Marshmallow Sauce for Desserts

Marshmallow Sauce on top of pink ice cream, in a bowl

The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 15 mins
Servings: 16 servings

Have you ever thought to make a sauce that tastes like marshmallows before? It may not seem like the most obvious dessert sauce you'd think to create, but once you make it, you'll find all sorts of uses for it. The beauty of this sauce is that requires only three ingredients. It's one of the easiest dessert sauces to make, and it's the perfect addition to warm brownies or a bowl of ice cream.

Combine it with hot fudge sauce and your favorite ice cream toppings such as chopped nuts and maraschino cherries, and set up an indulgent fun, sundae bar. 

It tends to thicken a bit as it cools, so you might play around with the consistency, trying it on ice cream and drizzling it over fresh fruit such as strawberries, mango, or pineapple, for example.

“This recipe is straightforward and perfect to top ice cream with the next time you make your own sundae bar. Outside of the traditional hot fudge, this sweet treat is looser than the traditional fluff, perfect for a sauce or topping.” —Tracy Wilk 

marshmallow sauce/tester image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Marshmallow Sauce for Desserts ingredients in bowls

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  2. Heat the marshmallows and cream in the top of a double boiler over boiling water. Fold and stir the mixture with a spatula continually until the marshmallows are almost melted.

    Marshmallows and cream in a double boiler, stirred with a spatula

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  3. Add the vanilla and continue cooking and stirring until completely melted. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

    Marshmallow Sauce for Desserts stirred with a spatula in a double boiler

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Tip

There are plenty of ways to use this sauce.


  • Trying dunking strawberries in it, or drizzling the sauce over any kind of fresh fruit such as mango, pineapple, or bananas.
  • Try marshmallow sauce over chocolate ice cream and crumbled graham crackers to simulate a s'mores flavor.
  • Drizzle it over coffee ice cream for a coffee and cream or cafe latte flavor.

Variations

If you're looking for something unique, flavor your marshmallow sauce with other extracts, such as peppermint, almond, lemon, orange, or even a coffee or chocolate extract.

How to Store Marshmallow Sauce

You can keep this sauce in the refrigerator for several weeks as long as it's in an airtight container. This sauce does not freeze well.

Is Marshmallow Sauce the Same Thing As Marshmallow Fluff?

No, these are two different things. Marshmallow fluff is more spreadable and has more structure, which enables it to hold up on a sandwich (like with peanut butter—aka a Fluffernutter sandwich). Depending on whether you use store-bought or homemade, fluff can contain cornstarch, egg whites, and/or corn syrup. Marshmallow sauce is more aqueous and liquid in comparison, and it can be poured.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
51 Calories
3g Fat
7g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 16
Amount per serving
Calories 51
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 3%
Saturated Fat 2g 9%
Cholesterol 8mg 3%
Sodium 8mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 7g 2%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 5mg 0%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 8mg 0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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