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Easy recipe for homemade marshmallow that can be shaped into Easter peeps and decorated for a healthy holiday treat for kids.
When I was a little girl, my favorite treats to find in my basket on Easter morning were those pink and yellow marshmallow peeps.
I must admit that I still love those little critters. I just no longer indulge now that I know what’s in them!Â
It’s a truly stomach-turning list of ingredients: artificial flavors, colors, and GMO high fructose corn syrup among other additives.
Good news! The homemade marshmallow recipe below is a healthier version for your kids! It still contains quite a bit of sugar, so it’s a treat to be enjoyed only occasionally.
These homemade marshmallows are also excellent for putting on a stick to roast over an open fire or making homemade s’mores!
We have a fire pit in our backyard and roasting marshmallows is something we really enjoy doing for birthday parties or just hanging out as a family on a cool evening.
Best Sweetener for Peeps
I realize this recipe has organic white sugar, but marshmallows are white, after all!
Some natural alternatives to white sugar include rice syrup or cassava syrup as they are both light-colored. However, I haven’t yet tried them to know for sure if they would work or taste good.
Honey might work if it is extremely mild tasting. It would have to be dissolved in slightly heated water that does not exceed 118 °F/ 48 °C. This is because heating honey isn’t a healthy practice.
Another tip. Do not use beet sugar or nonorganic white sugar for this recipe as they are almost always GMO in North America.
The best solution if you wish to avoid sugar entirely is to use date syrup and make fruit-sweetened peeps! They would turn out brownish in color, but some bunnies and chicks are brown, right?
Thanks so much to Linda DeFever, a personal trainer and Chapter Leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation for generously sharing this basic marshmallow recipe!
Homemade Easter Peeps Recipe
Easy recipe for homemade Easter peeps, a healthier alternative to supermarket versions with questionable ingredients. Only 3 basic ingredients!
Ingredients
- 1 cup filtered water
- 3 Tbl gelatin preferably tested to be glyphosate free
- 2 cups organic white sugar
- chia seeds or mini chocolate chips optional
- nontoxic food coloring optional
Instructions
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Place 1/2 cup water in a large bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it in an even manner. Let sit for a few minutes.
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Put the sugar and the other 1/2 cup of water in a small pot and bring to a boil while stirring. Once the mixture is a rolling boil (or 242 F/ 117 C with a digital food thermometer), pour the hot sugar water mixture over the gelatin/water mixture and beat with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes until the combined mixture turns into marshmallow with peaks.
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If adding optional food coloring, add required amount to achieve desired color during the whipping phase with the electric mixer.
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Pour marshmallow mixture into a 9Ă—13 glass dish that has been coated with a tiny drizzle of coconut oil to prevent sticking.
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Let it sit on the counter for several hours until firm.
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Remove cooled and set marshmallow from dish in one large piece and place on a large cutting board. Form desired shapes with kitchen scissors or press out peeps with small stainless steel bunny cookie cutters. Decorate if desired. Chia seeds or tiny chocolate chips make cute eyes and nose.
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If using marshmallows for roasting over a fire, simply cut into rectangles.
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Store marshmallows and/or peeps in an airtight container in the pantry for several weeks.
I made them with rice syrup and they were fantastic! Not as sweet as real marshmallows, but still very good. I also added a small amount of red palm oil after mixing them and it turned them a pretty yellow color! My three year old is very happy! 🙂
Do you think honey would work? Would that make these GAPS friendly?
Not sure .. honey is quite strong tasting. Making them with sucanat made them way too strong tasting too.
What about agave?? Doyou think it would work for honey…and what about coconut sugar for the white…oh my…..that sounds so good. Can ya tell I am a bit stressed!!! lol
So glad you shared this recipe! My kids don’t like the peeps, but they do love marshmallows and ask for them all the time in the winter when we drink hot chocolate.
I’m curious – what does non-hydrolyzed mean?
I should clarify my above comment about my kids loving peeps. Actually, my oldest hasn’t had one in years and never had a colored one. My youngest has never had one. I would love to bless them with something that is not as unhealthy, but still fun. 🙂
Are there any low-glycemic alternatives ?
Agave nectar is low glycemic but it is not a healthy choice as it is very highly processed .. about the same as high fructose corn syrup. Coconut sugar is a healthy choice and is low glycemic but the marshmallows would not turn out white.
I wonder if vegetable glycerine would work. It is safe for people struggling with candida and they would turn out white.
That may work with a few drops of stevia perhaps?
I use a typical homemade marshmallow recipe using organic corn syrup – it is an amber color and raw og cane sugar – it always whips up white even though it is brown liquid. I dust them with organic powdered sugar. Of course these are rare in our home, but once or twice a year they sure are a treat and taste SO much better than store bought anything! 🙂
I have made marshmallows using maple syrup and were they good!!! I think I will try this recipe using beet powder for color.
Barbara, I would love that recipe for marshmallows with maple syrup!
Such a great recipe, thanks! my kids keep asking for marshmallows from the store, but even my father in law thinks they have too much bad stuff!
This would make a fun Easter activity (well I would make them and let the kids cut them out. I’ve been meaning to make marshmallows for ages.
Good read on sugar in general:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=is sugar toxic&st=cse&scp=1