This healthy vegan marshmallow fluff is going to rock your world…
Sweetener of choice
+
Water from a can of chickpeas
=
Homemade marshmallow fluff ????
Crazy, right?!
I can’t take credit for this brilliant “bean liquid egg whites” discovery.
The idea was sent to me in a facebook message earlier this year by a reader who discovered you could whip up the liquid from a can of garbanzo beans with sugar to form stiff peaks then pipe the mixture out and bake it into vegan meringues.
Since readers often write to tell me their own recipe ideas or experiments, I didn’t think too much about the message at first, especially since meringue and I have always been more of acquaintances than friends.
However, a few months later when I noticed some of my friends posting stunningly beautiful chickpea vegan meringues on instagram, suddenly I was intrigued.
Healthy Vegan Marshmallow Fluff
Then another reader left a comment on the blog asking if I’d tried bean meringue yet and mentioning that chickpea liquid–commonly referred to as aquafaba–has been used as an egg replacer since as early as in a 1968 cookbook (Ten Talents, by Rosalie and Frank J Hurd).
Wait… so it can be an egg replacer in other things besides meringue?!?
Like crepes?! Or baked goods??
So many ideas are swirling around in my head right now…
Christina’s message had mentioned whipping the liquid with fine sugar to form meringue, but I wanted to know if the aquafaba would also work with a liquid sweetener.
Only one way to find out! Seven minutes in, my pseudo meringue still looked like water, and I was almost ready to give up and throw the whole thing out.
But—magically at minute 9—it began to thicken… and thicken… and thicken even more!
Above – watch the video of how to make vegan marshmallow fluff
I had a baking sheet all ready to go for the meringues…
The only problem was that I just couldn’t seem to stop dipping my spoon into the airy cream.
It was just like marshmallow fluff!
Ideas for ways to use this healthy marshmallow fluff include:
Homemade s’mores, as frosting for cupcakes or my Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe, in fluffernutter sandwiches… the possibilities go on and on!
Edit – There’s also now a version for Chocolate Marshmallow Fluff!
Vegan Marshmallow Fluff
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas or white beans (15oz)
- 1/3 cup sweetener of choice, such as agave, fine sugar, or xylitol for sugar-free
- optional pinch cream of tartar, for stabilization
Instructions
- Open the can of beans and drain just the watery part into a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl. (Save the actual beans for a different recipe. If you need inspiration, here are 50+ Healthy Uses For Canned Beans.) You should have about 1/2 cup chickpea liquid. Add all other ingredients, and beat with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer for 12-16 minutes. It will look thin for quite a while—and you’ll probably be cursing me—but don’t give up hope! Mine really began to thicken around minutes 10-11. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers. It separates overnight, but re-beating works perfectly. (I’ve not tried this recipe without beaters, but you are free to experiment. The sugar version can be baked into meringues; I haven’t tried baking the liquid-sweetener version.) I’ve tried this healthy marshmallow fluff with both regular and unsalted bean liquid and can’t taste a big difference, so use whatever you have on hand.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Vegan Recipes:
Vegan Breakfast Recipes – 50 Vegan Recipes
And now I’m going to go work on some homemade Mallomars…
OK, finally tried this, and it worked *great*! I cooked my own chick peas, and drained the liquid–then simmered just the liquid for a little while to thicken (I used no salt). Refrigerated overnight, then put 3/4 c liquid + 2/3 c sugar + a healthy dose of vanilla extract + a sprinkle of xanthan gum and mixed. It thickened within 2-3 minutes. The vanilla does a great job of covering the beany taste. Not sure I’ll get around to baking this, but that’s next on my list.
Hi Katie – I made this version and it worked too…didn’t know if it would minus the ‘real’ sugar…quite yummy –
120 ml (1/2 cup) chickpea brine, drained from a can of chickpeas
1/2 tsp xanthum gum
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Powered Stevia – to taste
2 teaspoons vanilla
Thanks for your inspiration:))
I tried this with honey and it was delicious! I separated off half and added in cocoa powder to the other half. It made a lovely chocolate fluff! I tried baking both and the chocolate one unfortunately melted down. The white one baked okay but it was still unbaked in the middle. I’m still in awe that this works and I’m never throwing out the chickpea water again! Thank you for the recipe!
*jaw drops* wait, what?? and it doesn’t taste bean-y and weird? (I’ve made your chickpea cookie dough twice in the same week and it was delicious, yet this still sounds crazy)
Wait you can use salted?? (that’s the kind I have) And it won’t taste salty?? How :O
I used salted and it worked fine!
wow… next time I make the cookie dough dip, I’m making this too! :O
I’m a huge fan of making healthy substitutions in baked goods and desserts. I can’t believe how dense and luscious this looks…no need for the overprocessed stuff, which we all know is full of preservatives and additives!!
This is amazing I can’t wait to try this! I jut bought some chickpeas for it yesterday! And would you be able to come up with a lowfat vanilla chai muffin? Or more flavors of your baked French toast? I’ve been eating your pumpkin baked French toast A LOT lately!
I can definitely work on a vanilla chai muffin. That sounds delicious!
1. THIS IS AMAZING! I can kind of taste the bean flavor but I can pretend it’s fluff flavor and it’s great. I don’t eat anything with corn syrup and that is all marshmallow is. I made this just because I could.
2. Do you think it would last okay without being refrigerated? Or should it really be kept cool because of the bean liquid?
3. When you say rebeat, do you mean with the mixer, or will a spoon/fork work okay the next day?
Should be fridged. You can rebeat with either, but it will be much fluffier and sturdier with the beaters.
That’s it! I’ve got to try this. I’ve been seeing this “canned bean liquid meringue” idea circulating the blogosphere and I’m so intrigued! I love that you kept it as a fluff, I can see so many fun uses for it! And the egg replacer idea for crepes, baked goods… Lovin’ that! Thanks for posting Katie! Now I know it’s legit 😉
Awww, when it said “healthy” I thought it meant it would replace the sugar, not take away the protein-rich egg whites—they’re the only nutritional thing in meringue! Not very vegan, sure, but I don’t think you can legitimately call this item “healthy.” Still, it’s weird enough that I’ll try it—but with xylitol. 🙂
I tried cooking the recipe made with liquid agave. I baked small mounds of it at 350º for 10 mins. It came out flat like it had melted, with a little puff here and there but not like I expected. However the parts that got hard and crispy became chewy when eaten and tasted like a very familiar candy but I can’t place it… Sugar Daddy maybe? My kids went nuts over it. I think some kind of candy recipe could be made out of this.
Has anyone tried the leftover liquid from making homemade beans in s pressure cooker?