My Peeps

This is the time of year when the stores are all crammed with Peeps and their bunny counterparts. They're a nostalgic Easter candy, bringing us back to our childhood and Easter mornings of them with jelly beans. Unfortunately there's one problem - they're too dang sweet. There is a solution however - hatching your own.

In The Wednesday Dining section of the New York Times, regular columnist of Good Appetite, Melissa Clark tackles this too sweet peep problems. The manufactured kind are made with corn syrup which just lends a bland sweetness. and nothing more. Ms. Clark amps this up a bit by subbing in flavored honey. This results in a much more complex taste. Of course there is sugar as well as gelatin to bind it and the requisite egg whites to create the meringue. As with any candy making it is labor intensive and probably does require a few practice tries before getting it right.

There is also the problem of coloring those chicks and bunnies. peep are covered with colored sugar. . Top keep it more with the more natural recipe Ms. Clark adds saffron which also gives it a more exotic spin taste wise. it does create the desired bright daffodil color that are associated with the chickies. Her rabbits are dyed pink with pomegranate juice which again lends its' flavor to them and amps them up a notch.Ms. Clark also tries grape juice for delicately tinted lavender colored mallow eggs. She takes it a step further by adding matcha (powdered green tea) powder to the marshmallow recipe and then spoons them on a shortbread cookie rounds for This creates a kind of sophisticated s'mores , perfect for ending an Easter brunch.


This is the season for peeps and bunnies. However if these treats are too sweet for you then try making the homemade kind. You can create a more sophisticated and more textured Easter sweet. Not only will kids like them but adults will too!