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…
I tried this and my kids loved eating by the spoonful. Only, do you have tips for baking it into meringues? Mine totally flattened and melted away. I beat the mixture stiff enough that it stuck to the bowl upsidedown, and added cream of tartar and cocoa powder… anyone have any suggestions?
katie! OMG. I tweeted my pic to you the other day. This has got to be up there with the 7 wonders of the world, and the holy grail itself! It’s a miracle. It makes no sense and it’s a miracle!! Mine just whipped up to a HUGE bowel with stiff peaks. I had put a bit too much xylitol so I added a splash of lemon juice at the end and whipped it in and that gave it a delightful lemon mousse flavor. BUT, I decided to be brace and see what a small quantity frozen would be like. I am telling you…this is the best healthy cool whip I could imagine. If you take it out after freezing over night and let it soften slightly for 3or 4 minutes it’s like a dreamy soft serve. I bet you could add a splash or two of pineapple juice when first whipping and freeze and have dole whip! Advice …. Whip until peaks are really stiff before adding any bit of juice to flavor. This has made my happy feet dance a dance of joy! 🙂
Hi! This recipe is so cool and I am schools the texture works! Mine still has a little bit of a chickpea flavour. Is there a way to change that? I used agave and vanilla extract. Also just curious how long this can keep. Thanks!
I just tried this and I had chilled the liquid first and it beat up in like 1 min! Quite tasty!
the first time I made this amazing “marshmallow fluff” it fluffed up right away, only about 8 minutes or so, and we enjoyed it so much!! Now I’m in the middle of my second try, and it’s just not happening……..I did use a white bean instead of chickpeas (we don’t care for canned beans, so both batches, I first cooked the beans from scratch) This batch is just not fluffing up….even after more than 20 minutes in the mixer. Could it be that the “bean goo” was cold? Not that it’s warming up a bit, it’s just barely starting to fluff……….anyway, thanks so much for the amazing recipe!!!
This vegan mallow recipe is amazing..!! Still have to try it tho but can we make an angel cake …subbing this for egg whites..??
Tx…luv ur blog…
I just made this, and this tastes like real marshmallow fluff! Almost no cleanup, and mine began to whiten around 2-3 minutes and thicken around 8 minutes. Extra beating until 12 minutes made it thick! I doubled the amount of chickpea brine (1 cup) and added 1 cup of xylitol (not powdered), 1 tsp lemon juice instead of cream of tartar, and 1 tsp almond extract. Will definitely make again 🙂 Thank you Katie for another success!
This is sooo amazing
Cant wait to try it out
But there are no canned chickpeas available here … only dried ones
Any alternatives?
Please suggest
Hi Katie – Does this include the sweetener? Or is this just for the liquid.
Wow! I’m still not sure I beleive this can be done! And you can even bake it?
I have also heard you can make something similar with flaxseed eggs, but I’m not sure those can be baked.