Healthy honey and almond marzipan

Healthy honey and almond marzipan couldn’t be simpler to make. It uses just three ingredients, and takes just 10 minutes to make. You can either use it for delicious little sweets, or roll it out and make decorations for your Christmas cake. (See here for our no added sugar fruit cake recipe if you’re looking to make a healthier Christmas cake)

This recipe is much healthier than store bought marzipan. Although it's not totally sugar free as it does contain some honey, it’s a fraction of the amount that you’d find in store bought marzipan. In addition, healthy honey and almond marzipan has a much higher proportion of almonds.

As the price of almonds has increased over the years, there is more pressure on commercial manufacturers to reduce the quantity of almonds in their marzipan and increase the quantity of sugar which is a much cheaper ingredient. The bought marzipan that I looked at contained just 25% almonds.

Health benefits of almonds

Almonds are rich in vitamins and minerals. In particular, they are a great source of vitamin e which is linked to numerous health benefits. They are high in fat, but it is a beneficial fat which can help to reduce harmful cholesterol. Although whole almonds with the skin are even better for you, you’ll still gain a lot of the benefits from ground almonds. So in addition to being delicious, this marzipan is good for your health. Find out more about the health benefits of almonds here 

3 Ingredients for healthy homemade marzipan

Almonds: I use ground almonds in this recipe. Ground almonds can vary in texture, so if you want a really smooth marzipan, you can blitz them in the food processor first to make them even finer. If you have a really powerful processor, you might even prefer to grind your own almonds.

Honey: A plain runny honey will work well in this recipe. If you'd prefer to make a vegan marzipan, you could use maple syrup instead.

Almond extract: This will help to boost the almond-y flavour of your marzipan. You'll only need a few drops as it is quite strong.

How to make healthy marzipan

Warming the honey first will allow the marzipan to come together more easily.  Then you simply need to mix in the almonds and almond extract. It's best to allow the marzipan to cool before you handle it, as otherwise it will be very sticky.

How to cover a cake with healthy honey and almond marzipan

If you want to use this healthy marzipan to cover a cake, you'll need 4 times the recipe quantity for a 24cm circle. Roll the marzipan out carefully on wax paper so that it doesn't stick. You could add a very thin layer of no added sugar apricot jam to help to marzipan to stick to the top of the cake.

Making marzipan sweets

This marzipan recipe makes delicious healthy sweets. Just roll the marzipan into little balls - you'll get 10-12 from this recipe quantity. As a child we used to have marzipan potatoes, which I loved as a treat at Christmas. So sometimes I make these into balls and roll them in cocoa. With their dusty brown coating, they look like little potatoes. I find that the easiest way to coat them is to use a small cup. Place a couple of teaspoons of cocoa in the cup, add the marzipan ball and then gently roll it around. There's something very therapeutic about watching it roll around whilst gathering it's chocolate coating.

Storing marzipan

As this marzipan recipe is made without eggs, it will store well for a few weeks. It will dry out however, so ensure that it is tightly wrapped and placed in an airtight container.

You might also be interested in our healthy chocolate coconut truffles recipe or these chocolate bliss balls. And there is a wider selection of healthy and delicious Christmas recipes here

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a rating and/or comment at the bottom of the page. Your feedback and questions are much appreciated.
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Please note nutritional information is for guidance only