We're mildly obsessed with marshmallow Peeps here at Slashfood. Something about the nuclear power plant waste colors, the sparkly sugar on the outside, the fluffy air of nothingness inside that can either explode or actually be made into a brulee in your microwave...if you're into that sort of stuff.
If you want to be the ultimate Peeps fan, you should make them at home. Williams-Sonoma has a kit for $24 for making marshmallow chicks at home, complete with mold, marshmallow mix, and decorating sugar. You know, so you can make something...and then blow it up, just in time for the Easter basket!
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3-27-2006 @8:27PM rainey said... Skip the kit — that's a lot of money for the colored sugar you probably already have and a candy mold that will be about $4 at a cake and candy decorating store .
Marshmallow animals are not particularly hard to pipe out once you work out the shapes. Both chicks and bunnies can be infinitely more attractive than the Just Born ones (which, in turn, were much more attractive when I was a lass and they were molded rather than extruded).
Anyone need a recipe for pipeable marshmallow? Martha Stewart has one that, I believe, also illustrates how to build the critter from simple piped shapes. If you don't find the illustrations a chick is one large egg shape pulled up to a jaunty little tail, a small ball for the head drawn out to a point for the beak and two small commas on the sides for wings. A bunny is one large flatish egg with a small ball for the head (round the nose with a moist finger when you pull the tip away), two small sausages at the back of the head for ears and a tiny ball on the south end for a tail. Pipe them right on a plate with a generous layer of sugar and sprinkle/dust with more to cover. Let them dry for a couple hours before you try to handle them.
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4-12-2006 @8:16PM Diane said... Why is this posted as vegetarian/vegan. Marshmallows are not either. They contain gelatin...you know COW BONES!
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4-12-2006 @8:36PM JOHN REYNOLDS said... O.K. do not tell everyone Im 48 But I have loved those darn PEPs for years,My wife thanks Im nuts.But I rush to get them when they go on sale,I do alot of cooking anyway but even store bought they are GREAT!.If my doughter was alot yunger I would try and make them with her,It just would not be as much fun now.so I will keep buying them.Thanks for makeing them,A big fan JOHN R
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4-12-2006 @8:49PM florence slater said... first time reading this page and it is very interesting. looks like it will be enjoyable.
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4-12-2006 @8:53PM Sophia said... Can someone tell me why these are filed under Vegan? I'm just wondering because I can think of few things less Vegan than wee little marshmallows made with hooves...
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4-12-2006 @8:59PM carol woodworth said... last year the day after easter you can get peeps for 50 cents a box any were at the drug store in kessesvill ny you get them free i got 4 boxs of the big ones iam almost 60 and i never stop loving peeps but after last year i ate so many they rused me to the hospital my blood sugar was so high i almost had a heart attack so be very careful with how many peeps you eat .
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4-12-2006 @9:01PM Betty L. Proctor said... Let John know I'm 59 and I just love peeps. Been buying them for years.Got them for myself then my children now myself and grandchildren. Just love those little creatures,
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4-12-2006 @9:13PM chefgee said... I may get thrown out of the country and my passport revoked for this but...I hate peeps. Ok, I hate the mass produced ones found in stores and pharmacies.
I'm a professionally trained baker now, but before that, I worked in a pharmacy for 4 years(during the last 2 years in college, and the first 2 years post college). To bust a huge secret, those peeps everyone loves so dang much for Easter are delivered about a week(maybe 2 weeks, but it's been awhile) BEFORE Valentine's Day. So those lovely pastel chickies and bunnies sit in a storage room(or basement)of a store for at least 2 months before being put out on the sale floor. I guess if you want to eat them, I'd make my own marshmallow(it's super easy), hit martha s.'s site for the instructions and the supermarket or craft store for some tips(cut the tip out the corner of a filled, sealed plastic disposible storage bag. Pastry bags are for hardcore pros who have someone washing their dishes)and have at it. Fresh marshmallow is great, and I can't even look a premade, pumped with preservatives(PLUS the regular 'ol sugar)at all.
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4-12-2006 @9:15PM Stephanie said... I absolutely love Peeps! I have been getting them in my Easter basket for as long as I can remember, which some of you may argue is not very long, considering I am only 15 years of age. To Sophie- they might be listed under Vegan because not all marshmallows are made out of hooves. To all of the rest of you, keep up with all of your Peeps eating!!! hehe.
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4-12-2006 @9:24PM Pam said... Peeps are the best! I'm 36 years old - have always loved them - and always will.
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4-12-2006 @9:29PM gbh said... After running restaurants with full-scratch kitchens for a number of years, it may be perceived as a bit sacreligious to say this... but I like the storebought Peeps. Yes, I know how long they've been in the distibution chain, just like I know what percentage of insect parts the FDA allows in all sortsa stuff. Rather irrelevant to me - this ain't fresh tuna for my sushi.
Further, Peeps aquire a certain interesting texture when properly "aged" (read:stale). I guess it would be the same phenomena as HoHos having never tasted quite right since they quit wrapping them in aluminum foil and switched to plastic. Fresher yes, but lacking a certain complexity.
But hey, that's just me...
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4-12-2006 @9:30PM dav smith said... im 42 and i just love peeps been eating sinse i was a little boy buy them for my nephews and there 1/2 gone time i get there
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4-12-2006 @9:35PM Ted said... Well I'm 65 and have loved Peeps for years, particularly when they first come out and are very soft and squishy.
I use to have to wait till near Easter for them, but now the supermarket, drugstores, etc. put them out super early, so to get them "fresh" I have to buy them then.
Making one's own is an intriguing thought but I don't really need more excuses to consume more sugar. :-) Ted
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4-12-2006 @9:38PM allen pebley said... Hey I am 75 and I still love peeps, Although a diabetec I still eat them,bunnies and santas too, lots of them at the designated seasons of the year.
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4-12-2006 @9:52PM cherie said... 40ish and absolutely love those peeps. I don't care how long they sit in storage... most people I know agree with me that they are absolutely the best when you let them go stale. Happy peeping!
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4-12-2006 @9:55PM Linda said... Oh my GOD, I LOVE PEEPS!!! When i buy them i have to open the package and let them get HARD and they are so much better when they are hard...lol
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4-12-2006 @10:02PM Nikki Lund said... Peeps are disgusting, and unhealthy. It's all sugar. If I'm going to eat something full of sugar, I'll eat cotton candy. At least it taste better. Sorry Peep makers.
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4-12-2006 @10:04PM karen said... Ok, i'm 63..my favorite thing to do with PEEPS (which i LOVE ) is to put them in the microwave oven and watch them GROWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW...then take them out and they get hard and better than ever!!!! Happy PEEPS
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4-12-2006 @10:05PM sandy schlenther said... I love peeps and am already waiting for them to turn just right...I prefer them stale....they have a whole different taste and texture at that point....
Not too soft not too hard JUST RIGHT.
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4-12-2006 @10:08PM Mia said... peeps...YUK!
I'm a sugar freak but peeps? I'm 35 - always got them in my easter basket as a kid and gave them to my sister for the good stuff...CHOCOLATE! I was surprised when I started seeing them at Christmas! Kinda takes the fun out of it, dontcha think?! Anyway, enjoy your PEEPS...PEEPS! ;)
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