My college roommate, Lagena, sent me this, saying it had ME written all over it:
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| https://www.yellowblissroad.com/ layered-peeps/ |
She knows just how much I love Peeps!
I bought four different colors of Peeps (if you don't live in the US and haven't been exposed to them before, Peeps are an Easter delicacy made of marshmallow and coated - and I DO mean COATED - in colored sugar) and a box of Rice Krispies (that's a lie, I bought Great Value Crispy Rice cereal because it tastes the same and I'm cheap, especially after paying $1.68 for each box of Peeps when an equal amount of plain marshmallows is only $1.48, but I digress...).
Each layer had to be made separately, obviously, so I started with yellow and placed the yellow Peeps in a 4-cup measuring cup with a tablespoon of butter and put them in the microwave for 45 seconds.
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| Oh, man, they're looking at me... |
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| OH, THE HUMANITY!!! |
I gave them a stir and their little eyes separated and it was pretty disturbing, but the addition of
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| Hmm. Not very yellow. |
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| Layer one, smushed into the pan. |
I poured it into a foil-lined loaf pan that was coated with cooking spray and pressed it down with fingers that were coated with cooking spray. Then I washed the measuring cup and the spatula I used and started on layer #2:
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| This is such a brutal recipe. |
Then #3:
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| They're looking at me so trustingly... |
Then #4:
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| Picking the eyes off helped immensely. Why didn't I think of that earlier?! |
When it was cool (cool-ish - I was trying to hurry them because my son, the Med School student, was home for the weekend but was about to leave), I cut it into slices. It did not look as bright and pretty as the Pinterest pin....
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| Dull. Grayish. Maybe it was the eyes.... |
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| Yeah, a little on the gooey side. |
The Med School student got to be the first guinea pig. His conclusion: "It's peep-y, a little bit. I like them."
My husband's take: "They're very pretty. The taste difference isn't dramatic. If I were blindfolded, I wouldn't know the difference between these and regular ones. It's not like it's peanut butter or anything." (Note: he's always asking me to put peanut butter in the Rice Krispie treats, but I don't like peanut butter in them so I pretend I don't hear him.)
Conclusion: it was too painful watching the Peeps melting in the microwave, their little eyes floating away, the colors were not like the ones pictured in the pin, Peeps are WAY more expensive that a bag of mini marshmallows, and if I really wanted pastel striped Rice Krispie treats, I could have gotten the same effect just by putting food coloring in the marshmallow.
Still a win.
Marshmallows mixed with Rice Bubbles (as they're called in Australia) is always a hit with kids (big or small) so maybe not sacrificing the poor peeps and just using plain marshmallows would be the way to go. I'm enjoying your Pinterest attempts - you're braver than I am - I just pin them and forget to actually try them.
ReplyDeleteLeanne | www.crestingthehill.com.au
L for Love Yourself
I like the name Rice Bubbles! And yes, the Peeps were totally not worth it, especially when its easier and cheaper to use mini marshmallows!
DeletePoor Peeps! Just to make you jealous, I live less than 30 minutes from where Peeps are made. Truth. We have Peeps-a-plenty here.
ReplyDeletewow!!! im jealous!!! zoe
DeleteI'm VERY jealous! I'd have packages all over the house in varying stages of drying out.
DeleteI don't even like peeps and I found it disturbing to hear they were put in the microwave and melted and squished. It would be interesting to see the difference if you did it with the marshmellows and food coloring.
ReplyDeletehttp://findingeliza.com/
They just LOOKED at me when I did it! Maybe next Easter, I will make layered ones (and not rush them) and just color them with food coloring.
DeleteIt was so endearing that you found the melting peeps disturbing. It does seem a bit brutal. :-) I was wondering even before I saw your final result how the color would stay true if only the outsides are really colored. I suspect some food coloring was at play in the original version too! I love the rainbow idea and yes you could accomplish that much more cheaply and with less emotional trauma just by coloring layers on your own. And hey, they are good with peanut butter in them, and even better with chocolate on top! Everything is better with chocolate on top! :-))
ReplyDeleteSO brutal! And yes, I think the original recipe was "enhanced" with food coloring. Shhh! Don't tell my husband about the peanut butter!
DeletePeeps are pretty stinkin cute but for me that's about where it ends. It's funny I love marshmallows but Pete's are just too sweet and gritty for me. Zoe
ReplyDeleteThey are best when they have dried out and gotten tougher.
DeleteMaybe just stick with Peeps S’mores.
ReplyDeleteLess of a nuisance and it covers their eyes...
(of course, you do have peeps innards gushing out, but as they look pretty tasty, I think I could deal.)
If only I liked s'mores. I like that the graham crackers act like little hoods before the execution....
DeleteThe melting of the peeps is a little on the disturbing side. I'm sure the treats tasted delicious even if the colors came out a little on the grayish side. I wonder if they added some food coloring to the Pinterest one to boost the color a bit. Seems hard to get that color just from peeps. Weekends In Maine
ReplyDeleteThey tasted good, just too much trouble. And definitely a smoke and mirrors post about the color
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