Cooking with Peeps

Basic Peeps Cooking Skills

When familiarizing yourself with a new ingredient, it's always a good idea to start with the easy stuff.  So let's get started!

Baked Peeps are perhaps the easiest way to cook Peeps.  They come out warm, a little gooey, and perfectly ready to eat!  A quick and easy treat.

Baked Peeps

Ingredients:
Peeps Chicks or Bunnies
  1. Preheat oven to 300° F
  2. Place as many Peeps as desired onto cookie sheets, approx. 3 inches apart.  Chicks should be upright, Bunnies on their backs
  3. Bake for 4 minutes, or until warm and puffy
  4. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Peeps in the oven

Peeps after baking

That was simple enough.  Now let's add some hot oil.

Fried Peeps

Ingredients:
Peeps
1 tbsp. cooking oil
  1. Pour oil into a small skillet and place over high heat
  2. When oil is hot, drop in Peeps
  3. Cook bottoms of Peeps in oil several minutes, or until Peeps are tender and caramelized
  4. Frying Peeps on one side generally is more attractive for display;  However, you may fry the other sides if all-around caramelization is desired
  5. Remove from skillet.  Wait a few minutes before serving to allow caramel to develop crunchiness

Peeps in hot oil!

Peeps after frying

Fried Peeps are delicious and lots of fun!  Cooking them in oil for a few minutes caramelizes the undersides, resulting in Peeps with a satisfying crunch and super caramel taste.  Highly recommended!

Poached Peeps

Ingredients:
Peeps
Water
  1. Fill a medium saucepan with water, leaving a few inches on the top
  2. Bring water to boiling
  3. Drop in Peeps and reduce heat slightly; Simmer
  4. Gently turn peeps as they cook, taking care to keep them upright so that the face is not distorted
  5. When bottoms of Peeps are tender, remove from the saucepan with a slotted spoon.  Eat immediately.

Peeps being poached

Peeps after poaching

For the health-conscious, Poached Peeps are the way to go.  Since the Peeps are cooked in water, there are no extra ingredients and the Peeps remain fat free.  You may poach the Peeps for as long as you like.  However, be aware that they will melt away gradually and soon you will be left with just a pair of eyes!  For best results, remove the Peeps when the undersides are just beginning to melt away.

Grilled Peeps

Ingredients:
Peeps
  1. Fire up a charcoal or gas grill
  2. Place Peeps on the grill
  3. Add seasonings if desired
  4. Cook to desired level of doneness, turning once

Peeps on the grill

Grilling is a great American pastime, and there's no reason Peeps should miss out on the action.  Some cooks swear that grilling is the only way to cook Peeps to bring out their full flavor, and after you try it you just might agree.

Now that you have the basics down, let's move on to some simple recipes.

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