This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These Homemade Strawberry Marshmallows are fun and simple to make, and have amazing strawberry flavor. No high fructose corn syrup or dyes! A fun treat for Valentine’s day or any other time of year!.
I have always loved Valentine’s Day. The idea of spreading love around to everyone I cared about has always appealed to me. When I was a kid I loved the little heart pockets we put on the front of our desks at school to collect the cards that everyone gave each other. I loved making heart-shaped cookies and decorating them. My mom had the best tradition of setting up a scavenger hunt all over the house on the morning of Valentine’s Day. I would wake up and find a note telling me to go look somewhere in the house, where I would find another note leading me to the next clue. There would be little candies or prizes along the way until I finally reached the end and a Valentine gift. Later I would go to school and we would exchange cards and there would be plenty of treats. I even did a school report on St. Valentine!
As I got older I became more aware of the romantic implications of Valentine’s Day. As young people sometimes to do, I looked forward to the day that I FINALLY had a boyfriend and we would go to a romantic dinner and he would give me flowers and candy and one of those stuffed bears with hearts on it. But you know what I realized? Grown up Valentine’s Day is not really as fun. There is too much pressure to have the perfect, romantic day, and it is usually a disappointment. Going out to dinner on Valentines’ Day is actually a nightmare, with crushing crowds, stressed out restaurant staff and kitchens running out of menu items. These days Mr. Briar and I usually make a fun dinner at home and watch a movie, which honestly is more fun for both of us.
That doesn’t stop me from wanting to celebrate valentines day in a festive way. This is actually the first of TWO valentines’ day posts. I wasn’t planning on doing two, but I got this idea for Homemade Strawberry Marshmallows and I couldn’t resist making them. I know that you can buy strawberry flavored marshmallows at the store, but to be honest I am never a big fan of fruit “flavored” items. They usually taste sickly sweet and not at all like whatever flavor they are supposed to be.
These Homemade Strawberry Marshmallows contain REAL strawberries so they taste like real strawberries. Imagine that.
Well, they actually taste like dreamy little strawberry clouds. If you could eat those fluffy pink clouds you see during a beautiful sunset, I think this is what they would taste like. I did use frozen strawberries instead of fresh for two reasons. One is that it isn’t quite strawberry season yet, so the fresh ones aren’t going to be super great. Also, since we are making a puree here, frozen is ideal because they break down into a puree very easily.
I like this recipe because it is fairly simple and doesn’t require any high fructose corn syrup, which I don’t normally keep on hand. I did end up using some vegetable shortening in the chocolate coating, just because the chocolate was not quite viscous enough without it to dip the marshmallows. I think you could probably sub coconut oil for the shortening if you want, although I have not tested that myself. The sprinkles are optional, but how cute are they? Valentine’s Day needs sprinkles, in my opinion.
This made about 20 heart-shaped marshmallows, with some scraps left over. If you don’t want waste and you don’t care if they are a cute heart shape, you can just cut them into squares like a regular marshmallow and you will have more. I find that using a pizza cutter works the best if you are going that route. After dipping them in chocolate and adding the sprinkles, I put them in the fridge to let the chocolate set up, and it did in about an hour.
Homemade Strawberry Marshmallows
Ingredients
For Strawberry Marshmallows
- 1 cup whole frozen strawberries thawed
- 1 ¾ granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons cold water
- 2 packets unflavored gelatin 1/4 ounce each packet
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- about 1/4 cup powdered sugar for the pan and to coat marshmallows in
For Chocolate Coating
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vegetable shortening
- sprinkles for topping optional, sort of
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the gelatin and the 8 tablespoons of water. Set aside.
- Line a baking sheet (half sheet size) with parchment paper and sprinkle powdered sugar all over the parchment paper. Set aside.
- Using a food processor or blender, puree the strawberries until smooth.
- Add strawberry puree, sugar and salt to a medium saucepan, stir together over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
- Add the gelatin and raise heat to medium high. Whisk together until gelatin is incorporated and the mixture comes to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract. Carefully pour hot strawberry syrup into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Gradually, to avoid splashing yourself with the hot sugar syrup, increase speed to high. Allow to whisk on high for 15 minutes, until mixture has doubled in volume and is smooth and shiny.
- Immediately pour into prepared pan, using a spatula to spread the marshmallow fluff into an even layer. Allow to sit for at least several hours but preferably overnight to set up. They will be ready to cut when they are no longer sticky to the touch.
- When ready to cut, Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top of the marshmallows. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut the marshmallows into heart shapes. Use a metal spatula to lift them off of the sheet to retain their shape. If they are sticky, toss in a little more powdered sugar.
- To make the chocolate coating, melt together the chocolate chips and shortening. This can be done on a double broiler or in the microwave. If using the microwave, place chocolate chips and shortening in a bowl and microwave in 15-20 second increments, stirring in between until chips are completely melted and chocolate is viscous.
- Dip the marshmallows in the chocolate and lay on a clean piece of parchment paper. Top with sprinkles if desired. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow chocolate to set up.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Marshmallows adapted from food.com
How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? Do you have anything planned this year?
Some tools I used for this recipe (affiliate links)…
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase the items I recommend through the links I provide, I get a small commission. For more info, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Fox and Briar!
Excellent flavor, sweet yet not overly so. We stopped at the steps before drying them out because we wanted the fluff for another recipe and it turned out perfect for it. I’m never going back to store bought marshmallows again.
Yay! So glad to hear that Leslie!
These look delicious! Wondering how long you’ve found these keep for and if you’d store them in the fridge? I’m hoping to make these a few days ahead of when I’ll need them. Thanks!
Hi! These are really only good for about two days I would say! I don’t keep them in the fridge. The problem with keeping them around longer is they get a little sticky the texture isn’t as good.
Hi Meghan,
in most of the recipes I seen, it says to boil the liquid (water and sugar) to 240 degree F (soft ball). I noticed yours does not require that? it that why one of the comments above have “sweat”? Does it might it more likely to get mold due to moisture?
Lastly, can sugar be replaced with honey?
Thank you so much
Hi Manda – I have not tried it with honey so I’m not sure how that would work out. The marshmallows would probably get too hard to be enjoyable before they would get moldy. As for the “sweat” – it really helps to coat them well in powdered sugar OR if you find that too sweet, a mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch works just as well. When I make marshmallows I don’t use a thermometer or measure to soft ball stage, but if you feel more comfortable with that you could give it a try! I hope that helps!
Let me start off by saying how much I love this recipe!! I made them twice, first time I poured the marshmallow batter in the shallow baking pan to make thinner size marshmallows, second time in a deeper square dish to make squares. Both times they came out great so it was really a size preference. I love using the natural strawberries!! Thank you for not using corn syrup, the flavors came out great so great recipe! But my concern was both times I made them the bottom of the marshmallows would start to sweat while they were setting overnight so when I would take them out the tin I would have to place them on a towel to soak up the moisture before I could cut them and dust them in powdered sugar. Is that normal, like is the marshmallow swearing bc of the natural fruit or did I screw up somewhere? But they came out lovely and I’m impressing a lot of people with my marshmallow skills lol!
Hi Laura! I am so happy you love the marshmallows! It sounds like there is a little too much moisture in the marshmallows. I had that happen the first time I made them when I added water, so I ended up eliminating the water all together. When you are working with fruit there can be a really large variation in how much moisture they have. A few things that might help – try dusting the marshmallows with powdered sugar right after you pour them into the pan. I like to use a mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch so that it doesn’t make them overly sweet. It will absorb some of the extra moisture. You could also try slightly reducing the amount of pureed strawberries. Are you using fresh strawberries or frozen? If you use frozen you can leave off some of the juice that they release when they thaw, so that less moisture gets into the final product. I hope that helps!
Thanks Meghan! I was using frozen strawberries so maybe I took in too much juice when I pureed them. I’ll be more aware of that next time I make them. Thanks again!
So much love for these little guys. I seriously need a stand mixer. I just don’t want to give up the real estate on my tiny kitchen counters. Dilemma! Thanks for bringing these to #SaucySaturdays, Meghan. Always so happy to see you there.
Thank you Christine! I LOVE my stand mixer, although I do understand the space issue. Totally worth the space it takes up though!
I am in love! These look absolutely beautiful!
Thank you so much Jessica!
A scavenger hunt on Valentine’s Day? That sounds amazing! Almost as amazing as these gorgeous marshmallows! These are PERFECT. 🙂
Thank you Lauren! It was such a fun thing for me growing up 🙂
Valentines day in elementary school was the best, I agree! I LOVED getting all those little cards from classmates and making my own for friends! And you are right, grown up Valentines day is mehhh. The hubs and I don’t really do anything special, but I do always make a nice dinner. These marshmallows would be the perfect dessert or they would be great in some hot chocolate! LOVE that you used real strawberries in here!! Pinned! Cheers, doll!
A nice dinner at home is the way to go! Thank you so much for the pin Cheyanne!
Strawberry CLOUDS?!! Yes, please (said in the voice of Amy Poehler)!! I totally miss kid Valentine’s day and try as best as I can to recreate that in my adult life ;P I absolutely LOVE those tiny little heart sprinkles and NEED them in my life!
Right!?! I love the sprinkles too, they were exactly what I was looking for! Thanks Katy!
OMGeee staying home is WAY more fun for sure… Sometimes Rob and I will go out the day/night before to beat the rush because it IS so crazy out! These little hearts are so sweet. I love that they are dipped in chocolate then those sprinkles! Beautiful work Meghan!
Thank you Traci! Going out during off times is the way to go, avoid the crowds!
Aww, these adorable marshmallows just brought me back… there really is NOTHING better in my opinion than a homemade, real ingredient, cloud-like marshmallow. There was a hot minute where I entertained the idea of selling homemade flavored marshmallows. I had a ton of different flavors and it was a ridiculous amount of fun, though not particularly lucrative… LOL, hence the hot minute. 🙂 Your mom’s scavenger hunt tradition is such a great idea! My dad always bought my sister and I those small heart boxes full of chocolates and a stuffed animal and I thought that was just about the best thing ever. My husband and I have never once attempted to go out on Valentine’s Day. During the early days of our relationship, at least one of us was always working that day, so we would go out on a different day. But these days, we do pretty much what you guys do, stay in, make a special dinner and just spend some QT 🙂
That is the best way to do it! How fun that you were making so many flavors of marshmallows, I love that idea, even if it wasn’t a lucrative one 🙂 Thanks Stephanie!
I’ve never made my own marshmallows. But I agree…the packaged ones really aren’t all that great. And real strawberries as a flavoring! It doesn’t get any better than that!
Thanks Kathy! Making marshmallows is so fun, I bet you would love it!
I never thought of making marshmallows myself! Homemade marshmallows with real strawberries – that sounds amazing! Surely beats all the chemicals and artificial strawberry flavoring that you’d find in store-bought marshmallows 😉 These are simply perfect for Valentine’s day!
Thank you so much Melanie! It is nice knowing what is in our food, and these hafe a great flavor too!
Dreamy little strawberry clouds? I bet they are!! Um, how amazing do these look?! Very, very amazing, Meghan! Pinned. I love that your Mum used to do a Valentine’s Day hunt for you qhwn you were little. That’s so sweet! I’ve never heard of that before, but now I feel like I missed out! 😛 I’m looking forward to Valentine’s day this year a lot actually. Mr Chocolate Meets Strawberry is a total sweetheart in his own way but most definitely NOT a Valentine’s Day kind of guy. I’m thinking he will secretly love it when I take him out to dinner by surprise, though, even if he says it’s all a commercial gimmick (which I do agree with but tend do ignore, because I want the chocolate!). I’ll win him over! 😛
I don’t know anyone else that did a Valentines day hunt, I think my mom is the only one who did it! But it is a super cute tradition that I hope to pass on someday. I think guys secretly love it when they get treated with a little romance, so I’m sure how will love it 🙂
Whoops! Didn’t know Dan was signed into your site from commenting earlier this week! It was Rachel who said “darling little marshmallows” and not Dan! Just so we’re clear 😉
Lololol! I knew that was what had happened as soon as I read it! Thank you so much Rachel!
What darling little marshmallows! They’re almost too pretty. Except wait! They look really yummy, so I take four. Two for each hand. Please!
Haha, thank you “Dan” 🙂
Dawwww, these are the cutest! The pharmacy in my childhood neighborhood used to have a big jar of chocolate-covered strawberry marshmallows on the counter. I used to love them and I haven’t had one since. This post made me happy.
p.s. heck yes valentines day needs sprinkles!
Thank you so much Annie!
Just saw these on IG and they are so cute, Meghan. It’s great that you and your hubby spend the night and watch a movie and have a fun dinner – who needs anymore stress in their lives.
Aww, thank you so much Geraldine! I hope you guys have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Hi Meghan,
I like the way you included some Valentine’s day honesty in this post. Isn’t it nice when you can finally admit to yourself that staying home is so much more fun? I remember a time when I took a girl that I liked out for Valentine’s day. I was a bit late in asking her so there were no tables at any restaurants available anywhere – except for this new vegetarian restaurant. I brought her there and if I can remember correctly, we ordered something similar. What arrived was the equivalent of boiled cauliflower. Straight up boiled cauliflower. It was the worst dinner ever. Ah, the memories.
Thanks for the post. The marshmallows look pretty damn good, I must say. I also love the photos.
Jay
Thank you Jay! Haha, nothing more romantic than boiled cauliflower, I always say 🙂
Haha, I remember when I was in elementary school, I would ALWAYS want to go shopping for some Valentine’s day cards. One year, I bought Lord of the Rings Valentine’s Cards, and since my favorite character was gollum, I gave only my friends or the people I liked a gollum card. It turns out, no one else really liked gollum, so they responded with “ew. Do you hate me?”
But these are so cute! See, if I gave these out in my class, then there would have been no confusion. I really need to try to make my own marshmallows one of these days..
Haha, that is a great story Cathleen! It’s the thought that counts! 🙂