Homemade Marzipan Recipe

A homemade marzipan recipe made two ways, with sugar or with maple syrup. The recipes uses few ingredients and is made in just a few minutes. A sweet almond paste that contains no eggs, and is vegan, and naturally gluten-free. Here I stuffed it into dark chocolate cups, a high protein and fiber snack.

Homemade Marzipan Recipe

Homemade marzipan is a sweetened almond paste. It's easy to make here and can be used a stuffing for anything. I put it in dark chocolate cups here.

And this marzipan recipe is actually higher in fiber and protein than most candy, and can actually serve as a healthy snack.

Marzipan Is Perfect for Holiday Treats

Marzipan is a melt in your mouth creamy treat alone, but it is just begging to be used a delicious filler for chocolate treats. Here I filled simple chocolate cups with it as well as nut butter. And for Valentine's Day, I pushed plain marzipan into heart molds, froze it and dipped it into melted chocolate chips. Added sprinkles and the love candy is created!

Can Vegans Eat Marzipan?

Not normally because traditional marzipan is full of eggs, but vegans can certainly it my plant-based homemade marzipan. Read on to learn why!

What is Marzipan?

Marzipan is basically an almond paste, sweetened with honey or typically with refined sugar. It is a sweet creamy concoction with a long tradition found in pastries. It originated in Italy or France or Germany no one seems to agree. The name "Marzipan" seems to be derived from the German language, but much of the history seems to be truth mixed with lore.

But it is clear that marzipan has wide-spread popularity in the confectioners in Europe. Many of these chefs go all out with creativity in color and creations use traditional marzipan. [source]

How Does the USA View Marzipan?

Here in the United States, marzipan is not so revered. Typically we find it sold as molded miniature fruits in gift packages at candy stores, or as fondant-like decorations on cakes by high-end bakeries.

Commercial versions of marzipan are available of course, but full of processed ingredients and also quite expensive. It used to be hard to make at home when almonds weren't easy to find, just a decade or less ago. Now however, it is not only easy to find raw almonds, it's easy to find almond flour, making homemade marzipan super easy.

And making it vegan just takes some creativity and is rather like a chemistry experiment. Ha, my favorite kind of challenge.

Ingredients in This Marzipan Recipe

The traditional marzipan recipe is basically almonds, raw eggs (yes, raw!), and a sweetener, typically sugar or honey.

So the first challenge in making vegan marzipan recipe is to remove the egg. Simple. The egg is merely a binder, and lemon juice works perfectly well instead.

And an added obvious plus, the juice brings a brighter flavor to this sweet creamy treat. Also, the citrus bite tones down the overwhelming sweetness caused by the sugar.

The powdered sugar in my recipes is organic, yes, and vegan which means no bone-char, but still it is sugar so I decided to try a version with plant-based maple syrup.

It worked, sort of. The resulting recipe produces a more tan marzipan, not the white that you see in my pictures. But it does have the added nutrition of maple syrup, so if the color doesn't matter to you, go for it! I give you both options in the recipe below.

And this brings us to the last ingredient: almonds. Do we need to replace these in a vegan marzipan recipe? NO! Almonds are a plant. Just in case you didn't know that.

How Healthy is This Marzipan Recipe?

Well either version still has sugar, but it is protein-rich with all that almond flour. Almond flour is widely considered to be one of the healthier flours. It is not a wheat flour, of course; it is made from finely ground, peeled almonds. So it is gluten-free.

Almond flour is also considered helpful in reducing bad cholesterol, and with its low glycemic index, is great at balancing blood sugar. And finally, it is packed with nutrients, high in protein and rich in vitamin E and magnesium, two important nutrients for the immune system, sleep, mood and hormone-balance.

And it is the darling of brain support, high in riboflavin and L-carnitine, two important nutrients that boost brain activity and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

How to Make Homemade Marzipan

Okay, so let's begin making this creamy, dreamy treat.

The key is to start with finely-ground almond flour. You need to use a brand that is made from blanched almonds, which means peeled, making them light in color and softer and creamier in the recipe.

Choose to follow the sugar-based recipe or the maple syrup recipe.

Then combine all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until you have a creamy cookie-dough texture.

Pro tip: As you know, everyone's moisture scenario is a bit different. If the mixture is too crumbly, add a touch more liquid. If the mixture is too wet, add a touch more almond flour. Remember, your goal is to achieve a cookie-dough-like texture that can be formed into a roll.

Scoop the final mixture on to parchment paper, and roll back and forth until you have a 2-inch log. If the marzipan is sticking to the paper, it was probably too wet so dust it with a bit of almond flour now to allow you to form a log.

How to Store Homemade Marzipan

Tightly wrap the log and store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for an hour before serving or using in this chocolate cup recipe. Or store sealed tightly for two months or so.

How to Make Chocolate Cups with Marzipan

And I chose to showcase my new healthy treat recipe within chocolate cups stuffed with a mixture of the marzipan, crushed almonds, and almond butter, of course!

But you don't have to make these cups to enjoy the marzipan, you can also use it in your own recipes, tarts, croissants, or simple serve in bite-sized chunks for afternoon tea.

Marzipan Q&A

What are the Ingredients for Marzipan?
Traditional marzipan contains almonds, eggs and sugar. My healthier version contains almond flour, lemon juice and sugar. Or in another version, I use maple syrup instead of sugar.

Is Almond Paste and Marzipan the Same Thing?
Almond paste is coarse, while marzipan is creamy. Unlike marzipan, almond paste can be baked.

What is the Purpose of Marzipan?
Marzipan is used more as a filling for candy, cakes and cookies.
I hope you enjoy my recipes, and, if you try either recipe, I'd love to hear which one you prefer!

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Homemade Marzipan Recipe

Created by Dee Dine

A homemade marzipan recipe made two ways, with sugar or with maple syrup. The recipes uses few ingredients and is made in just a few minutes. A sweet almond paste that contains no eggs, and is vegan, and naturally gluten-free. Here I stuffed it into dark chocolate cups, a high protein and fiber snack.

5 from 15 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 15 mins

Cuisine Italian, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free

Servings 12 mini cups

Ingredients

 

US Customary - Metric

Marzipan Recipe (with powdered sugar)

• ¾ cups almond flour
• ½ cup vegan powdered sugar
• 1-2 tbsp almond milk (adjust to reach a slice-and-bake-like cookie dough texture)
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Marzipan Recipe (with maple syrup)

• 1 ¼ cups almond flour
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Chocolate Marzipan Cups

• 1 cup homemade marzipan (recipe above, chilled)
• 1 cup dark chocolate (I also love quality chocolate by HU, and Chocolove)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• ½ cup crushed almonds
• ½ cup almond butter

Instructions

 

To make either marzipan recipe

• Combine all ingredients of the recipe you choose to make into a food processor and pulse until you have a creamy cookie-dough texture.

  As you know, everyone's moisture scenario is a bit different. If the mixture is too crumbly, add a touch more liquid. If the mixture is too wet, add a touch more almond flour.
• Scoop the final mixture on to parchment paper, and roll back and forth until you have a 2-inch log. If the marzipan is sticking to the paper, it was probably too wet so rub it with a bit of almond flour now to allow you to form a log.
• Tightly wrap the log and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for at least one hour before either breaking off bits to serve for tea, or to use in the chocolate cup recipe.

  Long term storage, keep refrigerated a few days, or freeze for two months or so.

To make the chocolate cups

• Line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
• Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a pyrex measuring cup in 60 seconds. Stir until all is melted.
• Spoon the melted chocolate into bottom of the paper liners – 1 tablespoon for regular cupcake size; 1 tsp for mini cupcake size.

  Tip each cup around by hand to coat the sides of the paper liners. It only goes about half-way up each liner. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set this shell.

Prepare Cup Filling

• You have two choices on how you fill these cups.

  Choice one: Simple spoon 1 tbsp of marzipan, 1 tbsp of almond butter, 1 tbsp crushed almonds into each cup.
• Choice two: Process or mix the three ingredients until a cream is created. Spoon that into the chocolate cups and press flat with a spoon.

  Either way, finish by spooning another tablespoon of melted chocolate on the mixture within each cup.
• Sprinkle with a final dusting of crushed almonds, chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, then they are ready to eat!

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 60kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 1gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 2mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 16mgIron: 1mg

Keyword almond paste, dairy-free, gluten-free, homemade marzipan, vegan marzipan

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