Popcorn Marshmallows | Homemade Ghost Pops

Lollipop molds. Gelatin. That’s where it starts. You’re making marshmallows on a stick — the kind that look like little ghosts with black eyes staring back at you. Takes 23 minutes total if you don’t overthink it. Had a box of those molds sitting around for two years. This finally made sense of them.

Why You’ll Love These Popcorn Marshmallows

No bake. Seriously — heat stops at 3 minutes. The rest is mixing and waiting.

Party-ready. Kids see them and they’re done talking. Eyes on a marshmallow hit different than a plain puffed square.

Homemade tastes better. Not even close. Store marshmallows taste like sweetened air. These taste like you actually made something.

They’re not as hard as they sound. Gelatin bloom, warm sugar, beat it until it looks like soft meringue — that’s it. Most of the time is just waiting for them to set.

Works for any occasion. Halloween ghost. Birthday treat. Tuesday because you wanted marshmallows. They don’t care.

What You Need for Homemade Marshmallows on a Stick

Vegetable oil — just enough to coat the molds. Olive oil’s too heavy. Coconut works too if you have it.

Gelatin. The unflavored kind. 1/3 cup. Don’t skip this or you get marshmallow soup forever.

Water and sugar — 1/3 cup water, 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Boring but necessary.

Golden syrup. Just over 1/3 cup. Regular corn syrup works. Golden syrup makes them taste a bit more like something.

Almond extract. 3/4 teaspoon. Not vanilla. That tastes generic. Almond pushes it into territory that feels a bit different.

Powdered sugar and corn starch for coating — mix them together, 1/3 cup plus a bit of cornstarch. This keeps them from sticking to each other. Just powdered sugar and they fuse into one brick.

Six lollipop sticks or coffee stirrers. The sticks matter — they’re what make these marshmallows into something you eat with your hands.

Black gel food coloring and a tiny bit of water for the eyes. Optional. They’re fine without. With the eyes they’re actually ghosts.

How to Make Marshmallow Pops

Oil the molds first. Get a paper towel, drizzle a little vegetable oil on it, wipe inside each mold so there’s just a sheen. Too much oil and the marshmallow slides around. Not enough and it sticks when you try to get it out later.

Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small saucepan. Just let it sit there. Seven minutes. The gelatin swells up and softens — that’s blooming. This matters. If you skip ahead, the gelatin won’t dissolve right and you’ll have grainy marshmallow.

Add sugar to the gelatin-water. Heat gently, stirring constantly. You’re watching for the sugar to disappear and the gelatin to stop being lumpy. It takes maybe 3 minutes. Remove from heat the second it looks smooth. You’re not trying to cook anything here. You just needed them to melt together.

Pour the golden syrup into a mixing bowl. Don’t use the saucepan. Add the warm gelatin mixture and the almond extract. Turn on an electric mixer — medium speed — and beat. It’ll look thin at first. Keep going. After about 12 minutes it thickens up and looks like soft meringue. White, fluffy, thick enough that the beaters leave trails. That’s when you stop.

Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag with a plain tip. Fill each mold until it’s almost at the top. Tap the mold gently on the counter a few times — that releases air bubbles. They’ll float up and disappear.

Push the stick down the center of each filled mold. Not all the way to the bottom. Leave maybe half an inch of room so the marshmallow can hold it.

Refrigerate. 2 hours 15 minutes. They need to be completely firm or they’ll collapse when you unmold them. Could do overnight. Probably better, actually.

How to Get Marshmallows Out Without Breaking Them

This part seems like it shouldn’t matter but it does.

Run warm water over the outside of each mold for maybe 10 seconds. Not hot. Warm. The marshmallow shrinks a tiny bit and releases from the sides. Turn it over. The marshmallow usually slides right out. If it sticks, warm it again.

Lay them on a cutting board once they’re out. Don’t stack them immediately. Let them sit for a minute.

Marshmallow Pops Tips and Common Mistakes

The coating is powdered sugar mixed with corn starch. Combine them in a shallow dish. Toss each marshmallow in the mixture so it’s completely covered. That powder keeps them from sticking to each other and to your hands. Shake off the excess gently. Too much coating and they get thick and chalky. Too little and they stick.

The icing for the eyes — mix a tiny bit of powdered sugar with a drop or two of water and black gel coloring until it’s thick. Thicker than you think it should be. Pipe small dots for eyes and a curved line for the mouth. Could use a toothpick if you don’t have a piping bag. Parchment paper cone works. A plastic bag with the corner snipped off works. You’re just getting black dots on white marshmallows.

Let the icing set before you do anything with them. Room temperature, about 10 minutes. If you wrap them before the icing dries they’ll smudge.

Storage — wrap individually in wax paper or store in an airtight container at room temperature. They last about a week. Humidity is the enemy. A humid kitchen and these turn into one stuck block. Keep them dry.

The syrup matters a little. Golden syrup gives them a subtle flavor. Regular corn syrup works fine. Maple syrup would probably work too but I haven’t tried it.

Almond extract — don’t oversub with vanilla. Not the same thing. If you hate almond, just leave it out. The marshmallows are still marshmallows.

Popcorn Marshmallows | Homemade Ghost Pops

By Emma

Prep:

20 min

Cook:

3 min

Total:

23 min

Servings:

6 pops

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil 20 ml (1 1/3 tablespoon)
• Gelatin 78 ml (1/3 cup)
• Water 75 ml (1/3 cup)
• Granulated sugar 105 ml (1/2 cup)
• Golden syrup 90 ml (just over 1/3 cup)
• Almond extract 3 ml (3/4 teaspoon)
• Powdered sugar 70 ml (heaping 1/3 cup)
• Corn starch 80 ml (1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon)
• 6 long coffee or lollipop sticks
• Icing
• Water few drops
• Black gel food coloring

Method

1. Preparation
2. 1 Lightly grease 6 lollipop molds with vegetable oil. Dispense oil with a paper towel for thin, even film.
3. 2 Bloom gelatin by sprinkling over water in small saucepan. Let sit about 7 minutes until gelatin absorbs liquid and softens.
4. 3 Add sugar to gelatin-water mixture, heat gently, stir constantly until sugar and gelatin completely dissolve. Remove from heat immediately.
5. 4 Pour syrup into mixing bowl. Stir in golden syrup and almond extract. Using electric mixer, beat on medium speed until mixture thickens and becomes like soft meringue, about 12 minutes.
6. 5 Fill molds with marshmallow mixture using a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip. Tap molds lightly to remove air bubbles.
7. 6 Insert sticks through center of each filled mold. Chill in refrigerator 2 hours 15 minutes until firm.
8. Coating
9. 7 In shallow dish combine powdered sugar and corn starch. Toss marshmallow pops in mixture, coat fully. Shake off excess powder carefully.
10. 8 Place coated marshmallows on wire rack lined with parchment paper.
11. Decorating
12. 9 Mix small amount of powdered sugar with few drops of water and black gel color to make thick icing.
13. 10 Use small cone of parchment or tiny piping bag to pipe eyes and mouth onto each marshmallow ghost.
14. 11 Let icing set at room temperature about 10 minutes before serving or storing.
15. 12 Wrap marshmallows individually in wax paper or store in airtight container at room temperature. Avoid humidity.

Nutritional information

Calories

150

Protein

1g

Carbs

37g

Fat

0.5g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Marshmallow Pops

Can you make these without a pastry bag? Yeah. Spoon the mixture into the molds. Takes longer. Doesn’t look as clean. Works fine either way.

What if you don’t have lollipop molds? Square pan. Line it with parchment. Pour the mixture in, let it set, cut into squares, coat them in the powdered sugar mixture. No stick but they’re still marshmallows.

How long do they actually last? Week at most. Maybe 10 days if your kitchen’s dry. After that they start getting sticky or hard depending on the humidity.

Can you use this marshmallow recipe for s’mores or other things? Not really how I’d do it. This recipe’s built for molds. You could pour it into a pan and cut it, sure, but homemade marshmallows for melting taste better when they’re fluffier. This one’s stiffer because of the ratio.

What about food coloring instead of gel? Liquid coloring makes everything runny. Gel stays thick. Stick with gel.

Does the almond extract taste strong? No. 3/4 teaspoon across six marshmallows is barely there. Just enough to make them taste like something instead of pure sugar with gelatin. If you’re worried about it, use half and taste one first.

Can you dip these in chocolate on a stick? Yeah. Once the icing sets, melt some chocolate, dip the marshmallow, let it cool on parchment. They become marshmallows dipped in chocolate basically. Not the same thing as a marshmallow pop but it works.

What if the mixture won’t thicken? Gelatin blooming matters. If you skip that or don’t wait long enough, the mixture stays thin. Beating for 12 minutes matters too. Could take 14 minutes in a slower mixer. You’re watching for it to look like meringue, not for a timer.