Marshmallow Peeps are one of the most divisive candies of all time. Some people love the super sweet combination of gooey marshmallows and crispy, colorful sugar, and others think Peeps took marshmallows and somehow made them bad. But Peeps are just as iconic as the Easter Bunny, so they’re sticking around (and will probably outlast the human race).
In recent years, Peeps started flavoring the sugar coating, adding complexity to the spongy Easter staple. It’s no secret that today’s commercial food landscape is an arena for creative stunts; every brand is trying to stand out and earn a place in your cart, after all. As you’ll see with what landed among the lowest-ranked, our tasters found some of the latest Peeps releases to be stunting a little too hard. That being said, a number of the new flavors were actually kind of okay for a candy designed to appeal to children’s sugar-centric palates. It really all comes down to whether you like Peeps in the first place. Here’s what we thought.
WATCH: How to Make Peep-Crispy Treats
9. Pancakes & Syrup
Our reaction summed up in one word: NO.
Another way to look at it is there’s only one syrup-flavored thing in this world, and that’s syrup. There’s a reason for that. Syrup belongs with breakfast food, and clearly does not belong with marshmallows—the result is an abomination.Tasters described an overpowering “fake maple” flavor and aroma that conjured similar physical sensations as one experiences with a nasty hangover. Sorry, not feeling this one.
8. Peeps Delights Vanilla Creme
This variety comes dipped in “decadent creme flavored fudge,” but unfortunately, that doesn’t make it any more delightful. The multi-colored speckles suggest a Funfetti feel here, but our tasting panel thought it tasted more like one of those gas station vanilla lattes that comes out of a machine. They’re sickeningly sweet, and not in a pleasant way.
7. Root Beer Float
This one tastes like “a marshmallow wrapped in a Dum Dum lollipop,” otherwise known as a lot. Again, the flavor comes on a touch too sugary-strong, even for the tasters who do like root beer.
6. Chocolate Bunny
The Peeps Chocolate Bunny pretty much tastes like a standard supermarket bunny sculpted from milk chocolate. If you enjoy those, you’ll like this. If not, you can always melt it into hot chocolate.
5. Peeps Delights Orange Sherbet
The best part of this flavor is the smell, which nails that delicate tropical sunscreen aroma found in a Dreamsicle. Meanwhile, the taste was subtle, which isn’t a bad thing. This flavor was divisive, though, with reactions ranging from “not bad” to “tastes like it was made in a nuclear facility.”
4. Jelly Beans
It makes perfect sense that Peeps branched out to another classic Easter candy. What doesn’t make sense is thinking anyone would want to eat a marshmallow-flavored jelly bean. The strawberry flavor was enjoyable, but the marshmallow was — you guessed it — way too sweet.
3. Cotton Candy
Compared to everything that came before, the Cotton Candy Peeps offer a fairly mild cotton candy flavor (again, that’s not a bad thing).
2. Original
Look, there’s no reason to mess with a plain Peep. This taste test is proof.
1. Delights Chocolate Caramel Swirl
How do you make a Peep marginally edible for adults? You disguise it. The chocolate here actually tastes good, which makes you forget how weird the marshmallow tastes. Basically, you forget you’re eating a Peep.
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