It was Easter this past weekend so there are a lot of sugary treats you can buy right now to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we love a candy-themed poll here at The Coast so last week, we asked our newsletter readers and our social media followers what they think is the best Easter-themed candy, narrowed down to four options: a chocolate rabbit, Creme Egg, Mini Eggs and Peeps.
Mini Eggs (and for the purpose of this poll this categorization includes Hershey’s Eggies) won by a landslide, taking over half the votes on each platform. The chocolate rabbit and Creme Egg were neck and neck for second place, with the Creme Egg just inching ahead to take silver. Peeps were a resounding “no-thank you” across the board.
Peeps lost bad. The little marshmallows captured less than 4% of the total votes on Twitter, with only 34 peep lovers among the 1,088 voters. And three of those 34 votes were me.
POLL: We really love a candy themed poll here at The Coast so this week we’re asking you - what’s the best Easter-themed candy?
— The Coast - Halifax/Kjipuktuk (@TwitCoast) April 3, 2023
The crowd favourite, Mini Eggs, are fine, and that’s it. That's all I'm willing to say about Mini Eggs, they’re just fine. Nothing more, nothing less.
The real indulgence is Peeps, those soft, sweet and sticky marshmallow-y treats dusted in coloured sugar that melts in your mouth. It’s like eating a sugar-coated cloud.
Forget the naysayers.
Also forget the bad press: If you happen to Google Peeps at this moment, you’ll get a lot of articles stating that the pink Peeps contain “cancer causing” carcinogenic ingredients. What's a little red dye number 3 when it comes in the adorable shape of a little bunny rabbit? The yellow chicks are the best ones, anyway.
“But Peeps are too sweet," you say. Grow up.
Meanwhile, Pictou County has a Peep shortage
I have very loose anecdotal evidence that Peep love is regional.
I went to New Glasgow, my hometown, for the Easter long weekend and was planning to pick up a few packs of Peeps once I got there so I could stage a little Peep shoot for this article.
Having already seen the direction our candy poll was headed, I foolishly assumed the grocery store shelves would be overflowing with overlooked Peeps.
Four separate locations, a few phone calls and one legitimate cry session in my car later, I am still Peep-less. At one of the Shoppers Drug Marts I called, I was told by an exasperated employee that the Peeps “sold out weeks ago.”
So there’s no Peeps in Pictou. I see you, Pictou peeps.
Peep jerky
It’s clear my personal love for Peeps is great, but it’s not quite as great as Youtube user, TheMsPerrin's. Her channel has 19 subscribers and three videos, all of which are Peeps-related. Her most watched video with 11,000 views is titled PEEP SHOW unedited Peeps...Another White Meat.
I watch this video every year. If you don’t have 3 minutes and 54 seconds to spare to watch the best at-home cooking show ever uploaded to the internet, here’s the gist.
This video follows a nice woman, who we'll assume is Ms. Perrin, as she instructs viewers on how to make her special Easter-time treat, Peep jerky. According to the video, which is shakily recorded in her kitchen by her friend Renita (as the end credits will tell us), her Peep jerky is a favourite amongst her friends and family and is something they ask for each year.
How does she make the jerky? Simple! She dries out the Peeps on a rack for about three weeks until they turn hard. Then, she places them in a sturdy Ziplock bag before taking them out to her garage where she smooshes them flat by running them over with her car a few times.
Once the weeks-old peeps are good and flat and have little tire tread marks in their faces, Ms. Perrin says they're ready to be sliced up with a pizza cutter into thin little strips and shared with your loved ones.
I genuinely mean no shade towards Ms. Perrin. I love that Peep jerky video and watching it whilst eating stale, chewy Peeps is my favourite Easter tradition. Everything about that video is perfect: the Peep merch, the pearls, the little decorative Easter egg tree on the counter that everyone's mom seemed to have growing up.
And of course, those sweet little Peeps.