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I tried to make these last year as gifts (go go with hot chocolate), and while they tasted delicious, they looked like disasters and I had to scrap the gift idea in favor of my tried and true nut mixes.

Definitely do a trial run if you're making them for anything where looks are important!

Thanks for the warning chi_cass! I was thinking they'd be lovely for my holiday party but if they're a disaster, I could just skip them.

I've had this on list of Christmas food-gift ideas for years, but have yet to make them. (I even bought a bunch of tiny snowflake cookie cutters). I'm also too worried about them coming out poorly and wasting my time. I guess it's early enough now I could give a go with a single pan.

another thing: it did occur to me that I could make a peppermint-swirl marshmallow, and just cut them into squares instead. The shape won't be as fancy as a snowflake, but with a pinky-red swirl amidst the white I think it would still look nice.

I've made Ina Garten's recipe for homemade toasted coconut marshmallows a few times and it's incredibly sticky. Delicious - but cutting it into anything other than squares would be a mess.

My mom makes marshmallows for me every year for christmas. She usually cuts them into heart shapes, I think it's because she loves me, but I could see that a simpler shape like a heart rather than a snowflake might be easier.

I was thinking of trying them this year but making them into tall sticks for twirling in cocoa.(I think I saw something like that in Domino this month?) Any thoughts?

I've made marshmallows a few times and with good results. It's labor-intensive but totally worth it. The best advice I can give is to use copious amounts of powdered sugar when cutting them out - coat the marshmallows and your cutters. Good luck!

Yes, but does anyone really want to receive homemade marshmallows as a gift?

I made these about a dozen times last year for gifts. Everybody loved them!

One really important thing: I didn't use this recipe; I used Momma Reiner's chocolate covered marshmallows recipe instead. Same website. I had watched Martha that day, and that was what I had watched. But that recipe was great, and there are quite a few differences. They were delish. Momma Reiner's uses egg whites, and I think that was the big difference, also more sugar and less corn syrup.

Why wouldn't someone want homemade marshmallows as a gift? It's just like receiving cookies or a pie. In fact, I threw in a Hershey bar, and a couple of graham crackers, tied it up with a little bow. I made it for others and bought a canister of the Lady Godiva hot chocolate, dark. When I want to treat myself big, that's how I do it. When I say big, I mean equal parts half and half and whole milk.

The best tip I can give is to spend a little extra on the vanilla. Get the good stuff -- it's really the only ingredient you taste, so you might as well make it good. I did snowflake marshmallows and other shapes, but I think just cutting them into big squares was less wasteful and prettier.

I've made homemade marshmallows a million times and yes, people want them. My recipients have been so impressed that you can actually MAKE MARSHMALLOWS?!! At home?!? They are a lot of work though and the recipe I follow doesn't make that much when you consider parceling it out for gifts. I agree with the comment above, coating your cutting tools generously and often with powdered sugar is key.

I made homemade marshmallows last year and they were a huge hit. Making them was simple although they fried my little hand mixer. It started smoking half way through! I was able to finish them and they tasted amazing. I cut them into squares I think shapes would be a nightmare.

do NOT do the peppermint swirl ones. I tried those too, and the red dye did not "swirl." Maybe there was a better way to do it than the way indicated in the recipe, but if you're following the martha recipe, ugh.

And again, all the ones I tried tasted great, they just looked awful.

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I've used cookie cutters on homemade marshmallows before. One of the keys to getting it to work is, like in the picture above, have thin, almost cookie-high marshmallows. If you try and cut out a nice big thick marshmallow that's 3/4 of an inch high, there's far more surface area to stick to the cookie cutter. And it *will* stick.

Using a ton of powdererd sugar (COAT EVERYTHING) seems to work a little better than oil, but that might just be the kind of marshmallow mix I was using. Just keep a small bowl full of it to one side, and dip it back in the sugar before every cut. And don't be afraid to wash off your hands and the cutter to start fresh if too much gets stuck to them.

Cocoa Kahlua marshmallows are amazing, by the way...

Um, call me crazy, but I'd think it'd be way easier to cut these out if they were chilled. Frozen marshmallows (which I've had in the store bought variety) hold up just fine. And it'd make it much easier to cut. Unless there's something I'm missing?

Somebody may have already said this, but if you don't want them to stick to the cutters, coat the cutters in PAM or the knife you use to slice them into squares. Works like a charm.