Right now, it’s 4:29pm and I’m in a hotel room, in bed, with a glass of white wine, and a box of French fries. Judge away my friends, judge away! Well ok, by the time you read this I will actually be back home again, reuniting with Chickpea dog after my short trip to Montreal. Pet reuniting is high-priority stuff as all pet owners know, so I’m writing this post a little ahead of time… and I’m certainly not making vegan marshmallow fluff in this hotel room bed right now, that was made ahead of time too.
But you did see that, didn’t you? I made EASY VEGAN MARSHMALLOW FLUFF! See for yourself ↓
You see, I tried to make vegan marshmallows (the cylinder-shaped kind), as requested by several readers, and I just didn’t like the results. It required thermometers, hot liquid sugar, hard to find ingredients, and the results still weren’t great. Then it struck me. FLUFF!!! So simple, yet all the same marshmallow goodness. Oh, it’s fluffy, alright, and it tastes just like marshmallows. In fact, it’s so similar to marshmallows that it even toasts!!!! ↓
I know what you’re thinking… well no I don’t… but I do know what I’m thinking, and I’m thinking the possibilities just got endless. S’mores, sweet potato casserole, hot chocolate… I’m pretty sure I just gave away what several of the next recipes are going to be on my blog, but I just can’t contain the excitement about toasted vegan marshmallow fluff!
It gets better. WHAT!? Yeah, it does.
This recipe uses only 4 ingredients, the main one being aquafaba, which is the leftover liquid from a can of chickpeas (the bean, not the dog). How’s that for using up food scraps? And the whole thing whips up in about 10 minutes. No candy thermometers, no fussing about, just marshmallow fluff.
Enjoy by the spoonful (I did), or however you like to enjoy your vegan marshmallow fluff. My parents said it was a super delish topping on my Yes, This Really is Vegan Cheesecake recipe in Fuss-Free Vegan, (page 194).
To make Easy Vegan Marshmallow Fluff: Add the aquafaba, vanilla, and cream of tartar to a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer.
Use the mixer or a hand mixer to beat the liquid for about 1 minute until it starts to get fluffy.
Slowly sprinkle in the sugar while the mixer is on. At this point, it may get a little more liquid but don’t worry, just continue to beat for about 10 minutes until a stiff peak is formed.
When you lift the beater the fluff should look glossy and hold a stiff peak, even if you jiggle the bowl the peak should stay as is. It may take more or less time depending on your mixer and brand of aquafaba. Enjoy!
Just 4 ingredients make this easy vegan marshmallow fluff that taste just like marshmallows and can even be toasted for the perfect s'more!
Adapted from my Vegan Meringue Cookies recipe.
- 1/2 cup aquafaba (liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas), *see notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional, but helps the texture hold better)
- 3/4 cup white sugar
Add the aquafaba, vanilla, and cream of tartar to a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer. Use the mixer or a hand mixer to beat the liquid for about 1 minute until it starts to get fluffy. Very slowly sprinkle in the sugar a spoonful at a time while the mixer is on. Continue to beat for about 10 minutes until a stiff peak is formed. When you lift the beater the fluff should look glossy and hold a stiff peak, even if you jiggle the bowl the peak should stay as is. It may take more or less time depending on your mixer and brand of aquafaba.
*I prefer using canned chickpeas that are salt-free (check the ingredients). The chickpeas with salt may have a slight bean taste, whereas the salt-free ones do not. Either salted or unsalted will still work. 1 can of chickpeas will contain about 1 cup of liquid.
*Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge. It may start to decrease in fluffiness after a day, but you can give it a little whisk to liven it back up again.
Nutrition
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Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Holy moly!!! I was so nervous because I don’t have good luck whipping things in the past but this was so easy and worked just like you said! It’s delicious, tastes just like marshmallow and doesn’t have the garbage corn syrup and eggs that store bought does! I used it as frosting on top of a vegan chocolate cake for my daughter’s smores theme birthday cake!
Thank you so much!
Oh that sounds delicious!! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much, Sarah 🙂
Sarah and Sam: What is the consistancy if you put it on a cake? will it stay soft like….shave cream? or will it gel/crust/harden? Did you need to store that cake in the fridge?
This is amazing! I had no idea that you could so easily make vegan fluff! I whipped it up real quick and put it on top of some vegan hot chocolate! Yum! All I need now is a little blow torch to toast it up!
Haha, fun isn’t it? So very happy you loved it, Adriana 🙂
I was going to make for topping on snowballs. Should I make that morning to take to a party? Since overnight sounds like it would separate.
You can make it the day before if you like. If it seperates you can just give it a little whip to reincorporate.
Made this tonight using a half recipe (1/4 cup of aquafaba) and it whipped up to good, stiff peaks in maybe 6 minutes. Tried it in a Fluffernutter (w/ peanut butter, on white bread) which was AMAZING. I’d never met one of those things before, so I had to look up pictures to see how much of the stuff is typically blopped onto the peanut butter. We’re having “Fluffernutter Day” for our staff meeting in a couple of days (long story having to do with a couple of homesick New Englanders) and I volunteered to research a Marshmallow Fluff version suitable for vegans. This’ll do just fine! I’ll try whipping the next batch a while longer to see if that’s an even better consistency, though this was ok by me. I’m also curious to see how the stuff looks after an overnight in the fridge, including how well it revives with some renewed whipping. One of my tasters tried it on hot cocoa, too, and concluded that Marshmallow Fluff is sorta problematic for beards whether in a drink or a sandwich.
😉
Thanks for the recipe! This’ll become a go-to dessert topper in our house, I predict.
Wonderful Janine! So thrilled you enjoyed it. The nice thing about aquafaba is it doesn’t seem to break like eggs do when overwhipped, so feel free to whip away!! So happy you enjoyed 🙂
I tried and it taste amazing. I just wanted to know because I’m making vegan s’mores cupcakes. I’ve been using vegan buttercream, but wanted to know if you think this would hold for the cupcakes to top the chocolate cupcake.
So happy you love it, Joshua! I’m afraid this won’t hold up well on a cupcake but if you topped the cakes just as you are serving them that would work well 🙂
Hi I wanted to try to make this to use with a pastry bag to fill the inside of a cupcake (like a twinkie). Would this hold up to that do you think or would it just make the cake soggy and seep out slowly?
Thanks!~
I wouldn’t recommend it for that as I don’t think it will hold up for a long time. I know this is a different flavour, but my lemon curd recipe would work well 🙂
I used Zulka cane sugar, and this just never thickened up for me. :'( I followed all of the directions and whipped it for well over 15 minutes. Added additional cream of tartar and whipped it for an additional fifteen minutes. It’s good tasting marshmallow goop, but now I don’t know what to do about the filling I was going to use this for for my daughter’s vegan S’mores cupcakes. *pout, pout*
I’ve never worked with that brand but if the granules of sugar are large it might have a harder time reaching stiff peaks. Hope that helps!
But do you think by adding liquid glucose it will be sticky like original marshmallow fluff made with egg. And without glucose it will be like just an meringue icing .
I’ve never cooked with liquid glucose so I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I recommend trying the recipe as written before doing any experiments. Enjoy!
Would a stevia/erythritol mix work in this instead of the sugar?
I’m not sure, sugar free cooking isn’t really my thing, you’re welcome to try tho!
Do you think you could add veggie-gel (vegetarian gelatin) to this and turn it into marshmallow?
I’ve never heard of veggie-gel before, so I am afraid I have no idea what it’s like to work with. Sorry I can’t be more help!
Would this work in fudge?
I haven’t tried it, but my guess is not that well.
Love this! I made it twice, first with salted then with unsalted. I couldn’t really tell the difference (they both were slightly beany, but only slightly). The second batch was a half batch, but I ended up having to add a little more cream of tartar because 1/8 tsp wasn’t enough for stiff peaks.
So happy you enjoyed it so much, Nancy!
I followed the recipe and my fluff never stiffened really. Any thoughts on what may have caused this?
It’s hard to say without being in the kitchen with you. Did you make sure to add the cream of tartar? That’s key. I imagine different brands of chickpea brine would vary. Sometimes it can take a long time to whip up, even over 15 minutes! You just have to be patient. Hope that helps!
Can I toast it in the oven? And can I use coconut sugar? It’s the only one I have in hand.
Yes, just be careful not to burn it, it toasts quickly. I believe coconut sugar should work fine, although I haven’t tested it myself.
I tried your easy vegan Marshmallow fluff today and oh my! It is delicious! Thank you so much!
I will post my blog with photos of the marshmallow fluff here because I can’t figure out how to post just the photo here. I will be using this on my hot chocolate when the cold weather arrives!
Thanks again!
So happy you loved it, Debbie 🙂
I was wondering if you think this might work well to fold further with a nutella-like chocolate spread (no nuts), to use as a topping for a homemade ice cream cake? Instead of whipped cream which my son doesn’t like. It would stay in the freezer until serving. Do you think it would break down and get too watery? Thanks
I’m not 100% sure as I haven’t tried it myself, but it sounds a bit risky. I would stick to a chocolate frosting recipe instead.
Hi. I have a question. Would this work to make homemade rice krispy treats?
Hi Anna, no I have tried it and it just makes the rice cereal soggy. I do have a recipe for rice Krispy treats in my cookbook, it uses a different method 🙂
Please help 🙂 I want to mix this with Dandies for the marshmallow layer of a smore’s bar recipe. Tried a more complicated one and it doesn’t seem to be working for me and I do NOT want to drive to find Smucker’s marshmallow topping SO I am pretty glad I found this. My QUESTION though – Do you think it will hold up/survive the elements being baked like that? I imagine it might disintegrate too much and either disappear or possibly cause sogginess on the graham layer. What are your thoughts?
Hi Alisha, I haven’t tried it in a recipe like that but I my guess is that it wouldn’t work. I believe it would likely just melt away and make your bars soggy.
Hi!
I would love to try this but was unsure of the sugar. Is this the regular white sugar or powdered sugar?
Thanks!
Regular white sugar. Enjoy!
Inspired, thanks Sam! Delicious on the tart and tangy rhubarb that’s just coming up in my garden, I’m looking forward to trying it on blackcurrants when they come in to season. It totally works as a frozen dessert too – marshmallow sorbet perhaps?! I guess because of the high sugar content, it doesn’t freeze really hard, it’s just nicely scoopable. I’m thinking I might add some blackcurrant powder to the next batch for pretty colour and a touch of berry flavour.
Marshmallow sorbet! That sounds delicious! Love that you are enjoying it so much, Joanne 🙂
Making soup for lunch and what do I do with the cannellini bean liquid while waiting for the soup to simmer? Well, see if it works for this vegan fluff! This is the first time I’ve tried this recipe and it won’t be the last. Awesome! (and yes, the cannellini liquid works. I can’t compare since I haven’t tried the chickpea yet, but I will!) It changes supper plans to baked squash so I can use my fresh fluff 🙂 Thanks!!!
Awesome!!! So happy you loved it, and great to know cannellini beans work too 🙂
I saw the title and almost skipped right over it for fear of candy thermometers and fussy instructions. Then I realized I knew better and someone who just gave us Fuss-Free Vegan wouldn’t do that to us! This looks absolutely awesome!!!
Hahaha! I wouldn’t do that to you for sure 😀 I hope you love it!
I followed this recipe to a T and it was fantastic!!! You could never tell it as made from bean juice!! Lol!!! I topped my homemade vegan hot chocolate with it this morning and was in heaven! Thank you so much… GENIUS!!!!
Woohoo! Thrilled you loved it so much, Adrienne 😀
Oh boy this looks deliciously tasty!!! I can’t wait to try this!! Thank you!! Ok so I had no idea about some sugars not being vegan, good to know. Thank you for that info. I was wondering can the sugar be replaced by another kind?
Thank you
Lynndel
I haven’t tried any other kind of sugar in this recipe, so I would recommend sticking to a white sugar. Just look up which sugars are vegan in your area 🙂 Enjoy!
how do you get the fluff to toast on your hot beverage?
I used a brulee torch 🙂
I wonder…….will this work for rice crispy treats?
Hi Melanie, no it won’t (I’ve tried it). Instead I recommend my Crispy Caramel Rice Squares in Fuss-Free Vegan (page 172). 🙂
Thanks Sam! I will have to try that.
Hello. Do you think that this would be good for icing a cake. Or as a meringue type pie topping. Looks delicious . Thanks for sharing
Hi Diane, for meringue for a pie I would recommend following the directions for my Lemon Meringue Pie in my cookbook Fuss-Free Vegan (page 188). I think this would work well to dollop onto a cake slice when serving, but as the fluff breaks down and gets watery over time, I wouldn’t suggest frosting an entire cake. Hope that helps!
How long does this keep in the frige in a “fluff” state?
About a day. After that, the water starts to separate but you can whip it back together.
Hi Sam-
Thanks for another great tip!
(Unrelated to this recipe-I love that you call your dog Chickpea! When I owned a bicycle shop, I named a cat “Spokewrench” aka Spokey : )
Also love your cookbook!
Hahaha too cute! So happy you are loving my book! 😀
Looks delish! I’ll make sure to make some for Christmas gatherings! Tx Sam!
You’re welcome, Grace 🙂
This looks sooooo good! I make hummus from scratch a lot and will always have a liquid left from cooking the chickpeas. Do you think it will work as well as the canned chickpeas liquid?
Hi Nat, yes for sure. You can follow the instructions here (or on other sites) to make aquafaba from scratch 🙂
Thank you!
Sugar is not vegan!
Well, if you use organic cane sugar or coconut sugar, it is vegan
Actuall Redpath sugar is vegan. The company does not use animal derived charcoal to clarify
that’s what I was going to say!
Hi Joe,
Actually, a lot of brands of white sugar are totally vegan. Using bone char to refine sugar isn’t very common anywhere other than the US as far as I know, but I do check the sugar I buy to make sure. The standard brand I use here in Canada is Redpath and they say on their site that the sugar is indeed vegan-friendly. So you just want to check the brand you’re purchasing. And a helpful tip is that all organic sugar is always vegan-friendly! Hope that helps
I used Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar… fully vegan… same texture as white sugar.
I used Zulka, and this just didn’t turn out for me. 🙁 Tastes good, but it just didn’t thicken up for me even after over 20 minutes of whipping. It’s just marshmallow goop. 🙁
This looks like a fun thing to make, and I note with great appreciation that you have included several recipes for using the ‘Fluff’ as well as the chickpeas that no longer have their aquafaba. Well done Sammie!
Thanks, Marlis!