Homemade Peeps Made Easy

During quarantine, we are all trying to find ways to pass the time while at home. Personally, my favorite hobby to take part in while social distancing is baking. Yet, baking the same type of dessert on repeat gets boring after the first few batches. So I tried making something different, America’s beloved marshmallow treat, Peeps. Lo and behold, I was surprised how easy this recipe is and most of all my family was happy to taste a homemade version of their favorite candy.

First, start with the sugar that will be used as the topping for the marshmallow. You can try this with any color(s) you want. Leaving it plain is also fine as well. The sugar coating is easily made by putting sugar in a third cup of sugar in each ziplock bag, add 2 to 3 drops of food coloring, and mix it around till the coloring is evenly distributed. If you want a smoother sugar coating, sift the sugar once you’ve added the coloring.

The next step in the process is making the marshmallow. First, take ⅓  Cup of water and pour it in a mixing bowl. Then take a packet of gelatin and pour over the water. Let the gelatin the mixing bowl. While the water and the gelatin sit, add 1 cup of sugar and ¼ cup of water together in a saucepan. Stir the sugar and water together then allow the mixture to boil over medium heat without any stirring. Using a candy thermometer, heat until the thermometer reads “soft ball” or 238oF. Once you have reached the desired temperature, turn off the heat slowly and pour the mixture into a mixing bowl with water and gelatin. Stir mixture together for a minute until there are no gelatin clumps. 

Using an electric mixer, mix the components on medium-high speed for about 8-9minutes, until the mixture is slightly stiff. In this time, the mixture should start to rise and become more of a white color. 

Next, prepare a piping bag to transfer the marshmallow mixture. If you don’t have a piping bag, or are like me and don’t want to get their piping bags sticky, you can use a large ziplock bag by cutting one of the bottom corners. 

When the 8-9 minutes are up, quickly transfer the mellow to the piping bag. Let the marshmallow sit in the piping bag for roughly 2 minutes. Now, proceed to pipe the marshmallow directly into a bowl with the colored sugar. If the marshmallow shape doesn’t hold together, then let the piping bag sit for another minute or two.

Gallery • 2 Photos

When piping your peeps out, you want to go back and forth in a Z motion. For a good shape, pipe in one motion without stopping. First, pipe one straight line for the base of the peep. Then continuing in the motion, go the opposite direction, so the fluff is on top of the base. For the last part, bring the bag forward again for a small way, so the head is made. 

After you have piped the shape out into the sugar, take a spoon and coat the chicks with the sugar. Be careful when taking them out of the bowl. I suggest using the sugar spoon to transfer them on to a tray. Let the peeps cool for about 30 minutes. If you want a better taste, I suggest waiting an hour for them to cool. 

As you can see most of my chicks turned out really bad (chick in the lower-left corner haha). I’m sure if I did this again it would be easier and they would turn out a lot better looking. But I’m proud of myself, they tasted pretty good. The taste is different from marshmallows you buy at the store, but they were still extremely tasty.

Happy eating!