Marzipan
intro
Smooth, nutty, pliable homemade marzipan, perfect for shaping candies, coating holiday fruitcakes, or decorating festive winter baked treats.
Ingredients
Steps
Toast the almonds
Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Spread 200g blanched whole almonds in a single, even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast for 8–10 minutes until pale golden and fragrant, stirring once at the 5-minute mark to prevent uneven browning. Set aside to cool completely for 15 minutes before processing, as warm almonds will create a greasy final texture.
Grind almonds to paste
Transfer the fully cooled toasted almonds to the bowl of a high-speed food processor. Process on high speed for 2–3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides and blade of the bowl every 30 seconds, until the almonds release their natural oils and form a thick, smooth, damp paste with no remaining gritty chunks.
Mix in dry ingredients
Sift 150g powdered sugar and add it to the almond paste in the food processor, along with 1/4 tsp fine sea salt. Pulse the mixture on low speed 8–10 times, stopping once to scrape down the bowl, until the sugar and salt are fully incorporated into a uniform, crumbly pale golden mixture.
Add wet binding ingredients
With the food processor running on low speed, slowly pour 30ml rose water, 5ml pure almond extract, and the lightly beaten 30g pasteurized egg white through the processor’s feed tube. Process continuously for 1–2 minutes until the mixture clumps together into a single, smooth, pliable ball that pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
Knead marzipan smooth
Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with 1 tbsp sifted powdered sugar. Turn the marzipan ball out onto the surface, and knead gently for 2–3 minutes, folding in an extra pinch of powdered sugar only if the marzipan feels sticky to the touch, until it is uniformly smooth, elastic, and holds its shape when pressed.
Chill and store marzipan
Shape the finished marzipan into a thick 5cm (2 inch) diameter log, wrap tightly in two layers of plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour before using to shape candies, cover stollen, or decorate holiday cakes. Properly wrapped marzipan will keep for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Tips
2.Always use pasteurized egg white for this recipe, as marzipan is not baked or cooked after the egg white is added; pasteurization eliminates food safety risks for children, pregnant people, and immunocompromised eaters.
3.Avoid adding too much extra powdered sugar when kneading, as this will dilute the bright almond flavor and make the finished marzipan tough, overly sweet, and prone to cracking when shaped.
OMG this homemade marzipan is SO good!!! I made it for my kid’s holiday class potluck yesterday and every single kid asked for seconds — even my picky 7 year old who usually turns up his nose at anything almond flavored! My kids loved it so much they asked me to make another batch just for snacking at home. I was worried it’d be too fussy since I’ve only ever used store-bought, but the active time was way shorter than I expected! Total game changer for my Christmas cookie platter this year.
Tried this last night after seeing a reel about homemade marzipan being way better than the grocery store tube stuff. 10/10, no notes. It’s so creamy and not cloyingly sweet like the store brand I usually grab. Used it to stuff dates for a quick snack and it’s chef’s kiss.
Super easy recipe, but I messed up the first batch because I overprocessed the almond flour? It got a little oily, oops. Second batch I pulsed way more gently and it turned out perfect. Wrapped it up and gave little loaves as neighbor gifts for Hanukkah!
This is the exact marzipan recipe my German grandma used to make when I was little! I’ve been chasing that flavor for years and every other recipe I tried was too sweet or had weird additives. I cried a little when I took the first bite, it’s perfect. Making it for our family Christmas dinner next week to roll into little fruit shapes like she did.
Meal prepped a batch of this to cut into small bites for my upcoming backpacking trip. It’s calorie dense, no weird preservatives, and holds up really well wrapped in parchment in my pack. Way better than the expensive energy bars I usually buy for trips. Will definitely be making this on repeat!
Brought this marzipan cut into little star shapes dusted with powdered sugar to my office holiday potluck and people were hovering around the plate asking who made it. A couple people thought I bought it from a fancy European bakery! So easy even a beginner like me can pull it off.
Obsessed that this is naturally gluten free! I have celiac so I’m always nervous about cross contamination with store bought marzipan, but making it at home means I know exactly what’s in it. My whole family (even the non-gluten free folks) devoured half the batch in one sitting.
I used this marzipan to fill my homemade stollen this year and it came out INCREDIBLE. No more weird rubbery marzipan log in the middle of my stollen, this is soft and fragrant and makes the whole loaf taste next level. Worth every minute of the 1.5 hour total time, most of it is just chilling anyway!
First time ever making any kind of candy/confection at home and this was so straightforward! I was intimidated but the steps were super easy to follow. My only issue is that my marzipan is a little crumbly? Did I not add enough rose water?
Y’all, I rolled this out thin and used it as a layer between my sugar cookie dough and royal icing for my Christmas cookie sets this year and it is a total game changer. The texture contrast is insane, my cookie preorders are selling out faster than ever because of it!
Made this in my dorm kitchen with my roommate last night! We didn’t have a fancy food processor so we just mixed everything by hand in a bowl and it still turned out amazing. Used it to top our hot cocoa with little marzipan snowmen, such a fun cheap weekend activity. 10/10 would make again.
Swapped the honey for maple syrup to make this vegan and it worked perfectly! It has a tiny subtle maple note that pairs so well with the almond, I’m obsessed. Shared a bite with my non-vegan roommate and she said it’s better than the regular marzipan she buys at the grocery store.
How long does this keep in the fridge? I want to make it a week ahead for my family’s Christmas eve dinner but I don’t want it to go dry or weird before then.
I added a tiny bit of orange zest to my batch and oh my GOD it’s so good. The citrus cuts the richness of the almond perfectly, I’m never making plain marzipan again. Pressed it into little silicone candy molds and gave them out as party favors at my holiday book club, everyone raved.
I didn’t just use this for baking! I dyed batches different colors and made marzipan ornaments for my Christmas tree with my toddler. It’s non-toxic (obviously, since it’s food) so I didn’t panic when he took a bite out of a snowman ornament halfway through crafting. Such a fun multi-use recipe!
Wait, is there a big difference between using blanched superfine almond flour I already have in my pantry vs grinding my own blanched almonds for this? I don’t want to buy extra supplies if I don’t have to!