Oh, PEEPS. How silly, iconic, sweet, ubiquitous and a little bizarre you are. I know you arrive at every season, but Easter is really where you shine. Take your spotlight, Peeps. Enjoy it. Just don’t get too close to the spotlight (those things pack a lot of heat). When Michelle from Sugar Swings! Serve Some and Christi of Love From the Oven invited me to join them and fellow bloggers in a Peeps extravaganza, the Spring Hop Along PEEPS Party, the answer was kind of a no-brainer. Duh. Of course. We’re talking Peeps here. Be sure to hop along to everyone’s post, and there’s even a PEEPtastic GIVEAWAY!!

Scroll to the end of the post for all the links to the PEEPs party and for the GIVEAWAY details.

I went out and bought a plethora of PEEPS bunnies. I’ll call these Peeps bunnies in chocolate pudding egg shells. Seems a mouthful (literally, that’s how you have to eat them), but I can think of no better description. Peeps bunnies in chocolate eggs? Probably better. They are pretty easy to make, too.

how to make Peeps bunnies in chocolate eggs

you will need:*

Peeps bunnies

Wilton brownie pop silicone mold

semi-sweet chocolate chips

disposable decorating bags

paint brush

scissors

green candy melts

baking tray

wax paper

pudding or mousse

small spoon

royal icing flowers (optional)

*Find the brownie mold, disposable decorating bags, paint brush and candy melts at the craft store. I just piped the flowers with leftover royal icing I had, but you can also purchase pre-made flowers at the craft store.

step one: make your chocolate eggs

Place just over half a cup of chocolate chips in a disposable decorating bag. Melt in the microwave at 60 percent power for 90 seconds. Repeat at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted. Snip 1/4-inch from the tip and pipe a dollop of chocolate in a cavity of the brownie mold. Use the paint brush to brush the chocolate about 3/4 of the way up the sides. I used a good bit of chocolate to minimize breakage. A half of cup of chips should fill 8 cavities of the mold. Place in the fridge to harden about two hours. Carefully pop the chocolate eggs out of the mold and store in the fridge.

step two: make your grass

Line a baking tray with wax paper. Follow the same instructions above to melt green candy melts in a disposable decorating bag. Snip 1/4-inch from the end, and working with one egg at a time, loosely pipe a blob for grass and set a chocolate egg on top. Repeat with all the eggs and let set in the fridge to harden. If desired, add royal icing flowers before the candy melts harden, or pipe them after they harden.

step three: assemble your Peeps in eggs

Place a dollop of pudding or mousse in each egg. Snip the bottom off of a bunny and place in the cup.

 The Spring Hop Along PEEPS Party!!!

Be sure to visit all of the stops on the Hop Along PEEPS party! Here is the crew of talented bloggers knee deep in PEEPS.

And now… THE GIVEAWAY!!!

Our fabulous hosts, Sugar Swings! Serve Some and Love from the Oven, are giving away this PEEPS packed prize package.

Open to US Residents Only.  Use the Rafflecopter Widget below to enter, please remember it can be slow to load.  Good luck! Click here to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Shown above are, clockwise: Unicorn cookie pops (not shown are the rainbow cake and cupcakes), rainbow cookie bites, unmacaron “macaron” cookie pops, sparkly swirly cookie pops, rainbow pound cake, rainbow daisy marshmallow pops, rainbow cookie push pops, sparkly rainbow marshmallow kebobs, and easy candy lollies.

In light of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d devote a little of my time to rainbows. Hmmm. As my 5-year old is not-quite-as-obsessed-as-when-she-was-4-but-still-pretty-obsessed over rainbows, I devote a lot of my time to them. I know it’s hardly novel for a little girl to love rainbows, but I love that she loves rainbows. I sure did as a kid. I remember one of my first science fair projects in elementary school was all about the rainbow.

I share Kermit’s wondering, “Why are there so many songs about rainbows?” Because rainbows are beauty and magic and mystery. And I hear unicorns ride them. And they lead to wealth. Yes, Kermie, some day we’ll find it. That rainbow connection. We’ll get there. Holy hormones, I’m totally going to cry now.

Your first stop on the rainbow tour has to be this Virtual Baby Shower thrown for Violet by 17 crazy-talented bloggers. The theme: Rainbows. Because much as the rainbow leads to a pot o’ gold (I had to), this will lead you to 17 sweet rainbow ideas.

More must-see rainbow awesomeness:

Easy, bright ‘n beautiful, rainbow wrapped marshmallows by Smart School House.

A big, crazy tower of mini rainbow cupcakes by Hoosier Homemade.

Now and forever one of my all-time faves: Rainbow cake pops by Munchkin Munchies.

Simple and pretty rainbow-topped cupcakes from Meet the Dubiens.

How smart is this? Rainbow sugar cookie bark from Mom on Time Out.

Speaking of smart, rainbow frosting cupcakes by Sprinkle Bakes. And with a cherry on top.

Oh fudge, this one has to be in the list. Rainbow paddle pop fudge by Raspberri Cupcakes.

JellO may hold the secret to rainbows. JellO rainbow cookies by I heart Nap Time.

These are two of my favorite things: Rainbow ice cream by Random Thoughts of a SUPERmom!.

Speaking of two of my favorite things: Rainbow chocolate chip cookies by In Katrina’s Kitchen.

I recall being wowwed by these slice and bake rainbow cookies at Good Life Eats ages ago.

I’m a sucker for pudding. How about some rainbow pudding at MAKE.

A good reason to pull out my Babycakes donut maker: Rainbow donuts by Chickabug.

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I’ve a good bit o’ Irish in me, but long gone are the days of heading to an Irish pub in the wee hours to spend St. Patrick’s Day. Now I would so gripe about the long bathroom lines, spilled Guinness, and kids today. The most nuts I’d get this year may be to have neighbors over for said Guinness. And maybe crock pot Irish stew. And super duper crazy easy St. Patrick’s Day pops.

Melted candy on sticks is my go-to  for everything. See all these from Halloween? And it’s so easy, my kid helps me make these all the time. A couple of weeks ago when Maeve’s cousins were over, we pulled out some baking trays, candy melts, lollipop sticks and sprinkles and they all made their own candy pops. Totally unplanned. Because that’s how low-stress these are, and I always have all the supplies and ingredients on hand.

To make these…

you will need:*

green candy melts

disposable decorating bags

scissors

rubberbands

baking tray

wax paper

lollipop sticks

*Find the candy melts, decorating bags and lollipop sticks in the craft store.

what to do: Line a baking tray with wax paper. Place about 1/2 cup of candy melts in a decorating bag. Microwave at 60 percent power for 90 seconds. Massage the candy and repeat at 30 second intervals until the candy is completely melted. Close the bag with a rubber band if you wish. Snip 1/4 inch from the tip of the bag and pipe a dot the size of a dime on the wax paper. Place the lollipop stick on the dot of candy and pipe a shamrock on top. Repeat to fill the tray, using additional decorating bags and candy melts as needed. Let set well, a couple hours at room temperature or in the fridge.

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I think if I actually did celebrate Valentine’s Day in real life, this would be my speed. I’d have to throw some sort of joke in after the “we go together like…” sentiment. Sheesh, my husband sure is one lucky man.

Oh yeah, by the way… for way more than you wanted to know about food coloring pens, edible writers, whatever you want to call them, and how to draw on marshmallows, click HERE.

Some more pairs:

needle and thread

leg warmers and aerobics

peanut butter and jelly

tissues and sleeves

salt and pepper

guitar and pick

Eiffel Tower and Fifi

birds and bees

coffee and donuts

pig tails and ink

puddles and boots

geeks and Star Trek

typewriters and White-Out

Mikey and Life

white wine and motherhood

Mr. Rogers and sweaters

Can you think of any more?

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

Instead, you all get my hearts and pink and red and Xs and Os. Here are some goodies from the archives, in case you missed them the first or second time around.  As always, you can find the entire collection up there in the SEASONAL button.

warm and fuzzy cotton candy heart cookies

romance novel cupcakes

stamped conversation heart cookies

x and o cookie bites

marshmallows on a string

sparkly stained glass heart cookie pops

chocolate sandwich cookies

mod rose marshmallow pops

conversation heart cookie pops

kid-friendly candy heart pops

marshmallow subway art

Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!