How To Freeze Dry Banana Marshmallows

Freeze Dried Candy

We’re excited because this is the first time we have tried freeze drying banana marshmallows. We love them because they’re so soft and chewy and has a sweet banana flavor. It’s one of the candies our kids love, and we thought: why not freeze-dry them?

Materials

Unlike Salt Water Taffy, the banana marshmallows don’t expand, so no special materials are required. All you need are:

• A package of banana marshmallows
• Parchment paper
• Freeze dryer tray
• Kitchen scissors or knife (optional)

No need to cut the bananas to size unless you want them to be bite-sized pieces. They can be a bit tough to bread after freeze drying, though. If you want your candies to be smaller, then you can go ahead and cut them down to size.

For us we didn’t do the cutting since it was a test. Turned out great, and we’ll tell you the outcome after a bit.

Prepping For Freeze Drying

We usually don’t do deep freezing or pre-freeze whenever we freeze dry. This is really optional, but it does take a lot of time out of freeze drying. It’s a good practice if you’re going to freeze dry a ton of food or if you’re going to freeze dry during the hot summer.

For this batch of candies, we had space in our deep freezer. Unfortunately, we forgot to time how long we froze the candies, but 3-6 hours is pretty much the safe side. The time will certainly depend on how strong your deep freezer is, or the weather. If your freezer is in a hot or warm place, freezing will take much longer.

Just remember that once you put the banana marshmallow in, keep the freezer door closed. If you got items there that you use for daily meals, then do your deep freeze at night. If you know your freezer like the back of your hand, you can pretty much guess how long the freeze drying would take. Just remember to cut the candies to your preferred size if ever before freezing.

How To Freeze Dry Banana Marshmallows

Now that you got your banana marshmallows prepared, it’s time to get freeze-drying!

• Line the tray with parchment paper. Banana marshmallow candies are sticky and sugary, so they’ll stick to the tray like they’re bonded. Parchment paper makes it easier to take out the candies when you’re done freeze drying.
• Set the timer for the freeze drying process. Here we just chose the pre-setting for candies. Next, turn the freeze dryer on to prepare itself for the process.
• Lay your banana marshmallows on the tray. No need to worry about space. Just make sure you don’t crowd the candies too much or pile them on top of each other.
• When your freeze dryer prompts you to close the drain valve, it’s ready for freeze drying.
• Place the tray inside the freeze dryer and close the chamber door. Remember to also close the valve for pressure to build in the freeze dryer.
• Start the process and let the freeze dryer do its work.

How Do I Know That The Banana Marshmallows Are Done?

The candies should be hard and dry to the touch. If some still have a soft, chewy consistency, then put them back in the freeze dryer. When you break the candy apart, it should be dry and crumbly. You can’t hear it in the video, but when we scraped the center, there’s this dry, crunchy sound. So that told us that the candies are done and ready.

How Do The Freeze Dried Candies Taste?

Banana marshmallows have this sweet, sugary banana flavor. When we freeze-dried them, the flavor was twice as intense. You’ll definitely appreciate the banana taste as you chew. You get this burst of taste when the candy melts in your mouth.

The kids love the experience and get a kick from a “crunchy marshmallow” that melts in their mouths. It’s fun seeing their reaction when they bite into a candy expecting a soft, chew center. Only to get something that’s light, airy, crunchy, and twice the flavor.

How Do I Store Freeze Dried Banana Marshmallows?

The best way to store the freeze-dried candies is in Mylar bags. They’re awesome in keeping away air and moisture, making them the best option for storage. Just place the candies inside the bag and throw in an oxygen absorber. Then, you can vacuum seal them or do standard sealing to keep the air out. Totally up to you. Sometimes we vacuum seal, sometimes we don’t. As long you seal the bags tightly with no holes, they can last for 25+ years.

Now, if you’re kids are anything like our kids, they probably can’t keep eating them. Mason jars and other air-tight containers are good. No need to vacuum seal them since the candies aren’t going to last beyond a 3 months – unless you freeze dried a ton and have other snacks in the house.

We just find the air-tight containers convenient whenever the kids what their sweet snacks. We don’t have to bother with resealing or anything. We just take out a candy or two, close the lid tight, and the candies are still good for the next snacking.

Have you tried freeze-drying banana marshmallows? Let us know how you did it in the comment section!

Also, if you haven’t yet, make sure to follow us on our Freeze Dried Guide YouTube Channel. You’ll get different freeze-drying videos, plus some upcoming tips and tricks for freeze drying. If you want a specific type of YouTube how-to video, let us know in the comment section!