Marshmallow Fluff substitute
Melted marshmallows
Use about 200 g / 7 oz marshmallows melted with 1 tbsp water or butter for every 1 cup or 7 oz jar of fluff
Melted marshmallows are the closest swap: 200 g or 7 oz of marshmallows with a tablespoon of water microwaved and stirred smooth replaces a 7 oz jar of fluff, and it behaves almost identically in fudge. For frosting, make an Italian meringue instead, which is what seven-minute frosting already is. Whipped cream only works in cold, no-bake recipes.
Other marshmallow fluff substitutes
Ranked, with the exact amount to use
Substitutes for Marshmallow Fluff with ratios
2Homemade marshmallow creme, an Italian meringue
Close matchWhat changes
- Best for
- seven-minute frosting, whoopie pie filling, layer cake filling, fluffernutter, topping to torch
Whip the whites to soft peaks, cook the sugar, water and syrup to 115 C or 240 F, then stream it in slowly and whip until thick and glossy. It tastes cleaner and lighter than the jarred version and is the better choice for a frosting, because it holds swirls and torches beautifully. It does not keep: expect a day or two at room temperature, it weeps if refrigerated, and it slowly deflates, so make it the day you need it.
3Corn syrup or golden syrup beaten with icing sugar
Taste and texture differWhat changes
- Best for
- sandwich cookie fillings, fluffernutter, cake filling, gluing decorations, dipping sauces
The least-bad option when you have no marshmallows and no eggs. It gives you the sweetness, the stickiness and the pale colour, and none of the aeration, so a filling made with it is dense, chewy and heavy where fluff would be light and cloud-like. Add a pinch of salt, because without the air it tastes much sweeter. It will not work in fudge, where the aerated structure matters.
4Aquafaba marshmallow creme
Taste and texture differWhat changes
- Best for
- vegan frosting, vegan whoopie pies, pie toppings, hot chocolate
Follow the Italian meringue method exactly but with aquafaba in place of the whites. It whips up impressively and looks right, and it is slightly less stable, so it deflates faster and does best used within a couple of hours. A faint beany note is detectable in something plain and much less so once vanilla and a pinch of salt are in. It performs poorly in cooked fudge, where the sugar chemistry matters more than the foam.
5Sweetened whipped cream or whipped topping
Taste and texture differWhat changes
- Best for
- fruit dip, no-bake pies, trifles, ambrosia and cold salads
In a cold fruit dip or a no-bake pie this works well and tastes fresher and much less sweet than fluff. Be clear about the limits: it is not sticky, it contains fat where fluff contains none, it deflates within a day, and it will not survive being folded into anything warm. A fudge made with whipped cream instead of fluff simply will not set.
6For fudge, change technique rather than ingredient
Close matchWhat changes
- Best for
- chocolate fudge, penuche, peanut butter fudge, no-cook fudge
Fluff in a fudge recipe is doing chemistry, not flavour: the invert sugar and corn syrup in it interfere with crystal formation so the fudge sets smooth rather than grainy. Without it you need another route. Either cook sugar and evaporated milk properly to the soft-ball stage and beat it as it cools, which is how fudge was made before fluff existed, or take the shortcut of melting chocolate into sweetened condensed milk, which sets reliably and needs no thermometer.
What is Marshmallow Fluff?
Marshmallow Fluff is Marshmallow fluff, sold elsewhere as marshmallow creme or marshmallow spread, is essentially an unset marshmallow: a hot sugar syrup whipped with egg white and stabilisers into a sticky, aerated, spreadable foam that never firms up.
Cooking tips
- Measure fluff by weight, not by volume. It is heavily aerated, so a 7 oz jar is close to two cups by volume, and a recipe that says one jar and a recipe that says two cups mean the same thing. Getting this wrong is the most common way fudge fails.
- Grease everything. A lightly oiled spatula, measuring cup and hands turns wrestling with fluff into a thirty-second job, and a spoon dipped in hot water works almost as well.
- Fluff is pure sugar with no fat and no acid, so anything made mostly of it tastes cloying. A good pinch of salt and a teaspoon of lemon juice in a frosting or a filling makes an enormous difference and costs nothing.
- If you are making your own marshmallow creme, cook the syrup to a full 115 C or 240 F and stream it into the whites while it is genuinely hot, which is what cooks them. If you would rather not rely on that, use pasteurised egg whites.
- Do not beat fluff into cold butter for a fluffernutter buttercream. It seizes into stringy lumps that never come smooth. Bring both to proper room temperature, beat the butter first until pale, then add the fluff in two or three additions.
Frequently asked questions
Are marshmallow fluff and marshmallow creme the same thing?
Can I use melted marshmallows in fudge?
Can I just leave it out of fudge?
Is marshmallow fluff vegan or gluten free?
How do I store leftover fluff or homemade creme?
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