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Homemade Peeps
If you follow along with Grace in the Crumbs on social media, you may have seen my guest post over at Honest to Nod (Land of Nod’s blog). How cool, right? I have been obsessed with Land of Nod since becoming a mother, so when someone from their team asked if I’d write a guest post for their blog, I almost peed in my pants. (No, I mean literally. I was that surprised. You want me, to do what?)
So after counting my lucky stars (and hyperventilating a few times), I pulled my pulled myself together and got started working with the kids to come up with a really fun twist on the classic Easter Peep. You can check out the original post featured on Honest to Nod here.
Now it probably wont come as any surprise to you that we aren’t huge sugar eaters in our house. So this was definitely a treat. I run a pretty tight ship day to day, but when it comes to holidays and special occasions, we go for it. So my apologies in advance to all of you out there that were expecting a healthy version of the classic Peep. This is not it. Instead, this is everything you ever dreamed a Peep could be. Fluffy and light, ooey and gooey, sticky and sweet.
To make these, I’m following a basic marshmallow recipe, and adapting it by using yellow and pink colored sugar for Easter. You can easily swap out the colored sugar with powdered sugar, chocolate powder, or even shredded coconut. There are a lot of ways to play with this recipe and make it work for any occasion.
If you are planning on making these to resemble Peeps, you will need a lot of colored sugar. Rather than buying several smalls jars of “sprinkles”, I just ended up making my own. It was really easy, hardly cost anything, and I ended up with gorgeous vibrant colors. Here is how you do it.
If you’ve ever thought about making your own marshmallows, this is it. I promise you it’s easier that you think, and more delicious than you could imagine. Go ahead, get your fingers sticky and give it a try.
Enjoy!
Recipe:
Homemade Peeps
Instructions:
- In a small bowl mix gelatin and ¼ cup of cold water. Set aside.
- In a pot, over medium/low heat, dissolve the granulated sugar with 1 ½ cups of cold water. Once dissolved, add the gelatin. Stir to incorporate
- Turn the heat up to medium/high and let the sugar/gelatin mixture come to a low boil. (Be careful that the mixture does not boil over. This happens quickly, so you will want to keep an eye on your pot and lower the heat as necessary.)
- Let the sugar/gelatin mixture gently boil for 10-15 minutes. Set the mixture aside and let it cool slightly.
- Very carefully, pour the sugar/gelatin mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Add vanilla extract.
- Begin to mix on low speed (work carefully as the sugar mixture will still be very hot), after 30 seconds increase to medium speed, and finally to high speed after an additional 30 seconds.
- Continue mixing on the highest setting for five minutes, or until the sugar/gelatin mixture has come to a thick glossy white consistency that forms soft peaks. (If your mixture is still a little “runny”, continue to let the mixer run for a few minutes.)
- Meanwhile, prepare a 9x13 baking dish by spraying all four sides with non-stick baking spray. Then, place a piece of parchment paper inside the pan with the paper extending past the dish. (I like to make sure the “sides” of my parchment paper extend well past my pan to give “handles” that I can use to help release the marshmallow).
- Cover the entire bottom of the pan (over parchment paper) with a ½ cup of colored sugar
- Working quickly, pour marshmallow mixture evenly over the colored sugar. Ensure that the marshmallow reaches all four corners. Sprinkle the remaining colored sugar on top of the marshmallow making sure the entire marshmallow is well covered. Fold the edges of the parchment paper over the sprinkled marshmallow and set in your fridge.
- Allow the marshmallow to set for 8-12 hours or overnight.
- Once marshmallow has set, remove from the fridge and unfold the parchment paper. Using the parchment paper as handles, lift the marshmallow out of the pan and place on a cutting board.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out “Peeps” (dipping the cookie cutter into corn starch will help the marshmallow release easier).
- Dust the freshly cut sides each Peep with colored sugar. Place on a drying rack to finish setting for 30 minutes.
- Enjoy.
All the ingredients you’ll need
This is how I like to prep my pan – non-stick spray and parchment paper
heavily coated with sugar on the “bottom” (which will eventually be your top)
Recipe:
Homemade Peeps
Instructions:
- In a small bowl mix gelatin and ¼ cup of cold water. Set aside.
- In a pot, over medium/low heat, dissolve the granulated sugar with 1 ½ cups of cold water. Once dissolved, add the gelatin. Stir to incorporate
- Turn the heat up to medium/high and let the sugar/gelatin mixture come to a low boil. (Be careful that the mixture does not boil over. This happens quickly, so you will want to keep an eye on your pot and lower the heat as necessary.)
- Let the sugar/gelatin mixture gently boil for 10-15 minutes. Set the mixture aside and let it cool slightly.
- Very carefully, pour the sugar/gelatin mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Add vanilla extract.
- Begin to mix on low speed (work carefully as the sugar mixture will still be very hot), after 30 seconds increase to medium speed, and finally to high speed after an additional 30 seconds.
- Continue mixing on the highest setting for five minutes, or until the sugar/gelatin mixture has come to a thick glossy white consistency that forms soft peaks. (If your mixture is still a little “runny”, continue to let the mixer run for a few minutes.)
- Meanwhile, prepare a 9x13 baking dish by spraying all four sides with non-stick baking spray. Then, place a piece of parchment paper inside the pan with the paper extending past the dish. (I like to make sure the “sides” of my parchment paper extend well past my pan to give “handles” that I can use to help release the marshmallow).
- Cover the entire bottom of the pan (over parchment paper) with a ½ cup of colored sugar
- Working quickly, pour marshmallow mixture evenly over the colored sugar. Ensure that the marshmallow reaches all four corners. Sprinkle the remaining colored sugar on top of the marshmallow making sure the entire marshmallow is well covered. Fold the edges of the parchment paper over the sprinkled marshmallow and set in your fridge.
- Allow the marshmallow to set for 8-12 hours or overnight.
- Once marshmallow has set, remove from the fridge and unfold the parchment paper. Using the parchment paper as handles, lift the marshmallow out of the pan and place on a cutting board.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out “Peeps” (dipping the cookie cutter into corn starch will help the marshmallow release easier).
- Dust the freshly cut sides each Peep with colored sugar. Place on a drying rack to finish setting for 30 minutes.
- Enjoy.
LEAVE A COMMENT & RATE
Great recipe and lots of fun. Would suggest updating it so people don’t run out of colored sugar like I did. We colored our 1 cup of sugar green, and used half on bottom and remaining on top as directed. Unfortunately you then instruct us to dust the sides with more colored sugar, which we didn’t have any more of. Had to dye more sugar green, but not an exact match
such a fun idea!
thanks for sharing!
Thanks Luann! Hope your spring is off to a great start! xoxo
Katy,
You are my inspiration. I am beaming with pride to
be present in this time to experience your amazing
blog of everyday good and generous life.
Your children are beautiful and I love seeing them.
Enjoy your Easter. Sending special blessings.
Thank you, Mrs. Tymcio. This has been such a fun experience for me. I am so glad that you found Grace in the Crumbs, and are following along on the journey! Hope you’re doing well! xoxo
haha, love peeps. These colors are amazing – they’re almost too pretty to eat . (almost!)
Thanks, Kirstie! I was so happy with how the colors came out – I had never made my own sugar like that before and I was really blown away by how vibrant and bold the colors were. Totally worth it!
Super cute. Nothing like making something with your kids. It’s all about experiences and spending quality time together having fun that makes the best kind of day. And both your peeps and your kids are adorable. 🙂
Thank you, Marianne. We had a great time making them together. Hope you give them a try!
Too cute!