Sugary Marshmallow Pops

Young kids and old kids alike will love these Sugary Marshmallow Pops! They’re easy to prepare and a lot of fun too. It’s like making a craft that you can eat when you’re finished working on it. Crafting and eating – the best of both worlds combined!

Oh, Sugary Marshmallow Pops, why do you have to be so beautifully tempting and delicious!? Aren’t they just so stunningly colourful and vividly bright? Seriously, Dear Reader, I can look at them all day long! I have to say, I had so much fun making these. Despite what our mothers might have taught us when we were younger, sometimes, it’s good to play with your food!

These don’t really qualify as a recipe. There’s no cooking or baking involved. That’s why I like to refer to them as an edible craft. You see, not everything you create in your kitchen needs to have a million dirty pots, pans, or spatulas. Sometimes, all you need is a few bowls of coloured sanding sugar and some empty egg cartons!

PREPARATION IS THE KEY

If you want to make a batch of your very own Sugary Marshmallow Pops, the key to making them fun and not frustrating is preparation. Have you ever read a recipe for fried chicken and the author asks you to set up a dredging station? Well, I want you to think of the setup for this pops in the same manner.

For every colour of sugar you wish you use for your pops, you will need a bowl. Keep each colour of sugar separate at all times. It’s important to keep these looking as clean and neat as possible! There’s nothing worse than getting red sugar into your white sugar. Trust me, it’s a pain trying to scoop it out. It happened to me and it took me about twenty minutes with a pair of food tweezers to pull the red out of the white.

You will also need a dipping glass. I just used a short whiskey glass for mine. And, lastly, you will need empty egg cartons. The egg cartons are flipped upside down and a hole is poked into the bottom of each egg holder. I tried poking the holes with the sticks I used, but you need something with a pointed end. I found that one of my metal grilling skewers worked perfectly!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Marshmallows – I used regular large marshmallows. You can use Dandies vegan marshmallows if you wish.
• Sanding Sugar – You will need blue, red, and white – or just red and white if you’re making these Sugary Marshmallow Pops for Canadians only!
• Water

SANDING VS GRANULATED SUGAR

I use coarse sanding sugar quite often in my recipes, and I hope it hasn’t been too difficult for you to find. Sanding sugar is sometimes referred to as baking sugar, and there are some substitutes. You can use other sugars – which are basically the same, but named something differently – there’s pearl sugar and coarse sugar. You cannot, however, use granulated sugar. Let me explain why.

Whereas an individual granule of sanding sugar is large and hard, a single granule of granulated sugar is quite small. Sanding sugar will hold up to the heat in your oven without melting; granulated sugar will not. If you cannot find sanding sugar, then I’m afraid this recipe is not for you.

You can find sanding sugar online, but it’s expensive in comparison to what you can find at a baking supply store. I buy most of my sanding sugar at Bulk Barn. They have just about every colour you will need!

CHOOSING A STICK

As you can see, I was able to source long lollipop sticks from Michaels. They carry them in different lengths. You can find them here on Amazon too. Alternatively, you can use regular wooden grilling skewers. If you choose to use wooden skewers, use a kitchen towel to firmly hold one end of the skewer while dragging it through the towel. This will ensure that you have removed any loose pieces. Since the marshmallows are sticky on the inside, you will want to eliminate the risk of them pulling off a splinter!

If you are not planning to wrap them individually like I did, you won’t need to use an extra long stick. In that case, you could use a popsicle stick! To make them look really great, you could wrap the egg carton in colourful wrapping paper first. You could also wrap a brick of floral foam in tissue paper and poke the sticks into that!

One more suggestion – I promise! If all else fails, you can use a paper straw. Of course, a straw is much thicker than a wooden skewer or lollipop stick, but you can make it work. I tried it myself and you just need to apply a bit more force when using a straw, but the results will be the same.

DIPPING THE MARSHMALLOW

To get the sugar onto the marshmallow, you need to make the marshmallow wet. Because I knew these were going to be consumed by kids, I used water. Once you have set up your workstation, and your inverted egg cartons are ready, it’s time to get that sugar onto the marshmallows!

Using regular toothpicks, push the toothpick into one marshmallow. Dip the marshmallow into the glass of water. Don’t let it soak; just quickly in and quickly out! Tap the toothpick against the rim of the glass several times to knock off any excess water. Then, use a spoon to spoon the sugar over the entire surface of the marshmallow.

Poke the toothpick into one of the pre-poked holes in the egg carton and allow the marshmallow to dry. Go on to the next marshmallow. This is why you work with one colour at a time! The number of egg cartons, marshmallows, lollipop sticks, and toothpicks you will need, will depend on how many pops you want to make. Also, you will need to choose the colour of each sugar.

For my Sugary Marshmallow Pops, I used red and white sugar to make pops for Canada Day. And, I used red, white, and blue sugar to make pops for Independence Day. I should also mention that you can use alcohol instead of water if you want to make an adult version. Vodka, rum, tequila, bourbon, etc., would all work quite well.

STORING YOUR POPS

There’s very little risk of anything spoiling in this craft/recipe. Sugar is a preservative! But, because it’s food, you will want to keep it as clean and safe as possible. I would highly recommend the little cellophane bags. If you can’t get them or don’t want to spend the extra money, you could wrap the pops carefully in plastic wrap.

Once the pops are done, lay them flat in a large container and place a lid on it. Keep them on your countertop and they will be fine for at least a week. Or, package them up nicely, tie a string or a piece of ribbon around the bottom of the stick, and share them with neighbours and friends. If you have any kids in your life, get them in on the action – they will love making these Sugary Marshmallow Pops!

UPDATE: So the packaged pops you see in the photographs were given to our neighbourhood kids down the road. Their mom reported back that she had frozen them, so I asked her to let me know how they hold up after being frozen and thawed. She sent back pictures detailing how well the marshmallows held up to being frozen and how the sugar stayed crunchy. The colours did not run either. So, yay! These can be frozen and thawed successfully. Thanks, Mom K!