Peeps are one of those candies you either love or hate. I love their cute shapes to use for decorating so every year I purchase a few boxes. After the holidays, I always have Peeps left over. Rather than allowing them to sit around and go hard and stale-or throwing them away- I use them to make marshmallow fondant. It’s the perfect way to use the leftover candy! Or, if you don’t have leftover Peeps, you can usually find some boxes on clearance after the holidays.
How to Make Marshmallow Fondant From Leftover Peeps
This fondant is naturally gluten-free and the prep and cook time takes around 30 minutes. You can make this fondant so much cheaper than you can purchase premade fondant at the craft or grocery store. It’s also a fun recipe to make with the kids as long as you don’t mind them getting a little sticky.
Cooking Tips:
- Plan ahead-The fondant needs to sit for approximately 4 to 8 hours in the fridge before use.
- We used two packages (3.4 ounces) each of Peeps Chicks, plus two additional chicks to make 8 ounces of Peeps. You’ll need about 25 chicks to make 8 ounces of Marshmallow.
- If you only have a package of Peeps to use, add 5 ounces of mini marshmallows to your mixture.
- IMPORTANT: Mix in enough confectioners’ sugar to make sure the mixture is very stiff and barely sticky. Otherwise, it’s a big mess. I speak from experience.
- You can use any flavor or color of Peeps you want. Use this for any holiday-Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Halloween. Whenever they have Peeps available!
- You can use cookie cutters, if desired, to make shapes with the fondant.
Ingredients Needed:
This recipe only uses five ingredients, most of which are common pantry and kitchen items. You’ll need the following:
- confectioner’s sugar
- vanilla extract
- Peep’s Candy
- Food coloring, optional, if using white peeps
- butter for coating your hands to make mixing easier, if desired
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Place the Peeps (and marshmallows if using) into the microwave-safe bowl. Heat the Peeps on high for about 30 seconds or until the marshmallows begin to melt.
- Quickly stir in the vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar, using only a cup at a time, and stir until blended. The mixture should be stiff, but sticky.
- Now comes the fun part! It’s the perfect time to allow the kids to help! Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap or a cutting board that has been sprinkled with a thick layer of confectioners sugar. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes, until it is smooth and no longer sticky.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap (Don’t use waxed paper. It will stick!) and store in the refrigerator for around 4 hours. Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature before using.
How to Color The Fondant:
Note: This will only work with white peeps. Colored Peeps will remain the same color when the fondant is prepared.
- If you want to color the dough, roll the dough flat on a piece of plastic wrap or a cutting board dusted with confectioners sugar.
- Add a few drops of food coloring to the top of the dough and knead until the coloring has blended into the fondant and the desired color is reached.
Printable Recipe:
How To Make Marshmallow Fondant From Leftover Peeps
30
minutesIngredients
2 1/2 packages (3.4) ounce Peeps candy (You’ll need about 25 chicks to make 8 ounces of Marshmallow. Or, if you only have a package of Peeps to use, add 5 ounces of mini marshmallows to your mixture.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups of confectioners sugar, divided
butter, for coating your hands, if desired
Directions
- Spread butter over your hands before beginning, if desired, to make it easier to work with the fondant mixture.
- Place the Peeps (and marshmallows if using) into the microwave. Heat for about 30 seconds until the marshmallows begin to melt. Quickly add the vanilla extract and stir the mixture until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar, using only a cup at a time, and stir until blended. The mixture will be stiff, but sticky.
- Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap or a cutting board that has been sprinkled with a thick layer of confectioners sugar. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes, until it’s smooth and no longer sticky.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for around 4 hours. Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature before using. Use any flavor or color of Peeps you want.
Having homemade fondant on hand gives you a great excuse to bake a cake, cupcakes, or cookies. After all, you need to use the fondant somewhere, right?What do you do with your leftover Easter candy?
This is such a cool idea!! We are often left with so many peeps that no-one wants to eat, so this is such a great use.
That is such a great idea and a fun project to do with the kids and also reuse the leftovers instead of throwing them. I am all for recycling and reusing.
This is such a great idea! I will have to try this with our many peeps!
wow, this is such a lovely idea, great way to convert the leftover peeps into something interesting!
Oh my, that is such a great idea. We have tons of Peeps from Easter and I’d love to spin them into something new.
That is a great recipe. Personally, for me, that would be the only way to eat Peeps. I think they are just too sweet otherwise. This is a good way to eat them though.
That is such a great idea! Why is this not more of a thing?!
Anything with peeps is something I know I will like. I hope I will be able to make the fondant because I really don’t have skill with dough projects.
Such a great idea for using up leftover peeps. I would have never thought of recycling them in that way. Will have to share this idea with my family that has these.
This is perfect timing, for those who have lots of Easter candy. very creative and fun recipe for kids because of its color and design.May i can use this for school art project.
Why didn’t I think of this? What a clever idea!!! I bet is super tasty!
This is such a great idea! I will definitely try this for those leftover peeps!
What a fun way to make the Peeps. This is something I’d love to do rather than just pitching them before they get stale.
Ha! Yes! Totally love the fact that you used Peeps for this recipe. Marshmallow fondant, in my opinion, is the best tasting fondant!
I never thought of using peeps before for fondant. I think it’s awesome that you can do this, it’s great use of leftover peeps!
This is so clever! I love ways to use up leftovers like this you can get so creative with fondant.
This is such a cute idea to use up all of those peeps. I bet this would be great with a vanilla cake, or even chocolate.
I like your idea of using left over peeps to make fondant normally I throw them after some time. I haven’t made marshmallow fondant at home. I think I can practice that skill using left over peeps.
What a fun idea but that requires not eating some of the peeps! I like my peeps to get hard and not soft , my kids always laugh about it.
Yes to the alternative for left over peeps. I don’t really like peeps but my little cousins adore them and we we end up with so many. Nice way for them to get another use (and fun) out of them
I’m not really a Peeps fan but love how you were able to use them so creatively. Very cool.
I have never seen anyone use Peeps in that way before. It is super creative and pretty easy too!
This looks like a fun thing to make with the kids. A little sweet snack never hurts
I would have never thought to do this, I don’t personally like to eat Peeps but in this way I would totally eat them!
Oh that is cool. I’ve been wanting to work with fondant for a while. This is a great idea and it opens up some creative recipe possibilities.
This is so creative and cute. I wish we has left overs here. Gosh they go so fast!!
I like the way of using leftover peeps. My friend was just asking me about it I m sending ur link to her
Great idea! I feel bad throwing out stuff so this would be a good way to “recycle” leftover peeps. I’m sharing this post with my friends and family too. I am sure they’ll be happy to know they can make something new from leftover Peeps.
what an awesome idea. I went to the store today and all Easter was 50% off so you could get some PEEPS for cheap. Can’t wait to use this awesome idea!
That is such a cute idea! Everyone ALWAYS has leftover Peeps, and this seems like the perfect way to use them up.
What the whaaaaat? That is so awesome! This is the best use of Peeps I’ve ever seen!
What a great idea very creative and also a god recipe for cooking with the kids. Love fondant and peeps so this recipe I will definitely try soon =)
I love this idea, but I am not going to kid you – there is no such thing as leftover Peeps in my house 😉