Marshmallow Ghosts (Easy Halloween Treats Idea)

❤️Why you will love this tutorial

• These are easy Halloween treats with simple ingredients. You only need a rolling pin and a round cutter. No special tools like a stand mixer or electric mixer and no candy thermometer required.
• There is no baking involved.
• These are made with store bought marshmallows so the ghosts are very quick to make. If you fancy making your own marshmallows, check out my marshmallow recipe (without corn syrup).
• These treats are super yummy and loved my kids of all ages.

• Marshmallows – I used store-bought ones as these come in the round shapes I needed to make the ghosts. I used plain white ones but you can use any other colored or flavored ones as you like. Or if you want to make your own marshmallows, you can use my homemade marshmallows recipe here.
• Fondant – This is my homemade marshmallow fondant. You can also use the classic homemade fondant or if it is easier the store-bought ones.
• White Chocolate – This was acting as the ‘glue’ in this project, binding the fondant, the marshmallows, and the chocolate chips together. I used white compound chocolate. You can substitute compound chocolate with cooking chocolate.
• Dark chocolate chips in 2 sizes (mini and regular) – I used dark chocolate chips because I was using these as the ghosts’ eyes and mouth and wanted them to be as close to black as possible. And I used them in 2 different sizes – the minis for the eyes, and the regular sized ones for the mouth. 
• Round cutter - This is to cut the fondant to cover the marshmallows.

Step 1: Making the fondant

• To make your own fondant, follow the marshmallows fondant recipe or homemade fondant recipe.
• Marshmallows fondant recipe is made using marshmallows that are melted over a double boiler and then added powdered sugar. The marshmallow mixture is then kneaded until soft and elastic.
• My homemade fondant recipe is a made from scratch fondant recipe and does not use any marshmallows. Instead, it uses powdered gelatin which is double boiled and mixed with corn syrup or glucose syrup and glycerin and then added powdered sugar. The mixture is kneaded until it becomes smooth and elastic.
• Both the marshmallow fondant and made from scratch fondant will work for these treats.

Step 2: Melting the white chocolate

• Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler (you can even microwave it). To make sure it does not set too soon, place the chocolate-filled bowl in another larger bowl filled with hot water. The hot water will keep the chocolate warm so it remains melted for a much longer time. This will save you a lot of time having to run back and forth to your double boiler (or microwave if you are using a microwave) to keep melting it as it sets at room temperature. 

Step 3: Assembling the marshmallow ghosts

• To begin making these Halloween marshmallows, roll some fondant thin.

• And then, use a medium-sized round cutter to cut it out. In choosing the cutter size, you will need to estimate the closest size that would enable the fondant to fully cover each marshmallow without having too much excess on the sides. Ideally, the diameter of the cutter should equal the diameter of the marshmallow, plus two times the height of the marshmallow.
• When I did this, I tried out 2 different sizes before settling on one that fitted the marshmallows the closest. It is ok if the cut out is slightly larger as the excess could just settle on the sides of the ghost, but if cut your circles too small, you will end up with the marshmallow underneath the ghosts being visible.

• Next, apply some melted white chocolate to the center of the cut-out. The purpose of the chocolate is to hold the fondant on the marshmallow, acting as glue. You can also dip the top of the marshmallow in the melted chocolate, but I prefer to just use a spoon to apply it.

• Next, place the marshmallow right in the center of the cutout and turned it over. And then adjust the frills on the sides such that they are naturally well distributed all around the marshmallow.

• Once the frills were all in order, dip a skewer into the melted white chocolate and add 3 tiny dots of it on the front of the fondant-covered marshmallows. These are markings for the Marshmallow ghost’s eyes and mouth.

• Immediately after that, attach the chocolate chips. I used 2 mini chips to mark the eyes and 1 regular-sized chip for the mouth. This is how they completed Halloween marshmallow ghost should look like:

Cute, right?

🍽️Serving & storage

• These edible ghosts can last for a good 2 weeks. Store them in an airtight container, in a cool place.
• Do not refrigerate these treats as the condensation after you remove them from the fridge can cause the fondant to turn gooey.
• Also, since fondant is sensitive to humidity, these cute Halloween treats are best kept in a dry place.

💡Expert tips

• When working with melted white chocolate, you need to make sure it does not cool down as it will harden as it cools down. To keep the chocolate warm while you assemble the treats, place the bowl of chocolate in a tray or another larger bowl filled with some hot water. The hot water will ensure the chocolate does not set too quickly. Replace the hot water once it has cooled down.  
• White chocolate is the best option for these marshmallow treats because dark or milk chocolate will be too contrast from the white fondant and marshmallows. And depending on how thin you roll your cutouts, the chocolate might be visible underneath, hence white chocolate is the best option.