Peep Treets

[mizducky]

Peep Treets

Serves 24 as Dessert.

Those puffed-rice cereal treats have been around for years, but I bet you haven't seen 'em made out of Marshmallow Peeps. Extremely silly, great fun for kids of all ages--and the Peeps add a fun flavor as well as color. The only problem is, you really have to make these with fresh Peeps to get the best results. But if the Easter Peep chicks aren't currently in season, you can certainly use other holiday-themed Peeps with equally-amusing results (I haven't tried using the Halloween black cats yet, but I think they would make some delightfully super-creepy treets).

• 33 Marshmallow Peep chicks, your choice of colors
  
• 1/4 c butter
  
• 6 c puffed rice breakfast cereal (Rice Krispies or equivalent brand)
  

Butter a 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan. Have ready a buttered spatula or some waxed paper.

Carefully remove the heads from all your little Peep chicks. Reserve both the heads and the bodies. (You're going to have some extra heads, but that's good backup in case a head or two gets too mooshed up to use later.)

In a saucepan large enough to hold all the cereal with plenty of room to spare, melt the butter over low heat. Add the Peep bodies, and keep heating and stirring until they are completely melted.

Now the next bit you need to do quickly before everything cools down and congeals. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the cereal and stir until completely coated with the melted Peep mixture. Press the mixture gently but evenly into the buttered baking pan, using the spatula or some waxed paper wrapped around your hand to push the stuff around without getting it stuck all over you. Don't cut it into squares yet, but roughly measure 24 squares (six rows of four) and stick a Peep head in what will be the middle of each square. Do this while the mixture is still warm so the heads will stick.

Let the treets cool completely, then cut into those 24 squares. It helps to use a sharp knife, either greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, using a gentle sawing motion.

These will keep for a few days covered or wrapped in plastic wrap--if you can keep the snackers away from them that long.

Notes: It's fun to pick a couple different colors of Peeps--you get different head colors to play with, and the melted Peep colors blend. I made Peep Treets in a lovely shade of light lavender by starting with pink and purple Peeps.

If you want to try this with other seasonal Peeps that have a different weight per unit than the Peep chicks, know that you're shooting for about ten ounces worth of marshmallow critters.

Keywords: Easy, Dessert, Snack, Brownies/Bars

( RG1436 )