Has Halloween gotten a little intense for you and your family? For us, it’s a hard pass on all the ghoulish gore and sugar-laden treats. Here’s a little whimsy you can embrace this fall with our silly Halloween treat: Goblin Liver Marshmallows. These spicy, brown marshmallows are quick to whip up and so fun to bring to your next Trunk-or-Treat or church social. Put the happy in Halloween again!
(These are not made with actual ogre liver since ogres are not real.)
More Homemade Marshmallows:
Pumpkin Spice Gourmet Marshmallows
Snowball Marshmallows (w/Blue Plant Dye)
How to Make Homemade Marshmallows with Honey
Silly Halloween Ideas
There are a number of things we’ve done over the years to focus on the fun of Halloween. For one thing, since we moved a very rural area, we’ve ditch trick-or-treating altogether.
We usually host a “Healthy Halloween” event where everyone brings their low or no-sugar treats and we play carnival games and have costume contests.
Sometimes, we’ll host a trick-or-treat experience inside our home where every door in the house gets decorated and the kids travel all over the house to get small treats or tricks.
–>>There are a lot more ideas listed here in our article, 5 Homestead Alternatives to Trick or Treating.
We also focus a lot on the tri-day nature of this holiday, namely:
- All Hallows Eve
- All Saint’s Day
- All Soul’s Day
There’s actually a pretty neat spiritual element to these fall festivals, some of which go back centuries and span the globe. We give a longer explanation of these connectins in our book, Homestead Holidays. Grab your own copy below.
Suffice it to say, there’s a lot that’s edify and fun that can be gleaned from the special autumnal traditions. We don’t need to fall into the traps of commercialism or social cynicism during Halloween or any other holiday!
–>>For more family fun ideas for October, try: Homestead Holidays in October.
Silly Halloween Treat: Goblin Liver Marshmallows
Whip up these spicy, brown marshmallows for a uniquely silly halloween treat. These have no commercial dyes and no corn syrup. Taking only minutes to make, these treats will get you back with the kids in no time to enjoy more silly Halloween fun.
Goblin Liver Marshmallows
Equipment
- 1 Heavy-Bottomed Stock Pot
- 1 Candy thermometer
- 1 Long-Handled Whisk
- Parchment paper
- 1 Baking Dish, 9" x 11"
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 3 Tbsp. Organic Beef Gelatin
- 3/4 Cup Water
- 1/4 Cup Raw Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
- 1/2 Cup Molasses
- 1/8 tsp. Sea Salt
Instructions
Prepare Your Area
- Cut the parchment paper to fit the pan and pre-fold it to conform to the corners. It won't stay down, but the folding helps it crease easily once the sugar syrup is weighing it down.
- Take out the whisk, thermometer, measuring cups, and spoons. Keep hot mitts nearby both the stove and the mixer to handle hot pots and bowls.
Prepare the Gelatin
- Place the 3 Tbsp. of gelatin into the bowl of your stand mixer, or any heat resistant bowl.
- Gently add 1/2 cup of water to the gelatin and stir softly to incorporate the water.
- Let sit will you prepare the sugar syrup. The gelatin will poof, or "bloom", and become firm.
Prepare the Syrup
- Place 3/4 cups of water, 1/4 raw sugar, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup molasses, and 1/8 tsp. of salt into a heavy-bottomed stock pot. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- Stirring occassionally, heat the syrup to soft ball stage, at least 240F/116C. If sugar crystals form on the side of the pan, you can use a baking brush with water to dissolve them.
- Once the syrup has reached temperature, turn off the heat and, using hot mitts, bring the pot over to the mixer.*
- Turn the mixer on to low and slowly - VERY SLOWLY - drizzle the syrup mixture inside an down the side of the bowl. This slow drizzle down the side of the metal bowl ensures that the heat of the syrup dissipates sufficiently before it hits the gelatin mixture.
- Slowly increase the speed on the mixer as you empty the last of the syrup into it. Once the syrup is in, place the mixing collar on your mixer (as well as a kitchen towel to block open areas) and switch the mixer to high.
- Watch carefully as the syrup and gelatin combine. The mixture will lighten in color as it comes together and thickens. Once the mixture will hold a soft shape (soft peak), it's ready to remove from the bowl and place into the parchment lined dish.
- Cover and set the pan aside so the marshmallows can set up undisturbed. Plain marshmallows heated to 245F/118C and with no inclusions will be firm enough to cut within 6-8 hours, if you live in a dry climate. I usually allow mine to sit overnight, or around 12 hours.
- Use a pizza cutter or other sharp knife (I use an ulu knife) to cut the marshmallows into bite-sized pieces. I'll often cut the marshmallows into strips and even use scissors to snip off pieces. Keep a wet rag close by to clean your knife or scissors.
- If serving at a potluck, roll in cinnamon sugar, xanthum gum, or simply plate and serve. If handing out as treats, individually wrap each piece in parchment paper and place in a jar or bowl.
Notes
- Move as quickly as you can without spilling once the syrup has reached temperature.
- Cool the syrup slowly as you drizzle to ensure even mixing and no clumping or weird crystallizing during the process.
Goblin Liver Marshmallow Notes
You can replace the maple syrup with all molasses, if you’d prefer. If you do use maple syrup, be sure that it is real maple syrup.
The spices in the recipe are completely adaptable. The flavor combination here is something akin to gingerbread.
Timing & Temperature
Get out all your equipment before you begin making marshmallows. The only tricky thing about this process is the timing.
- Once the sugar syrup has reached the correct temperature, you must work quicky.
Some marshmallow syrup mixes will set up just fine if you only take them to the highest edge of thread stage. That is, 235F/113C.
This one, however, will need to go right up to soft ball stage, which is 240F-245F (116C – 118C). Give or take a few degrees.
In fact, it’s helpful to have a friend or older child step in to run the mixer and help scrape remaining syrup. If you don’t have a helper, move carefully to prevent hot sugar spills.
After you’ve made candy recipes a few times, you’ll start to feel and see when the sugar is ready. I like to mesaure with a candy thermometer to check myself.
- However, I always consider the temperature suggestions a range that can be adapted within a few degrees.
Cool the syrup slowly as you drizzle to ensure even mixing and no clumping or weird crystallizing during the process.
Dusting – Avoid Extra Sugar
Many marshmallow recipes call for a sprinkling of equal parts cornstarch and powdered sugar to prevent sticking. Some will call for an oil rub of the pan.
I prefer to use parchment paper to avoid the use of more sugar, or starch, and/or oil. The marshmallows will pull right off the parchment paper when they’re done setting up.
- If the sugar syrup has been heated to the top range of soft ball stage, and you haven’t added anything like pumpkin, then the marshmallows will set up more quickly. If you have inclusions, they will often slow down the drying process.
To be safe, I usually wait overnight before I cut into my marshmallows. I like my marshmallows a little on the dry side because I don’t like to roll them in extra sugar or starch, FYI.
More Silly Halloween Treats
If you’d like to extend the lighthearted nature of your Halloween fun to the treats you either serve to guests or hand out to kids, here are a few more ideas.
Silly Halloween Candy Ideas
First of all, you’re going to need some healthier candy recipes. You can try any of our homemade marshmallow recipes linked at the top of this article.
The reason I love homemade marshmallows for holidays is that they’re highly adaptable and only take a few minutes to whip up. They look fancy but are so easy!
For example, you can use our recipe for snowball marshmallows and simply leave them flat, instead of balling them up. Before you cut them into bite-sized pieces, pipe some white marshmallow on top to create a lovely pattern.
This makes them appropriate for any winter holiday or tea party throughout the year. You can swap out the blue plant dye for yellow or pink by changing the butterfly pea flower to to turmeric or hibisucs tea. It really is that easy!
Silly Halloween Treats: Hard Candy Options
Marshmallows are technically a softball stage confection that doesn’t require heating beyond 235F-245F. That’s what makes it an easy candy to DIY.
Hard candies are equally possible to make at home, even if they require a little more time at the stove. To get started, try these no corn syrup and no artificial dye recipes:
How to Make Hard Candy Without Corn Syrup
You can make any of these silly by simply finding funny Halloween candy molds to shape the candies. Candy molds come in all themes and sizes.
–>> We even found skull-shaped candy molds for our Day of the Dead Low Carb Sugar Skulls.
Homemade Candy Equipment
To make homemade candy of any kind, you will need:
- 2 Heavy-bottomed sauce pots – medium and large
- 1 Candy thermometer (technically optional, but it makes the process easier)
- 1 Long-handled whisk
- Parchment paper (negates the use of oil, which can be annoying to use)
- Pans and baking sheets of various sizes, and/or candy molds (which will require the use of oil or corn starch)
More Silly Halloween Snack & Treat Ideas
If you want something a little less like sugar candy and a little more like chocolate candy (which I totally respect), try any of these 50 Healthy Homemade Candies from Delcious Obsessions.
Or these herbal chocolate variations from Herbal Academy.
Or you can try any of the following, ranging from sweet to savory.
More Silly Halloween Snack & Treat Ideas
Cheddar Witches’ Fingers (Spooky Cheese Straws)
Witch's Broomstick Snacks | Easy Halloween Party Snacks
Silly Apple Bites
Deliciously Rotten Deviled Eggs
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