Apr 17, 2019 4 min read

I’m crazy about Peeps.

Fresh from the package or aged like fine wine (the older, the better, I say), Peeps come a close second only to chocolate as my candy of choice. In fact, chocolate-coated Peeps are as near to confection perfection as one can get.

I’ve had an obsession with Peeps since childhood. Back then, Peeps weren’t available year-round, and maybe that was part of the allure. Easter mornings were spent arranging and rearranging pink and purple marshmallow bunnies and chicks that circled the perimeter of my basket, appearing to stand sentinel over the giant chocolate bunny wedged in the center of the straw. By the time evening rolled around, most of my sweet barnyard pals were missing their ears or heads, as I had to test each’s state of freshness. It also prevented my two older brothers from pilfering my Peeps since theirs were long gone by then.

I passed my confection affection along to my own three children, continuing the Easter basket tradition started by my parents and creating new ones, like baking Peep-shaped cakes and other desserts. Now grown, they, like me, prefer stale Peeps over fresh and immediately crack open the plastic packaging to let the Peeps “breathe.”

A few years back, I even plied my passion for Peeps at work, creating a “Peep-A-Pallooza” social media campaign. Newsroom staffers would take our purple Pete the Peep mascot on assignments with them and photograph him at various places around the region. We’d post the photos of Pete on Facebook and ask readers to guess his location. At the end of the contest, we gave away – you guessed it – an Easter basket filled with candy and Peeps, of course!

This Sunday, I’ll be punching up Easter dessert with Rice Krispie Peeps, Lemon Trifle with Peeps and Brownies with Peeps. I’ve included the recipes for those readers who share my passion for Peeps.

Pete would be so pleased!

Rice Krispie Peeps

Ingredients

35 Peeps

6 cups Rice Krispies

3 tablespoons butter

Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Melt butter in a large pot over low heat. Add Peeps and stir until melted. (I prefer to stick with one color, as multiple colors melted together create a somewhat unattractive shade). Add cereal and stir until well-coated. Press into prepared pan. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container.

Lemon Trifle

with Peeps

Ingredients

16 yellow bunny Peeps

Angel food cake (I use a box mix, but you can purchase one from the bakery or make your own from scratch)

Vanilla wafers (about half a box, crushed)

Cool whip (16 ounces)

2 small packages (3.4 ounces each) instant lemon pudding mix

4 cups milk

Whisk together pudding mix and milk until no lumps remain. Refrigerate 5 or so minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, cut angel food cake into 1-inch pieces.

In a trifle dish, layer crushed vanilla cookies, followed by the lemon pudding filling, half of the angel food cake pieces and half of the Cool Whip. Carefully arrange Peeps around the perimeter of the bowl, so they are sitting on the first layer and their ears meet the top of the rim of the trifle dish.

Add remaining cake pieces and top with Cool Whip. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Brownies with Peeps

Ingredients

Box of brownie mix

Bunny-shaped Peeps

Bake brownies according to directions on box. Remove from oven, cover top with assorted colors of Peeps, return to oven for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Slice and serve warm.