Homemade Peeps – recipe and video tutorial

Name: Homemade Marshmallow Peeps
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 3 C granulated sugar; yellow gel food dye; 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

Published: March 30, 2016 | Updated: April 17, 2020 | By Ashlee

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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!

how to make your own marshmallow peeps, easy and delicious and so much fun - recipe and video tutorial

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.

how to make your own homemade peeps, a fun sweet treat, click for the recipe and a full video tutorial

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!

making homemade peeps is easier than you think - check out this recipe and full video tutorial

If you love these homemade peeps you’ll love these other marshmallow recipes!

chocolate marshmallow cookie recipe video

Marshmallow cookies | Homemade Marshmallow Fluff | Caramel Marshmallows

S’mores cupcakes | Giant Sno Ball cake | S’more truffle pops

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a video tutorial on making homemade marshmallow peeps

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

4.80 from 15 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Set time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Servings: peeps

Calories: 189kcal

Author: Ashlee Marie

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

US Customary – Metric

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

Video

Nutrition

Did you make this recipe?Mention @ashleemariecakes or tag #makesomeawesome and I’ll share your image in my Instagram stories!

Homemade Peeps – recipe and video tutorial