Handmade Peppermint Marshmallows

Place the gelatin into the bowl of your stand mixer with half of the water. Have the mixer, fitted with whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining half of the water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat and clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan. Cook until the mixture reaches 240 F. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat. It should take about 8 to 10 minutes.

While you are waiting for the sugar syrup to reach 240 F you can prepare your pan for the marshmallows. Simply spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray and coat generously with powdered sugar. The size of your pan really depends on how thick you want your marshmallows. I find a 9×7-inch works well for me.

Once your sugar syrup is ready turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the peppermint extract during the last minute of whipping. It really helps to have a stand mixer for this but if you are like me and don’t have one just use your hand mixer. Yes you have stand there mixing for 15 minutes but it’s totally worth it!

Now just dump you marshmallow mixture into your pan then drip your red food coloring on the top and use a knife to swirl it around. Once that is done let it set up for about 4 hours or longer.