How To Melt Marshmallows In Your Microwave

If you've put marshmallows in a microwave oven before, you know what happens. They grow and grow and grow until — well, we've never been keen to find out, so we stop the clock after about 10 seconds. This is because the air inside a marshmallow will expand under the heat of a microwave, which is able to penetrate the surface of the candy in a way a direct fire or oven won't. In our experience, smaller marshmallows tend to respond better to the microwave or a standard oven.

To make your own gooey bowl of melted marshmallows, use a microwave safe bowl with a few tablespoons of water. And if you don't have smaller marshmallows on hand to achieve this, make sure to heat and stir your bowl of big marshmallows and water in 10-second intervals to save yourself the trouble of scrubbing down your microwave.

While it'll be tough to make a full summertime s'mores dip (you'll need an oven and a cast iron skillet for that), you can still get creative with a bag of marshmallows and a microwave. For one, you can make traditional s'mores, or use the marshmallow goo for other kinds of sandwich cookies with chocolate or peanut butter.

To make Rice Krispies Treats, all the official recipe asks for is butter, marshmallows, and Rice Krispies cereal. If you really wanna go gourmet and make something special, try adding a cup of peanuts to your Rice Krispies Treats.

You could always make New England's beloved Fluffernutter sandwich. Most folks probably spring for the name-brand Marshmallow Fluff, but if you're already making gooey melted marshmallows yourself at home, give it a shot. You can even toast the bread or add in bananas or Nutella to really glam it up.