Homemade Peeps – Marshmallow Bunnies

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:

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Homemade Peeps Recipe

How to make your own marshmallow bunnies!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Homemade Peeps

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

• 1 packet unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup cold water

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix together 1/3 cup of water and the packet of gelatin. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan, add 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.

3. 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.

4. 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.
5. After several minutes of whipping it should look very puffy, like marshmallow cream. Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag.
6. 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.
7. 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

Fresh Green Bean Recipes

Homemade Banana Pudding Recipe

Quick Pull-Apart Rolls 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.