Cult Food: Peeps

Every year, when seasons change here in New England or holidays come around, certain foods or spices are introduced back into our diet. Fall brings pumpkin everything, the McRib comes out randomly, and Easter brings Cadbury eggs and Peeps.

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Peeps are the candy found in your Easter basket where you aren’t quite sure what to do with. They are colored marshmallow in a basket that is headlined by a giant chocolate bunny and surrounded by the always appreciated jelly bean. The Peep never stood a chance.

Or did it?

According to InfoPlease, in 2012 Easter candy out sold Halloween candy. Easter appears to be more of a candy holiday than I thought. And to add to that, Peeps were leading the pack. Americans are buying over 700 million Peeps every Easter.

I used to leave the Peeps in the bottom of the basket, tangled up in Easter grass while I tried to dig out any hiding jelly beans.

Maybe I slighted the Peep. Maybe the Peep just got lost in the shuffle of a sugar rush morning. Maybe I should try a Peep, some thing I haven’t eaten in well over fifteen years.

My initial thought would be these would be gross. But, after eating one, then two, then another, they were much better than I remembered. They tasted more like marshmallow than I expected, and the sugar coating on the outside was surprising subtle and just enough.

I think maybe I snubbed the Peep for all these years for the wrong reasons. I can now understand the hype, the sales, and the cult status. Each year, the Peep is resurrected, and enjoyed by the millions. This year, I will fill my daughter’s basket with Peeps, and hope she will enjoy them more than I did as a kid.