Homemade Chocolate Marshmallows are soft, fluffy, creamy, easy to make, and hard to stop eating! Studded with chocolate chips, they make great DIY food gifts, and ship well.
For chocolate chips in your marshmallows, place your chocolate chips in the freezer. The longer they freeze, the more distinct the chocolate chips will be in your marshmallows.
Combine gelatin and ½ cup water (113 grams) in the bowl of your stand mixer.
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and remaining ½ cup water (113 grams). Stir to combine and heat over medium-to-medium high heat. Insert a candy thermometer when the mixture comes to a boil, and cook until it reaches 240F. (You can stir or not stir while it boils; it hasn't made a difference to my mallows.)
Break up your gelatin in the stand mixer bowl. Turn on stand mixer to low, using the whisk attachment. Pour in the syrup slowly while the motor runs. Pouring slowly helps prevent the syrup from spattering, and helps dissolve the gelatin.
Crank the speed of your mixer to high and whisk for 7 minutes. The mixture will grow in volume and turn white and frothy.
While the mixer runs, prepare your pan. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9x13 pan (glass if possible) with cooking spray and coat with powdered sugar; set aside.
After the 7 minutes have passed, add the vanilla slowly to the marshmallow on the sides of the bowl; the mixture will try to spatter out if you add it all at once. After 30 seconds, add the chocolate chips. Mix about 30 seconds more, until the chocolate chips are throughout the candy.
Use a greased spatula to spread the marshmallows into the prepared pan. Dust with powdered sugar. If desired, use your hands to flatten out the marshmallow evenly; otherwise, use the spatula. Let cool for a few hours before covering with plastic wrap, then let set overnight.
Turn out onto a cutting surface. (I turn mine out an oversized cutting board.) You may need to use a spatula or knife to loosen the edges of the mallows from the side of the pan, but I've been able to pull mine out easily with my hands most recently.
Cut into cubes using a pizza cutter or bench scraper. Coat with additional powdered sugar, particularly along the cut edges. Store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container at room temperature.
Mix less for more chocolate chips; mix more for smaller chocolate chips in the mallows.
Marshmallows are in their prime for their first few weeks. They are still good up to a month or so after being made, but the outsides may dry out a little. Marshmallows do grow mold if exposed to moisture or heat.
Try adding 1 ½ teaspoons peppermint extract in place of vanilla for mint chocolate marshmallows.
Dust with a mixture of powdered sugar and cocoa powder if desired.
Originally adapted from King Arthur Flour