Do your kids love Easter Candy? Instead of heading to the store, try making these easy Homemade Peeps this year! Your kids will love them and you’ll love the ingredients list!
Homemade Peeps
I’m not sure what it is about those brightly colored marshmallow treats that come out every Easter, but kids seem to love them. Honestly, they make me cringe a little. All of the added ingredients and dyes. Yuck! Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good treat now and then, but those seem excessive. So this year, I’ve decided to make my own version with just 3 simple ingredients that my kids can enjoy instead.
If you’ve ever made candy before, you know that one of the most important things you can do while making this recipe is to give it all of your attention. Things tend to burn fast and get to hard quickly. If you don’t do anything else while making it, the end result will have you feeling like a homemaking superstar.
—New to candy making? Here’s another easy recipe to try- Maple Syrup Candy. For these, you only need 1 ingredient!
Homemade Peeps Recipe
What you need:
- 1 packet unflavored gelatin
- 1 c. sugar
- 1/3 + 1/4 c. cold water
You will also need a mixer for this recipe, a hand mixer or a machine will work.
In a bowl, mix together 1/3 cup of water and the packet of gelatin. Set aside.
In a saucepan, add 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar. (I used turbinado sugar and my family couldn’t tell the difference.)
You want to cook the sugar water mixture, stirring it constantly, so it does not burn. Using a Candy Thermometer, watch the temperature closely as you stir. When it gets to 238F, remove the pan from the heat. 238F – That’s the magic number!
Once you’ve removed the mixture from the heat, pour it into the gelatin mixture. Using your mixer’s whipping attachment, you want to whip the mixture together. I used all 800 watts of power on my Bosch mixer to whip this together. It was amazing. Now I think I know what the hubby feels like when he hears an awesome car start up.
After several minutes of whipping it should look like this, kind of puffy. Very much like marshmallow cream (because that’s what it is!)
–Learn how to make your own Homemade Gourmet Marshmallows with this Maple Marshmallows recipe.
Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag. If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can use a ziploc baggie like I did. Scoop the mixture in and seal it up. When you are ready to pipe them out, simply cut the small tip off the corner of the bag.
Here’s where I messed up. If you want to make traditional Peeps you will want to lay down a layer of sugar on your wax paper first. I wanted to make chocolate covered peeps. I figured that if I piped them onto wax paper they would come right off and I could easily dip them in chocolate. Boy was I wrong.
So, either pipe the marshmallow mixture onto a sugar coasted surface OR first brush a layer of chocolate into a candy mold and then pipe the marshmallow cream into the mold. You could also sprinkle arrowroot powder down on the parchment paper first and then sprinkle more over the top. **Highly recommended**
Aren’t they cute though? You could do the traditional Peeps shape or change it up and do a simpler shape, like these sweet spring bunnies. They were very easy to do and the kids loved them! Have fun!
Print this Simple Homemade Peeps Recipe to add to your Recipe Binder below:
Homemade Peeps Recipe
How to make your own marshmallow bunnies!
Ingredients
- 1 packet unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 1/4 cup cold water
Instructions
-
In a bowl, mix together 1/3 cup of water and the packet of gelatin. Set aside.
-
In a saucepan, add 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.
-
You want to cook the sugar-water mixture, stirring it constantly, so it does not burn. Using a Candy Thermometer, watch the temperature closely as you stir. When it gets to 240F, remove the pan from the heat.
-
Once you've removed the mixture from the heat, pour it into the gelatin mixture. Using your mixer's whipping attachment, you want to whip the mixture together.
-
After several minutes of whipping it should look very puffy, like marshmallow cream. Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag.
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Pipe the marshmallow mixture onto a sugar coasted surface OR first brush a layer of chocolate into a candy mold and then pipe the marshmallow cream into the mold.
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Let sit and then enjoy!
Looking for some more delicious recipe to make this Easter? Here are some of our favorites:
10 Simple Hard Boiled Egg Recipes
Homemade Banana Pudding Recipe
Have you ever made Homemade Peeps? What shapes do you like to make?
This Homemade Peeps Recipe was originally published on Little House Living in April 2011. It has been updated as of March 2020.
This is FABULOUS!!
I may just have to do this for my food allergic daughter! Hopefully I will have the time before Easter! The Ziploc bag probably did better than a pastry bad because it is larger and then you did not have to get the pastry bag clean 🙂 Thanks!
very cute! great pix!
Awesome! Thank you 🙂
love it!
How funny, I made marshmallows last night and just finished writing up the post for it. 😛 Question though, when you say you use 1 packet of unflavored gelatin, what size did you use? I used 3 packets of the small envelopes from Knox. Oh, also if you pipe it onto a silpat they just come off once they set. No need to use any coating or spray when you use the silpat.
I’m not sure of the ounces but it shoudl be 2 1/2 teaspoons of gelatin.
Okay, I think that’s about the same as what I used as the amount in the envelopes is small.
Awesome! I cannot wait to try these! I love homemade marshmallows so these will be great!
what is a silpat?
A silpat is this: http://amzn.to/silpatliner
I’ve never made this before so please excuse my ignorance…once you pipe the shape how long before it sets? How long are they fresh? Do you have to put them in the fridge?
I stuck the in the fridge so they set faster so I’m not sure exactly but it’s not very long. And yes, I stored them in the fridge too but if you ask my hubby I’m a fridge freak and keep everything in there, lol.
Awesome! My son is allergic to corn products, so I am hoping to make these Peeps for him before Easter! What kind of thermometer?? I have never made candy before, excuse my ignorance!
Any candy/meat thermometer will work. I think I only paid a couple bucks for mine so you don’t need a fancy one!
Oooooohhhh…. I don’t think I’ll make peeps (though they look awesome), but I see rice crispy treats in my near future! Being allergic to corn means no marshmallows. I had NO IDEA that making them would be so easy. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I made these today for my grandaughter for Easter. The only complaint I have is that they get hard really fast. Mine started out good but before I could put them into the molds it was like glue. They do taste good though. What did I do wrong?
Looks great, I must try it. Thanks.
I enjoy a lot of your recipes, but have a recommendation. When you specify temperatures on the candy thermometer, also include a note that the higher
altitudes need adjustment. I live at 6000 feet above sea level and I have had
to learn adjustments. Your local Extension Agent can supply you with a chart
to help.