Peeps

This inspiration for this post originally came from a good friend who was pregnant and craving peeps.  I saw the Peep-shaped cookie cutters in Walmart and had a great idea to make her some homemade Peeps. I thought, "I've made marshmallows before, how hard could this be?" Right next to the cookie cutters, I found colored sugar and bought pink and blue (because I didn't know if she was having a girl or a boy at the time).

Marshmallow Peeps

When the time came to actually make the peeps, they were very much like old school Jell-O Jigglers. I remember old commercials of parents and kids making shallow trays of Jell-O and cutting shapes out of them.  This was very much the same.

Once the marshmallow has set (about 10-12 hours), it's time to start cutting out shapes.  I have a silicon baking mat that I use to roll out dough and biscuits.  That mat was perfect for cutting out these shapes (I didn't want marks on my counter tops). I coated the cookie cutters with cooking spray so they wouldn't stick to the marshmallow. Every shape came out perfectly.  I only did a few of the "chick" shapes, because they didn't translate as well in the marshmallow.  The "bunny" shape looked so much better that I used that for pretty much all of them.  You can use any shape you like.

The colored sugar I bought wasn't nearly enough to coat all of the peeps. I was forced to start making my own colored sugar.  I had heard so many ways to do this, but none of them seemed quick and easy.  One method I heard was to use vodka (and I didn't want to waste any vodka).  Having decided that the blue and pink sugar was too granulated to have the same texture as a regular peep, I looked for other methods for my "homemade" colored sugar.  My friend, Annie, suggested putting sugar in the food processor with drops of food coloring.  This was great!  It had the perfect fine consistency to match store bought peeps. Next time, I would use a lot more food coloring to achieve the desired color.  I tried green, yellow and purple.  The purple looked rather horrible (very brown), but the green and yellow were great.

All in all, it was a fun experiment with cool edible results.  If you're ever craving Peeps and can't find them in the stores, here is your way to make them yourself.  I am posting a link to the original post with the marshmallow recipe.  You can use that recipe to make your marshmallows.  I made mine about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick.

Orange Skillet Marshmallow Recipe

Here are a few final pictures of the Peeps that I made.  Make sure you store your final product in an airtight container.  They will dry out as they are exposed to air, so keep them tightly sealed.

Here are the peeps that I made (along with a few friends).  You can see a few of the "chick" versions in yellow.  The shape isn't immediately recognizable (which is why we didn't use them). Make sure you comment and share with friends.  Enjoy!!