Hooray for Independence Day… the perfect excuse to indulge in great food, watch fireworks, and eat marshmallows. Wait… did I say marshmallows? Oh yes I did. There are so many ways to include these fluffy treats in your 4th of July celebrations, and I’m going to show you one of them right now!

Hi, Alejandra Morin here from The Marshmallow Studio, and I’m back with another creative and yummy tutorial. This time I’m sharing a fun way to decorate marshmallows to create a variety of 4th of July Fireworks Pops. These are oh so festive, so cute and a sure-fire party hit. Hey, you can eat them just like they are or roast them afterwards to make s’mores. That’s what I call a sweet double duty!

4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS POPS – A DIY TUTORIAL

by: Alejandra Morin

Ingredients:

{makes 5 large pops}

• 3 Jumbo KRAFT JET-PUFFED StarMallows (I used one of each color)
• 2 Jumbo white marshmallows
• 15 Regular white marshmallows
• 5 Bamboo skewers
• Edible glitter (any color will work)
• Small brush
• Royal Icing (RI) in decorating bags. (I used a decorating tips #2 but if you may also just snip off the tip of the bag to create a little whole and use it that way)
• Food colors to color royal icing. (I used Americolor Food Gel Paste Super Red, Royal Blue and Lemon Yellow)
• Patriotic stars sprinkles (mini or large is will work)
• Cup of water
• Stainless steel food scissors
• 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch
• Baking pan
• Optional: tweezers

Instructions for Pops:

• Whip up your royal icing into a frosting-like consistency, separate it into different containers to color it then bag it and set aside
• Soak skewers in water for 5 minutes

Rocket Pops:

1. Dip scissors in water
2. Cut jumbo marshmallow in half cross-wise

3. Cut half of jumbo marshmallow to form triangle. One cut from right bottom edge to top
center, another cut from top center to bottom left and then cut from left edge to right edge
4. Daub sticky sides of marshmallow with a little bit of cornstarch using your fingers. Repeat for other half

5. Form pop on work surface the way it will look on pop
6. Hold skewer right above it with tip of skewer halfway up the triangle marshmallow
7. Place finger tips right below the star marshmallow to measure how far you need to push that piece
8. Insert skewer through the middle center of the star marshmallow and push down to your finger tips
9. Next, insert the three regular marshmallows one at a time. Leave a 1⁄4” gap between the star and the regular marshmallow
10. Insert the triangle marshmallow on top. Make sure the pointy tip of the skewer is not showing out the top
11. Lay skewer down on baking pan

12. Cover triangle marshmallow piece with red or blue RI
13. Decorate the three regular marshmallows with red or blue RI. I made diagonal lines in red and then vertical lines in blue for my second pop

14. To decorate the star, using yellow RI, pipe a small star in the center and then curved lines outwards toward the edge. You may add dots in between each line to add drama to the firework
15. Using brush, sprinkle glitter all over
16. Attach red, blue and white star sprinkles
17. Let dry for 4 hours before handing

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USA Pops:

1. Dip scissors in water
2. Cut jumbo marshmallow in half cross-wise
3. Daub sticky sides of marshmallow with a little bit of cornstarch using your fingers. Repeat for other half
4. Form pop on work surface the way it will look on pop

5. Hold skewer right above it with tip of skewer halfway up the jumbo marshmallow
6. Place finger tips right below the last regular marshmallow to measure how far you need to push that piece
7. Insert the three regular marshmallows one at a time.
8. Insert the half jumbo marshmallow on top leaving a 1⁄4” gap in between the star and the regular marshmallow. Make sure the pointy tip of the skewer is not showing out the top
9. Lay skewer down on baking pan

10. Using red of blue RI, pipe a small explosion star in the center and then curved lines and dots going outwards toward the edge of the marshmallow
11. Pipe a few yellow RI dots all over the marshmallow and fill in the center of the explosion star
12. Attach red or blue star sprinkles
13. Using brush, sprinkle glitter all over
14. Pipe USA down the front side of the three regular marshmallows using red or blue RI
15. Pipe white dots of RI on each side of each letter and attach a red or blue star sprinkle
16. Let dry for 4 hours before handing

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Star Topped Pops:

1. Form pop on work surface the way it will look on pop
2. Hold skewer right above it with tip of skewer halfway up the star marshmallow
3. Place finger tips right below the last regular marshmallow to measure how far you need to push that piece
4. One by one, insert skewer through the three regular marshmallows Insert skewer halfway up the center of the JET-PUFFED StarMallow. Leave a small gap in between the star and the regular marshmallows. About 1⁄4” is perfect.

5. To decorate the JET-PUFFED StarMallow, use white RI to pipe a small star in the center and curved lines outwards toward the edge of the star
6. Pipe smaller curved lines in between the white ones and a few dots on the edges with yellow RI
7. Attach a red and blue star sprinkles around edges of star and then a larger star in the center of the white star. It’s a lot easier if you use tweezers to do this.
8. Using brush, sprinkle glitter all over it
9. Pipe blue RI on the front side of the top white marshmallow. Then attach a white star sprinkle in the center
10. Pipe a white dot of RI on the center of the middle marshmallow and attach a red star sprinkle
11. Pipe red RI on the front side of the bottom marshmallow. Then attach a blue star sprinkle.

BONUS:

Well, you know me! I couldn’t resist making mini Flags. I used the same royal icing I already had made, KRAFT JET-PUFFED StackerMallows and white star sprinkles.

Pipe a blue square on the top left, attach white star sprinkles using tweezers then pipe red stripes from side to side. All done! These are perfect to use as cupcake toppers, to decorate any dessert or simply enjoy a little sweet bite.

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Note: If you’re making these ahead of time, to maintain freshness, wrap each pop or flag in a cellophane bag and tie with a twist tie.

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