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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.
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 – 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 adds a bit of flavor.
- Instant espresso – This imparts the perfect amount of coffee flavor to the marshmallows.
- Light corn syrup – This will crystalize and make the marshmallows (without egg whites.)
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.
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 help us grease 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 cornstarch and cocoa powder combination. You want to grease 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 gelaton 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, lower the head and turn it on low. Slowly pour in the corn syrup mixture. Beat it on low and then to medium 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 cornstarch/cocoa 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.
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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 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.
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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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
http://seekingstyleblog.wordpress.com
Absolutely. Falling. Apart.
Oh yes, these are a must-make!
Marshmallows are on my list of things to make for Christmas but I didn’t know which kind to attempt. That problem is now solved! Just one question though… do you know the tsp/tbsp or weight measurement of the gelatin? I have a whole container of the stuff not handy sachets. Thanks!
Yes! One envelope of gelatin is 1 tablespoon. So this recipe calls for 3 tablespoons powdered gelatin. 🙂
I’ve been stressed out too! Time is flying by way too fast. I will happily stress eat a thousand of these marshmallows though. Yum!
Would it be dangerous to do the whisking manually here? I don’t have an electric one and normally it’s fine, but I worry about what might happen with the boiling water in in this situation.
Ooof. You can but your arm might fall off, no joke. The boiling sugar liquid shouldn’t be too big of a problem, if you want to try it. My vote is to invest in one of a cheap electric hand-mixer (they usually run about $20 from Target). 🙂
Those look so good!! They would probably be amazin floating in some hot cocoa..