Homemade Peeps
Whenever Megan and I get together for our baking dates, there are always emails flying back and forth about what we’re going to be baking. After our first baking date, we agreed that we could handle three recipes this time around. We talked about all sorts of ideas and at one point had a list of about 12 things we might be interested in doing. With Easter and Mother’s Day coming up, we decided it would be fun to do a couple spring recipes. Today we’re both posting the first of the three recipes we decided on – Homemade Peeps!
I LOVE Peeps. They have to be my favorite Easter candy. I always let mine get a little stale before eating them. When we decided to make homemade peeps, we actually had a hard time finding details about how to shape them. I thought I remembered Alton Brown making them in his marshmallow episode, but after going back and watching it (I have about 50 episodes of Good Eats stored on my DVR), I realized that he actually used a tin mold to make his peeps.
Luckily, Martha Stewart had a recipe and instructions for making “Homemade Easter Treats”. She had instructions for bunnies and chicks. We were wishing for some step by step photos, and found then on Serious Eats.
We were originally going to use the AB recipe that I use for marshmallows, but then we noticed that Martha’s recipe didn’t have corn syrup. Since the AB recipe gives marshmallows that are very fluffy, we were worried they wouldn’t hold their shape, so in the end we went with Martha’s recipe. We did add a pinch of salt and some vanilla to make sure the flavor was still delicious.
Megan and I have both made marshmallows before so we knew it would be a race against the clock to get our Peeps piped before the marshmallow became too difficult to work with. So during the last couple minutes in the mixer, we got our work station set up. I chose to use pink sprinkles, and Megan chose yellow.
We spread some sprinkles directly onto the counter. This serves as a buffer so the peeps don’t stick to the countertop. We both reread the instructions one more time, filled up our piping bags and went to town. We both used #12 tips to pipe our Peeps.
Piping Peeps is actually really hard. Once we started we understood why step by step photos were so hard to find. It would be really hard to do that… We definitely had some that looked nothing like chicks and more like just a mound of sugary goodness…
At one point, I got confident that I had come up with a process that worked for me, so I had Megan take this video. As you can see, I started by making a tear-drop shaped base. Then I added the neck and the beak. You can also see that the marshmallow was starting to get difficult to work with.
Once you pipe your shape, you then sprinkle colored decorating sugar over the entire animal. I am still finding pink and yellow sprinkles in the most random places! Making Peeps was definitely something fun to do, but I’m not sure that I’d do it again… They did taste amazing and everyone was impressed that I made homemade Peeps. If you’re ever feeling adventuresome, I recommend giving it a shot, but be ready to be a little frustrated and covered in sprinkles.
Three Years Ago: Plum Rolls (Zwetschgenschnecken)
Marshmallows for Piping
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients:
1 unflavored gelatin (2 1/2 tsp)
1/3 cup cold water, for gelatin, plus 1/4 cup for syrup
1 cup sugar
Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water. Allow gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes.
In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup water and sugar, and stir over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, and place a candy thermometer into sugar water; wipe sides of pan with a wet brush if sugar crystals have splattered up. Boil sugar until temperature reaches the soft-ball stage (238 degrees). Remove syrup from heat; add to softened gelatin. Using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, hand-stir the mixture a few minutes to cool; place bowl on the mixer stand. Beat on medium high with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form and the marshmallow mixture holds shape, 8 to 10 minutes.
Transfer marshmallow mixture to a large (14-inch) pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (No. 12 Ateco) tip, and use immediately.
Recipe from Martha Stewart
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I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love the red swirl in these. They look so festive! Homemade marshmallows are seriously so much better than store-bought.
Completely agree Megan. And the best part is they melt and get all gooey in the hot chocolate!
gorgeous! and so festive. what a great idea.
These are awesome! I’m sure your friends and family will love this thoughtful gift!
these are the prettiest marshmellows I have ever seen. you could make them for every winter season (throw some sparkles in for news years, green for st pattys. pastels for easter!) oh the possibilities.
So pretty! I hear people talk about how easy it is to make homemade marshmallows all of the time – I’ve really got to make some.
Peppermint marshmallows? I think this is the first time I am hearing about it. Anyway it sounds fun and looks yummy.
Looks great!
I bought all the ingredients for marshmallows but haven’t made them yet.. this peppermint variety sounds awesome though!
I really need to get off my butt and make some homemade marshmallows! No excuses!
-Amanda
These are so darned pretty, and festive! Happy holidays!
holy clever. these look so yummy.
Those look so professional. It’s amazing what a little red food coloring can do.
These are beautiful! I have made marshmallows a few times, and only once have I had a problem with them.. I put them into an airtight container and came back about an hour later to find that they had been – at least what it looked like to me – weeping. I’m not sure what happened, I dusted them with powdered sugar after cutting, and thought I did everyting right. I was curious if anything like that has that happened to you before? These marshmallows look like perfection!
those would be great in a cup of hot cocoa!
Jen…these are GORGEOUS!! I keep meaning to try my hand at marshmallow making. These look divine!
Caroline,
I have never had that problem myself. It sounds like there may have been a lot of humidity in the air? Was it during the summer? I haven’t made marshmallows during the summer yet, but that’s the first thing that pops to mind.
I found your site from Pioneer Woman’s Group 3 photography assignment. Congrats on being selected!!
I love the photo and am looking forward to trying your marshmallow recipe.
I’m looking forward to looking at your other posts, too. 😉
Stef at TooMuchToDoSoLittleTime.com
Where can one buy a marshmellow make/machine??
I cannot wait to make these peppermint marshmallows at the holidays. They are so pretty and looks so nice in that hot chocolate!
Your pictures look soooo amazing 🙂 I did a blog recently about marshmallows (If you are interested – http://joandsue.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-marshmallow-debate.html ) Homemade marshmallows are rediculously addictive!
Important pre-holiday question: how big are the gift bags you use for your marshmallows &/or hot cocoa mix? I’m looking at the “smalls” from KA (14.5″ x 6″), but I really have zero intuition for how that size translates to volume of, e.g, marshmallows. =) thanks!
beantownbaker — November 8th, 2011 @ 8:26 am
Great question. I will have to go home and check the size of the bags. I know I got them at Michaels. The marshmallows went into small bags that were almost a smidge too small and the hot cocoa went into larger bags. I’m sure that isn’t very helpful… Let me get back to you on that.
beantownbaker — December 19th, 2011 @ 9:00 pm
Ok I didn’t have any of the bags left. Both of them were Wilton brand from Michaels craft store. Based on what I see online, it looks like the marshmallows were in a bag that was 3″x4″. They were a smidge small. The cocoa mix was in a bigger bag, looks like 4″x6″ and those were just the right size.
I’m not sure what I did wrong but these were a total disaster! The marshmallow wouldn’t pour out of the bowl and seemed like it had already begun to set by the time I was taking it out (even though I only kept it in the mixer for about 13 minutes). Do you think they were in the mixer for too long? I was going by timing as well as thick/lukewarm but maybe it was still too long. The bit of them that I could get into the pan wouldn’t spread so I couldn’t even use what I had because they would have been horribly shaped and not gift-worthy. I ended up having to just dump everything in the trash. I’m so disappointed because I was really looking forward to an easy homemade gift for co-workers.
beantownbaker — December 19th, 2011 @ 8:59 pm
So sorry to hear that they didn’t turn out for you 🙁
LadyPerson — January 1st, 2012 @ 12:58 am
You probably cooked the sugar syrup too long. I bet if you’d let them fully set, you’d have ended up with harder than normal marshmallows. Check your candy thermometer to make sure it’s accurate.
Sounds like you didn’t cook the sugar syrup long enough. They MUST get to the proper temperature, or the marshmallows won’t set properly. If the syrup didn’t cook enough, the resulting marshmallow will be too soft and won’t hold it’s shape properly. Cook it too long, and the marshmallows will be too hard when you want fluffy.
Jenny K., Colorado — November 29th, 2012 @ 3:04 pm
I would like to add that when cooking candy to a certain temperature, you must take into account your altitude. I have not made these yet, but will adjust to my own 6,000 feet in altitude. For example, when making English Toffee, I adjust 8 degrees LOWER for the target temperature. Otherwise, it overcooks.You can Google “altitude adjustments for candy making” .
Would a hand mixer work or would the marshmallows burn out the motor?
beantownbaker — December 1st, 2012 @ 9:38 pm
I’ve never done it with a hand mixer, but I do know that my stand mixer gets pretty hot while it’s whipping up the marshmallows…
Mary Christmas — December 21st, 2012 @ 2:08 pm
I made these last night with a simple handmixer & whisk attachment (Hamilton Beach® 6-Speed Hand Mixer)…worked great! It has a “bowl rest” so your arm doesn’t get too tired 🙂
beantownbaker — December 21st, 2012 @ 9:12 pm
So glad it worked out for you!
Anyone know if an alternative syrup would work (like light brown rice syrup)? I want to make these but my son is allergic to corn. Thanks!
beantownbaker — December 15th, 2012 @ 9:40 am
I have never tried a substitute. Maybe another reader will know. If you experiment and find something that works, let me know!
Delicious, and they look just like the picture!!
To save your pan, lay down foil first, and then spray with cooking spray and the powder mixture as instructed. At the end, lift the foil out to dump the marshmallows on the cutting board.
beantownbaker — December 21st, 2012 @ 9:11 pm
Great tip!