. I made some coffee marshmallows while testing a vegan marshmallow recipe the other day (I was getting bored of plain vanilla by that stage) and was surprised how well it worked, such a great idea. And the added cocoa? Genius – the two flavours go so well together and I totally had not thought of that!
I really want to make this but am a vegetarian. What did you substitute for the gelatin? Thank you in advance. J
You can buy vegetarian gelatin
I used agar agar for mine, a vegetarian gelatine that has similar gelling effect to normal gelatine (although has a slightly more brittle setting effect). Agar agar is tricky to use and doesn’t always give the same results as gelatine made from animal products so you might not get the exact same results (it took me a while to succeed with a full vegan recipe).
As Sophia mentioned, agar is often used in place of gelatin for vegetarians. I don’t have any experience using it personally but some places online say it’s an even substitution.
Coffee marshmallows sound amazing!! Such a great idea! 🙂
I totally agree that instant espresso is not for drinking, but totes appropriate for eating. These look so good! I love all things coffee, so you’re speaking my language.
Geeez, I soooo want some! That is just the perfect match – Marshmallows and coffee!! 🙂
Yum I can only imagine these in hot chocolate or a caffeinated s’more sandwich. I need to try making my own now!
Why have I never seen coffee marshmallows before? It makes complete sense! A coffee marshmallow in a hot chocolate is like a match made in heaven. Love this.