10 Fun Facts You Should Know About Peeps

The weeks leading up to Easter are Peep season! I love marshmallows of all kinds and the colorful, sugar-coated Peeps are no exception. I’ve made cupcakes that are inspired by them, S’mores that use Peeps in place of “regular” marshmallows and even Peep-Infused Vodka – all in addition to eating them straight out of the package. Here are some fun facts about Peeps that you may not know to share with other marshmallow-loving friends the next time you’re sharing a pack of Peep chicks or bunnies.

1. Just Born makes Peeps today, but the original Easter marshmallow actually came from the the Rodda Candy Company of Lancaster, PA, which Just Born purchased in 1953.
2. Peeps were originally made by hand and each chick was squeezed out of a pastry bag one at a time. Sam Borne, the son of Just Born’s founder, created a depositor that could make 30 Peeps at a time (6 rows of 5) in a fraction of the time that one person could previously pipe a Peep.
3. The eyes on Peeps were originally painted on by hand. Now, they’re made by a machine and added to the marshmallow once it has been shaped.
4. Yellow chicks were the original Peeps. They’re still the most popular.
5. The familiar Peeps bunny was not released until the early 1980s, although Just Born produced other seasonally shaped Peep marshmallows in the 1960s.
6. Before 1995, the only Peep colors you could find were pink, white and yellow – and they only came in one flavor.
7. The recipe for Peeps is the same recipe that was used over 50 years ago.
8. Peeps are the best selling non-chocolate Easter candy.
9. An average of 5.5 million Peeps are made every day. In one year, that is just over 2 billion Peeps – and enough to circle the Earth twice.
10. You can make your own Peeps – or, at least, similarly chick-shaped marshmallows – at home with my marshmallow recipe and a piping bag. It’s much less messy to buy them from the store, but still lots of fun for a Peep fan.