Homemade Marshmallows with Beef Gelatin, No Corn Syrup

Jump to recipe Maple version AIP version Rose variation Rose monograph Are they healthy? FAQ

I love making homemade marshmallows. They taste better than store-bought marshmallows and don't take long, about 30 minutes of hands-on time before they set on their own. This recipe uses grass-fed, grass-finished beef gelatin and either cane sugar or maple syrup, with no corn syrup. My plain vanilla marshmallows come first, followed by the maple syrup version, an AIP compliant version for anyone on the autoimmune protocol, and a rose petal version I made for a Valentine's Day party, where they were a hit. One batch makes about as much as a normal bag from the store.

My marshmallows from this recipe, made with cane sugar.

Key takeaways

• This is a marshmallow recipe without corn syrup. The sweetener is cane sugar or maple syrup, cooked to 240°F (116°C).
• The cane sugar version uses 1 cup of water. The maple syrup version uses ½ cup, because maple syrup is already about one third water.
• Use unflavored powdered gelatin, since collagen peptides won't set.
• You need a candy or meat thermometer to hit soft-ball stage.
• The AIP version uses maple syrup, vanilla bean instead of extract, coconut oil for greasing, and an arrowroot coating with no powdered sugar.
• For rose marshmallows, steep the water into rose petal tea first.
• The slab sets at room temperature in about 6 hours.

This article is for education only and does not diagnose, treat, or replace medical care. I am a clinical herbalist, not a physician. The rose monograph describes traditional use and recorded cautions, not medical advice. Speak with a qualified provider before adding herbs to your routine if you are pregnant, nursing, managing a diagnosed condition, or taking medication. Individual responses vary.

Homemade marshmallow recipe with cane sugar or maple syrup

Evidence: my own recipe, made many times.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unflavored powdered gelatin (about 3 packets). I use grass-fed, grass-finished beef gelatin.
• ½ cup filtered water, for blooming the gelatin
• Your sweetener, one of these two:
  • Cane sugar version: 1½ cups cane sugar, plus another ½ cup of filtered water
  • Maple version: 1½ cups pure maple syrup, with no extra water
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt (I use Redmond's)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• For dusting: ¼ cup powdered sugar plus 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch. Cornstarch tastes the same, but I prefer arrowroot because corn is often contaminated with mold.

The maple version uses half the water because maple syrup is already about one third water, so nothing extra goes in the pot with it.

Equipment

• Stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a large bowl and a hand mixer
• Medium saucepan (3 quarts or larger for the maple version, since maple syrup foams up)
• Candy thermometer or instant-read meat thermometer
• 8x8 or 9x13 pan, wax paper, and butter or oil for greasing

Instructions

1. Bloom the gelatin. Pour the ½ cup of water into your mixer bowl, sprinkle the powdered gelatin over it, and whisk lightly. Let it sit for 10 minutes while you cook the syrup.
2. Cook the syrup. Follow the line for your sweetener and cook it to 240°F (116°C), which is soft-ball stage.
   • Cane sugar: Stir the sugar, the other ½ cup of water, and the salt together in the saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring and heat over medium-high for about 8 minutes. If sugar crystals stick to the sides of the pan, brush them down with a wet pastry brush.
   • Maple syrup: Pour the maple syrup and the salt into the saucepan and don't add any water. Heat over medium for about 10 minutes without stirring. Maple syrup foams up as it boils, so stay close and lower the heat for a moment if the foam climbs toward the rim.
3. Prepare the pan. While the syrup cooks, line the pan with wax paper and grease it lightly so the slab comes out easily later.
4. Whip. With the mixer on low, pour the hot syrup down the sides of the bowl in a thin stream so it doesn't hit the whisk. Once it's all in, turn the mixer to high and beat for 12 minutes, until the fluff is glossy and about triple in volume. It will be white with cane sugar and light tan with maple syrup. Add the vanilla in the last minute.
5. Set. Pour the fluff into the pan right away and smooth the top with a greased spatula. Leave it uncovered at room temperature for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
6. Cut and coat. Mix the powdered sugar and arrowroot in a small bowl and dust a cutting board with some of it. Turn the slab out, cut it into squares with a greased knife or pizza cutter, and toss each piece in the dusting mix so they don't stick together.

You can eat them as soon as they're cut. If you want them firmer for toasting, leave the cut pieces out for another day before you store them.

Maple syrup marshmallows

Evidence: recipe notes. Maple syrup is about two thirds sugar and one third water by weight.

For maple marshmallows, the maple syrup replaces both the cane sugar and the water in the pot. Granulated sugar needs water to dissolve before it can cook. Maple syrup is already dissolved, and 1½ cups of it contains more water than the ½ cup the cane sugar version adds. Extra water wouldn't ruin the batch, but all of it has to boil off before the syrup can reach 240°F (116°C), so it only adds time at the stove.

	Cane sugar version	Maple version
Sweetener	1½ cups cane sugar	1½ cups pure maple syrup
Water for blooming	½ cup	½ cup
Water in the pot	½ cup	None
Total water	1 cup	½ cup
Burner	Medium-high	Medium
Time to 240°F (116°C)	About 8 minutes	About 10 minutes
Color	White	Light tan

Tips for the maple version

• Use pure maple syrup, since most pancake syrups are corn syrup with maple flavoring.
• Pick a pot with plenty of headroom, 3 quarts or larger, because maple syrup foams up high as it boils.
• A darker syrup gives a stronger maple flavor.
• The vanilla is optional here, so leave it out if you want the maple to stand out.
• Everything after the syrup matches the main recipe: whip for 12 minutes, let it set for at least 6 hours, then cut and coat.

AIP marshmallows (autoimmune protocol version)

Evidence: my maple recipe with the ingredients swapped to match the AIP elimination phase food list (Ballantyne, The Paleo Approach, 2013).

I've followed AIP myself. It's hard, and the holidays are the hardest stretch, when every table has something you can't eat. These marshmallows are a swap that lets someone on the protocol join in. They toast over a fire and float on a mug of warm coconut milk with cinnamon, and nobody at the table can tell them apart from the regular batch.

The maple version is close to compliant on its own. Three ingredients in the main recipe fall outside the elimination phase, and each has an easy replacement.

Main recipe	AIP version	Why
Cane sugar	Pure maple syrup	Refined sugar is excluded. Maple syrup is allowed as a natural sweetener in small amounts.
Vanilla extract	Vanilla bean or vanilla bean powder	Alcohol-based extracts are excluded, and the vanilla goes in after cooking, so the alcohol never burns off. Vanilla itself is fine: it's an orchid pod, not a legume.
Butter for greasing	Coconut oil	Dairy is excluded during elimination. Ghee only comes back at reintroduction.
Powdered sugar coating	Arrowroot starch with maple, coconut, or date sugar	Powdered sugar is refined cane sugar, usually with cornstarch mixed in.

A note on quantity. One batch uses 1½ cups of maple syrup. AIP allows natural sweeteners in moderation, so treat these as an occasional holiday treat rather than a daily staple. A few pieces at a celebration is the idea.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unflavored powdered gelatin (about 3 packets). I use grass-fed, grass-finished beef gelatin.
• ½ cup filtered water, for blooming the gelatin
• 1½ cups pure maple syrup
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt (I use Redmond's)
• Vanilla, optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder, or 1 whole vanilla bean for the infusion method below
• Coconut oil for greasing
• For coating: ¼ cup arrowroot starch plus 2 tablespoons maple sugar, coconut sugar, or date sugar

Date sugar is ground dried dates and doesn't dissolve, so it stays gritty. For a smoother coating with any of the three sugars, pulse the sugar and arrowroot together in a coffee grinder or small blender until fine.

Vanilla options

Vanilla extract is out because of the alcohol, but you have three ways to handle it.

1. Omit it. The maple flavor stands on its own. This is the simplest route.
2. Vanilla bean powder. Add 1 teaspoon in the last minute of whipping, the same place the extract goes in the main recipe. Check the label says ground vanilla beans only, since some "vanilla powder" is sugar or maltodextrin with vanilla flavoring.
3. Vanilla bean infusion. Bring the ½ cup of bloom water to a boil, take it off the heat, split a vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape the seeds into the water, and drop the pod in too. Steep for 20 minutes, then pull the pod out and let the water cool to room temperature. Bloom the gelatin in this water in step 1. The seeds stay in and show as specks in the finished marshmallows. This is the same method as the rose version, with vanilla in place of rose petals.

Equipment

• Stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a large bowl and a hand mixer
• Saucepan, 3 quarts or larger, since maple syrup foams up
• Candy thermometer or instant-read meat thermometer
• 8x8 or 9x13 pan, wax paper, and coconut oil for greasing

Instructions

1. Bloom the gelatin. Pour the ½ cup of water (plain, or the cooled vanilla infusion) into your mixer bowl, sprinkle the powdered gelatin over it, and whisk lightly. Let it sit for 10 minutes while you cook the syrup.
2. Cook the maple syrup. Pour the maple syrup and the salt into the saucepan with no added water. Heat over medium for about 10 minutes without stirring, until it reaches 240°F (116°C). Stay close, and lower the heat for a moment if the foam climbs toward the rim.
3. Prepare the pan. While the syrup cooks, line the pan with wax paper and rub it lightly with coconut oil so the slab comes out easily later.
4. Whip. With the mixer on low, pour the hot syrup down the sides of the bowl in a thin stream so it doesn't hit the whisk. Once it's all in, turn the mixer to high and beat for 12 minutes, until the fluff is glossy, light tan, and about triple in volume. If you're using vanilla bean powder, add it in the last minute.
5. Set. Pour the fluff into the pan right away and smooth the top with a spatula rubbed with coconut oil. Leave it uncovered at room temperature for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
6. Cut and coat. Mix the arrowroot and your chosen sugar in a small bowl and dust a cutting board with some of it. Turn the slab out, cut it into squares with an oiled knife or pizza cutter, and toss each piece in the coating so they don't stick together.

Storage is the same as the main recipe: about a week in an airtight container at room temperature, out of the fridge.

Cinnamon, ginger, and clove version

A spiced version is also AIP compliant. Cinnamon is bark, ginger is a root, and cloves are flower buds, so all three are allowed during elimination. The seed spices in a full chai blend (cardamom, nutmeg, star anise, fennel, black pepper) are not, so leave those out.

Bring the ½ cup of bloom water to a boil with 1 cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves, and 1 tablespoon of sliced fresh ginger, take it off the heat, and steep for 20 minutes. Strain, let the water cool to room temperature, and bloom the gelatin in it. Everything else follows the AIP instructions above, with the vanilla left out so the spices come through.

Tips for the AIP version

• Coconut oil is my pick for greasing. If coconut is a problem for you, a light olive oil works.
• Honey can replace the maple syrup and stays compliant. It foams and heats faster, so watch the pot.
• Rose petal marshmallows (below) are also compliant if you make them with the maple base and these swaps. Rose is a flower, and herbs from leaves and flowers are allowed on AIP.

Rose marshmallows

Evidence: my own variation on the recipe above.

Rose petals are a nice switch-up from plain vanilla, and I like them for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. The only change is that you steep the water into rose petal tea first, then use the tea in place of plain water. Everything else stays the same.

You need one extra ingredient, 5 grams of dried organic rose petals. I order mine from Mountain Rose Herbs (affiliate link).

1. Make the rose petal tea. Heat 1 cup of water until it's almost boiling. Take it off the heat, add the petals, and cover the pot so the aromatic oils stay in the tea. Steep for 10 minutes, then strain.
2. Split the tea. Set ½ cup aside for the syrup. Chill the other ½ cup in the fridge or freezer until it's room temperature or cooler, since gelatin blooms better in cool liquid.
3. Use the tea as the water. Bloom the powdered gelatin in the cooled ½ cup of tea and use the other ½ cup in the sugar syrup. Then follow the main recipe from step 2.

If you're making these with maple syrup, you only need the ½ cup of tea for blooming. Maple is a strong flavor and covers some of the rose, so cane sugar is the better match for this one.

The finished marshmallows are pale pink with a light floral taste. You can press a few crushed dried petals into the top of the slab before it sets for more color and a little more rose flavor.

Rose herbal monograph

Evidence: traditional use recorded in Western, Ayurvedic, and Chinese herbal texts. Human clinical data on rose petal tea is limited.

Rosa centifolia, Rosa gallica, Rosa canina
Family: Rosaceae. Sanskrit: Shatapatri.

Energetics and actions

• Taste: sweet, bitter, pungent, sour
• Temperature: cooling, mild, neutral
• Traditional actions: nervine, astringent, carminative, aphrodisiac

Key constituents

Volatile oils (mainly geraniol), tannins, flavonoids, vitamins A, C, and E, and minerals including iron, zinc, and calcium.

Traditional use

• Emotional balance. Herbalists have long used rose to soothe what the tradition calls the emotional heart, during periods of sensitivity, grief, or irritability.
• Cycle support. In Ayurveda, rose is used to cool excess Pitta, and it appears in formulas for the second half of the menstrual cycle.
• Digestion. Traditional texts describe rose as cooling to the digestive lining and supportive of fat metabolism.
• Skin. Rosewater is a common wash or mist for red, sensitive, or weathered skin.

Traditional preparations and amounts

Preparation	Traditional daily amount
Dried petals, as an infusion	1 to 10 g
Tincture (1:2)	5 to 15 ml
Rosewater	5 to 50 ml

Cautions on record for rose

Herbal safety texts advise caution during pregnancy because of the plant's traditional use for the menstrual cycle. Tannins can reduce iron absorption when tea is taken with an iron-rich meal or an iron supplement, so the two are usually separated by a few hours. If you take prescription medication, a pharmacist or clinical herbalist can check your list against any new herb.

Handmade in Montana

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Are homemade marshmallows healthy?

Evidence: gelatin composition from Ray Peat's published articles. Field-death and grazing claims are attributed to the cited papers, which disagree with each other on scale.

These are still candy, but the ingredient list is one I'm happy with: cane sugar or maple syrup in place of corn syrup, and gelatin from grass-fed, grass-finished cattle.

The gelatin is the main reason I make them. Ray Peat wrote that gelatin is about 35 percent glycine and contains no tryptophan, and he argued that this balances out the amino acids in muscle meat, which most of us eat far more of.¹ Each batch has 3 tablespoons of gelatin in it.

Why I went back to animal foods

I was vegetarian for years and avoided red meat. Over that time my skin got worse and I developed gut problems from the plant-based replacements I was eating. I also kept getting injured when I exercised. I'm sharing that as my own experience.

What changed my mind was reading about animal deaths in crop farming. Steven Davis at Oregon State estimated that harvesting and other field work kill enough mice and other small animals per acre that a diet built on pasture-raised ruminants could cost fewer animal lives than a fully plant-based one.² Fischer and Lamey reviewed the available data in 2018 and concluded that nobody knows the true figure, that the largest published estimates are too high, and that the answer depends on unsettled questions such as whether animals taken by predators after harvest should be counted.³ Both papers agree that plant farming is not free of animal death.

That reading changed how I think about ethical eating. I try to treat every animal product with respect and use as much of the animal as I can, which is why gelatin and tallow show up so often on this site.

The methane question

Cattle produce methane, and cattle on grass produce more of it per animal than cattle on grain because forage ferments longer in the rumen. The numbers look different once soil carbon is counted: a Michigan State University study measured soil carbon for four years on pasture managed with adaptive multi-paddock grazing, and found the pasture stored enough carbon to turn the grass-finishing phase into a net carbon sink, even though its raw emissions were higher than the feedlot's.⁴ The authors noted that the grazing system needed twice the land and that results from other regions were still needed. Well-managed grazing also improves soil structure and pasture biodiversity in ways a feedlot cannot.

I try to eat locally and in season, choose organic produce, and buy animal foods from regenerative farms when I can. The gelatin in this recipe comes from pasture-raised cattle for that reason.

Start here The Ray Peat Diet Guide Every food he mentioned, his hormone framework in order, and links to his interview audio transcripts, and articles. Open the guide →

Frequently asked questions

Evidence: practical answers from making this recipe many times.

Can I make marshmallows without corn syrup?

Yes, and this recipe doesn't use any. Commercial marshmallows use corn syrup to keep the sugar from crystallizing. You get the same result by cooking cane sugar syrup to 240°F (116°C) without stirring, then pouring it down the sides of the bowl in a slow stream.

Can I use maple syrup instead of cane sugar?

Yes. Use 1½ cups of pure maple syrup in place of the sugar and leave out the ½ cup of water that normally goes in the pot. Cook the maple syrup to the same 240°F (116°C).

How much water do maple syrup marshmallows need?

Only ½ cup, and all of it is for blooming the gelatin. The cane sugar version needs 1 cup because granulated sugar has to dissolve in water before it cooks. Maple syrup is already about one third water.

Can I use honey instead of cane sugar?

Honey works too. Like maple syrup, it goes in the pot without water and cooks to 240°F (116°C). Honey foams up and heats faster than cane sugar, so keep a close eye on it.

What gelatin is best for marshmallows?

Unflavored powdered gelatin. Collagen peptides won't work because they don't gel. I use beef gelatin from grass-fed, grass-finished cattle, but any powdered beef or pork gelatin will set this recipe.

How long do homemade marshmallows last?

About a week in an airtight container at room temperature. Keep them out of the fridge, where the moisture makes them sticky. They keep a little longer if you let the cut pieces dry uncovered for a day before sealing the container.

Why are my homemade marshmallows sticky?

Usually the syrup didn't reach 240°F (116°C), the slab needed more time to set, or the pieces need more of the dusting mix. Humid weather makes them tackier too. More dusting fixes most batches.

Do homemade marshmallows work for s'mores?

Yes. They're softer than store-bought marshmallows and melt faster over a flame, so leave the cut pieces out for a full day first to firm them up.

Made a batch?

I'd love to hear how they turned out, so leave a comment below. You can find more of my recipes here, or browse the shop for handmade herbal goods.

Sources

1. Peat R. Gelatin, stress, longevity. raypeat.com
2. Davis SL. The least harm principle may require that humans consume a diet containing large herbivores, not a vegan diet. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 2003;16(4):387-394. doi:10.1023/A:1025638030686
3. Fischer B, Lamey A. Field deaths in plant agriculture. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 2018;31(4):409-428. doi:10.1007/s10806-018-9733-8
4. Stanley PL, Rowntree JE, Beede DK, DeLonge MS, Hamm MW. Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems. Agricultural Systems. 2018;162:249-258. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2018.02.003 Authors are affiliated with Michigan State University; one co-author was with the Union of Concerned Scientists at publication.