I’ve been making my own homemade peeps for 8 years now! They are so so SO easy and seriously SO DELICIOUS! These little guys are only 4 ingredients and just take a little time and voila, the most delicious peeps you will ever have!
Making your own marshmallow is easier than you’d think! This recipe is just a normal marshmallow but instead of pouring it into a pan and letting it set you pipe it into the classic chick shape!
To get the color you can just buy colored sugar for the peeps, OR you can easily make your own. I wanted UBER bright yellow and to get such a large amount of colored sugar can be expensive so it was simply easier (and cheaper) to make my own. PLUS just thing of all the fun you can have creating some pretty awesome shades of sugar to personalize your peeps!
Just take me to the Marshmallow Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for shaping your peeps, along with links to other marshmallow recipes and get straight to this delicious recipe – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
Tips and tricks for making homemade peeps
- Beating – you want it to get thick enough that it holds the bubbles that keep the marshmallow fluffy. BUT be careful not to over beat though or the marshmallows will get too dense.
- When the mixture is the right texture when you stop beating you’ll see the ribboning in the mixture hold it’s shape until the count of 8 before it smoothes itself out.
- Once it’s thick and white you can’t pipe the shapes right away – it’s super warm and runny still and you’ll just end up with a puddle – you want to let it cool and start to set so it holds the shape. I put the mixture in the piping bag and every few mins I do a test pipe to see how it holds the shape.
- start by piping the base of the peeps – and do a few sets of 5 – if it’s still a little warm and here it’s okay – then start with the body – if it’s too droopy just wait a few mins and try again – the first 3 or so peeps I make are always a little droopy until I hit the perfect temp/set stage
- once you have it right don’t hesitate – pipe and pipe fast – once I took too long and the marshmallow set in the piping bag – I had a cone shaped marshmallow! Delicious but not what I was going for!
EASY PEASY, right? Like I mentioned in the tips above it’s okay if the first few peeps are more droopy than the later ones. This is another reason not to make like a double or triple batch at once, hard to get them all piped in that window of perfect texture! Seriously it might take a few tries, but it’s worth it!
And FINALLY for the eyes you can either use a toothpick or paintbrush to add some melted chocolate or some black gel food coloring. Now tear apart and enjoy!
Homemade Marshmallow Peeps
If you love marshmallow peeps as much as I do, I’d love a 5 star review. Be sure to share on social media and tag me if you make it @ashleemariecakes! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love these homemade peeps you’ll love these other marshmallow recipes!
Marshmallow cookies | Homemade Marshmallow Fluff | Caramel Marshmallows
S’mores cupcakes | Giant Sno Ball cake | S’more truffle pops
To watch me make these peeps in a cooking show play the video in the recipe card. There should also be a short teaser auto playing for you.
You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Homemade Marshmallow Peeps
Ingredients
Sugar (colored sugar)
- 3 C granulated sugar
- yellow gel food dye
Marshmallows
- 3 Tbsp powdered gelatin
- 1/3 C cold water
- 3 C granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 C water
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- black gel food dye
Instructions
Sugar
- Pour sugar into a food processor
- Add a few drops of the yellow, grind until sugar is bright yellow, but not so much it turns into a powder
- spread sugar across a cookie sheet on parchment paper and place in an oven on low, keep stirring the sugar, you just want to dry it out a bit (the gel dye can make it too wet)
Marshmallow
- Soak the gelatin in the 1/3 of a cup of cold water in a small bowl and set aside to swell for 10 minutes.
- In a large saucepan dissolve the sugar in the 1 1/2 C of water over low heat, stirring constantly.
- Add the swollen gelatin and dissolve.
- Raise the temperature and bring to a boil.
- Boil steadily, but not vigorously, for 15 minutes without stirring.
- Remove from the heat and add to the mixer
- Beat the mixture until it turns white and add the vanilla.
- Then keep beating until it's very thick and white. I listen for the sound to change as the mixer starts working harder. It should hold the ribbons left from the beaters for the count of 6 before smoothing out completely. Don't over beat or the marshmallows will get too tough.
- Once the mixture is at the right texture and you stop beating it will start to set. You want it to partiall set so it's thicker and holds it's shapped when piped but not set so much that you can't pipe anymore
- spread out 1/2 the yellow sugar on a pan
- using a large round tip and piping bag pipe a long oval about 1 inch wide and 2 inches long – pull away quickly to make the tail. I do a test one to see if it's thick enough before I pipe the rest.
- repeat doing 4-5 right next to each other slightly touching – make a few more sets
- holding the piping bag straight up and down pipe a large circle onto the rounded end of the oval
- when it's about as wide a the oval start raising your piping tip as you go but lowering the pressure creating a pyramid of marshmallow – then at the end tilt the bag by 90 degrees and stop squeezing, pull away from the mound creating the head and beak, pinch off. Do a test peep to make sure it's thick enough to hold the shape
- cover the marshmallows in more yellow sugar before they set
- use the black dye and a toothpick to dot the eyes on
Erin Williams
I bet these are even better than the original! Homemade marshmallows are amazing!
Ashlee
pretty much amazing!
Amy Huntley
These look delicious and you make it look so easy! You are a talented lady!! xo
Ashlee
awww thank you so much!
Alexis
I love homemade marshmallows! So fun!!
Ashlee
ME TOO! they are the BEST
Karen @ The Food Charlatan
Okay these are amazing Ashlee! I had no idea these were so easy! At least you make it look easy…haha. Great video!!
Ashlee
easier than you think for sure! just have a few practice ones so you can watch them go from droopy to perfect but before the mixture is completely set!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed.com
Who knew you could make your own peeps. SO cool!
Ashlee
it’s awesome, I’ve been doing it for years! so much fun
Samantha S.
Amazing! Who knew you could make at home?! And your video is so helpful… 🙂
Ashlee
yay! thank you so much! I’m glad you like the video, they are super fun to make
Barb Finch
Very cute!!
Ashlee
thank you so very much!
Michelle
These smell SOOOO bad, how do get over the scent of the gelatin? Even the vanilla was not enough to mask it.
Ashlee
even after they set? I’ve never had that complaint before!
Leah
My mixture smelled really bad too, so I just added some almond extract (because I love it and it’s so potent) and that seemed to do the trick. This is the link to the gelatin I used, so maybe that is the issue?
Ashlee Marie
usually it smells when heated for a min, but once it beats up there shouldn’t be a smell anymore.
Trish Nicholls
You might try vegan gelatin. It doesn’t seem to smell. It’s better for salads too.
Ashlee Marie
thanks for the suggestion.
chloe
Can’t wait to make these
Ashlee
hope you loved them as much as we did!
Carri Smith
What kind of mixer is that??? Peeps are darling too!
nancy mikulin
yummy just love it all thank you for this site.
Kristen Chidsey
I had NO idea you could make these homemade–what a great idea
Rachel
So my favorite are the lemonade peeps they had a few years ago and now they don’t make them. Do you think there is a way to make these ones flavored??
Tammy
Where can I find a mixer like yours?
Milagros
It so nice, I love it
Ashlee Marie
Thank you so much!
Melissa
Is there a specific temperature that should be reached when boiling? I boiled for 15 minutes but my marshmallow is not setting well : /
Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks!
Ashlee Marie
try hitting the “thread” stage – 230 (adjust for altitude) see if that works for you.
D.
i’m just so, SO excited that these are not made with corn syrup. this looks like the easiest recipe i’ve seen, so i’m gonna have to try it. i don’t need peeps shapes – i’m not that patient! will they work in silicone molds?
Ashlee
you’d have to spray the molds really good – you could also just pour it into a 9×13 pan then use cookie cutters to get the shape you want
Patricia Carey
Oh my gosh Ashlee thank you so much for this post! Intimidated no more! I am going to make these peeps with my son’s girlfriend tomorrow 😃
Ashlee Marie
I hope you had a BLAST!
Jackie
Hi Ashlee! I’m a bit late to the party seeing as this recipe is a few years old, but… I made these today! The marshmallow turned out perfectly and it was so simple. Your tips and video were super helpful with the piping.
BTW, I loved watching you on Food tv and you were totally robbed. That must have been a pressure cooker of an experience.
Ashlee Marie
SO glad you enjoyed this recipe! its def a favorite of mine. I love to make them every year. And yes Food Network was SO much pressure, but seriously so fun!
Gracie Smathera
These look so good! I can’t wait to try them! Thank you for sharing!
Ashlee Marie
you are so welcome!