Outrage! A package of 10 Peeps, my favorite Easter snack, costs 98 cents.
Weren’t they 15 for $1 last year.
I’ll wait for post-Easter sale when the price drops.
Peeps are marshmallow candies sold in the U.S. and Canada shaped into chicks, bunnies and other animals. Different shapes are sold during the various holidays.
These concoctions of marshmallow, sugar, gelatin and canauba wax are primarily used to fill Easter baskets, although I squeeze them into plastic eggs that I hide on Easter morning for an Easter egg hunt for my great-niece and great-nephew.
The Just Born Co. makes them, and you’ll probably see a TV news item this week about Peeps and showing the production line. Nepali immigrant Pravin Pant Sr., introduced them to the nation in 1953. When Just Born acquired the Rodda Candy Co. in 1958, it automated the one-time hand-making process and mass produced the original yellow chicks.
Sometimes Peeps are jokingly referred to as indestructible. In 1999 Emory University scientists performed experiments on batches of Peeps to see how easily they could be dissolved, burned or disintegrated using cigarette smoke, boiling water and liquid nitrogen. Ouch! That had to cause a lot of peeping.
The scientists claimed the eyes wouldn’t dissolve in anything. Hmm. That’s the first part of a Peep I eat — head, beak and eyeballs.
Peeps have been used in cooking for making marshmallow crispy treats, fondue and S’mores. I’ve tried them in hot cocoa instead of marshmallows. The chicks float upright until the hot water causes them to dissolve, adding more sugary flavor to the cocoa.
I’ve been warned not to toast them over a campfire like marshmallows. The sugar coating tends to burn and the mess becomes even more unpalatable than charred marshmallows.
Here are some Peeps recipes to try over the Easter holidays.
Peep S’Mores
Ingredients: Two Peep-style bunnies, any color; four graham cracker squares; two squares of white chocolate bars; a quarter teaspoon of sprinkles.
Assemble a square of chocolate and a Peep bunny between two graham crackers. Arrange so the bunny ears stick out from under the cookie. Heat in a microwave for 30-45 seconds or pre-heated conventional oven. Shake sprinkles on top and enjoy.
Peepuccino
Dissolve one Peep in a very hot cup of coffee. Stir until frothy.
Rice Krispie Peeps
Ingredients: Three tablespoons of butter or margarine; 20 fresh Peeps (any color); six cups of Rice Krispies cereal.
Decapitate the Peeps, reserving the heads. In a large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add headless Peeps and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add the Rice Krispies and stir until well-coated. Using a buttered spatula and wax paper, press mix into a 13-by-9-inch pan coated with cooking spray.
Divide pan into 2-inch squares visually and press one Peep head into each square while mixture is still warm. When cool, cut into squares.
Peep Ambrosia
Ingredients: Eight Peeps diced into mini-Peep size; three grapefruit; four oranges, one-half cup of shredded coconut.
Dice the fresh Peeps into mini-Peep size. Peel grapefruit and oranges, section them and discard all the pith. In a large bowl mix the sectioned grapefruit, oranges and diced Peeps. Sprinkle top with coconut.
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