I love Peeps. I do. Well, I used to. I did happen to try one a couple of years back and wasn't impressed. The stale crunch just didn't have the same effect that it used to. Totally not worth it. Since my kids have been begging to make homemade marshmallows, I decided to give it a go, but with slightly cleaner ingredients. I mean, I can only assume the fluorescent Peeps from my childhood were not made with honey, gelatin, and vanilla. These are though, and they are so delicious. If you want to get crazy, you could even sub in some peppermint, orange, or lemon extracts instead of the vanilla. Instead of rolling in coconut, you could also coat in colored sugar, toasted coconut, or cocoa. The possibilities are endless! Here is what we ended up with:
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Directions
Prep the Pan:
1. Grease pan of choice and cover with parchment paper.
2. Grease parchment paper.
Prep the Coating
1. Place sugar or coconut flakes into a large bowl and add food coloring until it is the color you like. I found it easiest to use my hands to evenly distribute color throughout the coconut shreds.
2. Sprinkle half of coating over the parchment paper, saving the other half for the top.
Make the Marshmallows
1. Pour 1/2 cup water into the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl
2. Sprinkle gelatin over the water in the mixing bowl and allow to set
3. Pour remaining 1/2 cup water into pan along with the honey
4. Slowly heat the honey and water mixture up to 240F or soft ball stage
5. Add in flavoring of choice
6. With hand or stand mixer on lowest speed, slowly drizzle warmed honey over the gelatin mixture.
7. Gradually increase mixing speed until marshmallow are thick enough to stick to the beater and hold their shape (this took about 8 minutes with my stand mixer)
8. Using a greased spatula, lightly spread marshmallows over sugar or coconut.
9. Using greased hands, smooth marshmallows until evenly distributed
10. Sprinkle sugar or coconut over the top of the marshmallows
11. Allow to sit for 2-5 hours to set
12. Cut into squares or other desired shapes