What Are Miniature marshmallows and How Can I Use Them?

Miniature marshmallows is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store them, what to substitute, and 190 recipes to get you started.

Key Points

Miniature marshmallows are standard marshmallows cut small, so they melt faster and more evenly.
Best for crisp-rice treats, cocoa, fudge, and set salads where marshmallow must disappear.
Roughly 10 minis equal one large marshmallow; about 4 cups fill a 10-ounce bag.
They overcook sooner than large ones, so pull the pan the moment they slump.
Too small to toast on a stick; use full-size marshmallows for s'mores.

What are miniature marshmallows?

Miniature marshmallows are the same whipped, gelatin-set candy as standard marshmallows, cut to roughly half an inch instead of campfire size.

The smaller pieces are not just cute. More surface area means they melt faster and more evenly, which is why they show up wherever marshmallow has to disappear into something. They taste the same as their full-size cousins, sweet and vanilla-scented, with the same soft, springy bite.

Where Minis Earn Their Keep

The speed is the whole point. Minis melt down for crisp-rice treats and no-bake bars in a fraction of the time large ones take, with less stirring and fewer lumps, so the marshmallow coats the cereal before it scorches.

They are also the standard for stirring into cocoa, where they soften and partly dissolve into the surface instead of bobbing as a hard lump. A handful goes onto popcorn cakes like a Double Peanut Chocolate Popcorn Cake.

In fudge and clusters, minis fold in whole and keep a little chew without seizing the batch, as in this Creamy Milk Chocolate Fudge. They also scatter through set salads and frostings such as a Cherry Salad Supreme, where their size lets them suspend evenly instead of sinking.

Using Them Well

Measure minis by volume, not count. Recipes give them in cups, and the rough conversion is about 10 miniatures to one large marshmallow, or roughly 4 cups of minis to a standard 10-ounce bag.

The mistake to avoid is treating melt time as identical to large marshmallows. Minis liquefy quickly, so they overcook and turn stiff sooner; pull the pan the moment they slump rather than waiting for the timing a big-marshmallow recipe gives.

For toasting on a stick, minis are the wrong tool. They burn through before they brown and are too small to skewer, so reach for full-size marshmallows there.

Buying and Storing

Buy a bag that feels soft and gives when squeezed; minis dry out faster than large ones because of all that surface area, so a hard, clumped bag is past its best.

Once open, press out the air and seal the bag tightly, or decant into an airtight container.

Stored at room temperature they keep several months, and they should stay out of the fridge, which pulls moisture and hardens them. The full notes on reviving stale marshmallows and making your own are on the marshmallows page.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cup of miniature (50g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 159Calories from Fat 0

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 0.1g 0%

Saturated Fat 0.0g 0%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 40mg 2%

Total Carbohydrate 40.7g 14%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

Sugars 28.8

Protein 0.9g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 0% • Iron 1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find miniature marshmallows: Miniature marshmallows are usually found in the baking supplies section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Miniature marshmallows are a member of the Sweets US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 微型棉花糖
British (UK) term: Miniature marshmallows
en français: guimauves miniatures
en español: malvaviscos en miniatura

How much do miniature marshmallows weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 cup of miniature	50 grams
10 miniatures	7 grams
1 regular	7 grams

Sweets

Butterscotch chips 89 Caramels (candy squares) 101 Chocolate unsweetened 769 Chocolate chips 694 Chocolate, semi-sweet 994 Mini chocolate chips 76 Chocolate chips (semi-sweet) 635 Chocolate, bittersweet 123 Chocolate curls 28 Chocolate 384

Recipes using miniature marshmallows

There are 190 recipes that contain this ingredient.

More miniature marshmallow recipes

List of all ingredients

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