It just wouldn’t be Easter without Peeps, but what, exactly are they made of and how are they made?
TODAY Food visited the Peeps factory in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to see how the beloved Easter treats are made. It turns out those brightly-colored chicks and bunnies take quite a ride before making it into your Easter basket.
How Peeps are made
Play Video - 1:12How Peeps are made
Play Video - 1:12
What are Peeps made of?
There are only four ingredients in marshmallow Peeps: sugar, corn syrup, gelatin and air.
Peeps come in 60 flavors, from sour cherry to lemon-lime, and even new mystery flavors. This factory makes over 5.5 million Peeps a day. In total, that means the factory makes 2 billion Peeps a year!
How do they make Peeps?
First the sugar, corn syrup and gelatin are mixed together. Then the mixture is pumped with air to make it light and fluffy before it's extruded into those signature animal shapes over a conveyor belt.
Then the Peeps go through a colorful sugar shower. The finishing touch is a zap from a special laser that makes sure each Easter animal gets eyes.
The treats are then boxed up, wrapped in cellophane and loaded onto trucks for delivery to stores around the world. Next stop: Easter baskets, of course!
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Slideshow Photos
'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
From “House of Peeps” to the “Peepstine Chapel,” a beloved marshmallow treat can be transformed into almost anything by funny, creative types.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofDo you peep blue or white?
Jill Schaefer of Minnetonka, Minn., created this scene inspired by the infamous dress that sparked such debate across the country.
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ofKISS Peeps ’77
Since 2004, all sorts of publications and organizations have coordinated similar Peeps contests, including The Washington Post, the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, the American Bar Association Journal and the Army & Air Force Exchange Service in Dallas. The nice folks at the St. Paul Pioneer Press don’t mind sharing the marshmallow madness with the rest of the nation. “It’s fine so long as someone out there knows that we started it!” Chin told TODAY.com with a laugh.
As a tribute to KISS, Bill Alms and Jason Mathias, of Hudson, Wis., created this peep-sized concert for the contest.St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest / St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest -
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ofMona Peepsa
Andrea and daughter Sophia Wambold of Eagan, Minn., turned this famous Leonardo da Vinci painting into a peep of art.
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of50 Shades of Peeps
When the Pioneer Press first started its Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest, Chin and others at the paper wondered whether readers would really get the concept. “I thought we were going to get about two entries,” Chin recalled. “We got about 40, and I was delighted — I thought that was a total success. I had no idea what it would become.”
It’s become a vehicle for almost anything, including this "Fifty Shades of Grey"-inspired peep book cover by Robin Kleinert of Eden Prairie, Minn.St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest / St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest -
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ofPeep-er photo shoot: #Breaktheinternet
A Kim Kardashian-inspired peep show was a 2015 creation of Molly Varley and daughter Meggie Varley from St. Paul.
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ofPeeps Illustrated
Why are Peeps such a perfect medium in the hands of crafty, creative types? “You know, I don’t know why it works,” Chin confessed. “There’s just something about these blank little faces and the candy being just anthropomorphic enough to be some sort of a person or an entity, but not close enough that it’s uncomfortably weird.”
Jill Osiecki and son Gus Gleich of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., channelled a real peep miracle in this diorama of the 1980 Winter Olympic game.St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest / St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest -
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ofMoby Peep
Melissa and son Jackson Griffin of Chetek, Wis., conquered their own white whale when they made this Moby Dick-inspired diorama for the contest.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofPeep-Go-Round
“When you see how much work people put into these or how creative they can be, it’s sort of striking,” Chin said. “It’s strangely compelling that people are able to do what they do.”
A 2015 submission by Brian Schomburg, St. Paul; Aaron, Kaia, Noah, Murray and Bev Schomburg, Prescott, Wis.; Heidi Schomburg, Robbinsdale, Minn.; Scott, Moira, Grayden, Evelyn and Harrison Schomburg, Afton, Minn.; Kathy Licht, Lexi and Izzy Metz, River Falls, Wis.; and Greg Schomburg.St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest / St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest -
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ofLeaning Tower of Peepsa
Look out peep-low! Ron Young, of Shoreview, Minn., must have had Italy on the brain when he made this 2015 submission.
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ofThe Peepinator
We can hear Arnold Peepzenegger callling "I'll be back!" in this Terminator-inspired diorama by Preston Lorenz of St. Paul.
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ofLook! It's Frank Underpeep!
This diorama by Tonya Kronschnabel of Maplewood, Minn., “House of Peeps,” taps into the popularity of the Netflix original series “House of Cards.”
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ofYou wreck me
Miley Cyrus really comes to life in this “Wrecking Ball Peeps” submission that Isis Diane Rodriguez of St. Paul created for the Pioneer Press this year.
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ofPeepnado!
Diane and Katherine Enge of Minneapolis crafted this “Peepnado” diorama — a hat tip to “Sharknado,” the made-for-television horror movie about a waterspout that transports sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofSelfie time!
A tribute to Ellen DeGeneres’ selfie with A-listers at the Oscars: “Most Retweeted Peeps Ever” by Mara Whitten and Jessica Whitten of St. Paul and Kathy Otto of Glenwood City, Wis.
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ofQuack! Quack!
Like the “Duck Dynasty” TV series on A&E? Then you’ll love “Peep Dynasty,” a diorama submitted this year by Liz Mulcahy of Mendota Heights, Minn., Maddie Mulcahy of Savage, Minn., and Drew, Matt and Ryan Mulcahy of Lakeville, Minn.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofRun, little Peep, run!
Nina Fan created this eye-catching tribute to the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film “North by Northwest” this year.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofA Vermeer masterwork?
Jill Schaefer of Minnetonka, Minn., crafted this elegant “Peep with a Pearl Earring” creation for the 2014 contest.
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ofThose 'blank little faces'
The horror movie “The Shining” showed just how crazy things can get when a snowstorm traps a family together inside a hotel. This year’s relentlessly cold weather may have inspired Emily and Jessica Blue of St. Paul to dream up this diorama, “Peeplar Vortex.”
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ofThe Creation of Peeps
This bold “Michelangelpee's Peepstine Chapel” extravaganza was created by members of the Macalester College Art & Art History Department.
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ofWith great power comes great responsibility
Behold the level of detail in “The Amazing Spider-Peep” by Michael Sharp of Germantown, Md. The diorama even includes ultra-specific Times Square details, such as the Naked Cowboy and a Stan Lee cameo.
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of‘Alien!’
Peeps artist Nina Fan strikes again, this time with a scene from the unforgettable 1979 science-fiction horror film “Alien.”
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofThe Fab Four
As a tribute to The Beatles, Bev and Murray Schomburg of Prescott, Wis., created this “Chick Magnet” diorama for the 2014 contest.
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of‘The Great Sugar Hunter’
This hunter mounts his “trophies” — popular candies and other sweets — around him for all to see. “The Great Sugar Hunter” diorama is the creation of the Schomburg family of St. Paul, Afton and Robbinsdale, Minn., and Prescott, Wis.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofOlympic fever!
The Winter Olympics in Sochi may have ended, but they continue to inspire: Check out this “1080 Twisty McPeep” creation by Andrea, John, Grant and Sophia Wambold of Eagan, Minn.
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of‘The Adventure of the Speckled Cand(y)’
This incredibly detailed diorama was inspired by "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," a Sherlock Holmes story written by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Candace Okeson of St. Paul and Seth Johnson of Bellevue, Wash., submitted it this year along with “a Sherlock Holmes locked room mystery story written by the creators that can be solved by looking for clues in the diorama,” Chin said.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofPie at sea
This 2013 diorama by Ron Young, dubbed “Life of Pie,” celebrated the popularity of the book and the Academy Award-winning movie “Life of Pi.”
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ofBinders full of ... hoo-boy
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. You are beholding “binders full of Peeps” — a cheeky reference to a past debate comment by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney about how he'd reviewed "binders full of women" when trying to diversify his Cabinet as governor of Massachusetts.
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ofA teeny, tiny pitchfork
In 2013, Nina Fan created this tribute to Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” painting.
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of'Arrangement in Grey and Black — and Yellow?'
Nina Fan was on such a Peeps-inspired roll of artistic appreciation last year that she also submitted this “Portrait of the Artist’s Mother” creation. Painter James McNeill Whistler would be so proud!
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ofHoly bunny!
“Saint Bunidickt at the Beach” was a 2013 creation of Erin Simle Baugus and Sue Baugus.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
of'Great artists steal'
Cubism? Surrealism? Linda Langin probably knows. She created this unforgettable “PeepsCasso: ‘Whole Bunny 2013’” diorama for the Pioneer Press.
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ofSnow Peep — literally
Whoa. “Snow Peep” is really made out of snow! (But, ummm, don’t eat it?) Amy Barrett and her family shared this “Snow Peep and the Seven Dwarf Peeps” creation last year.
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ofFriends of the court
“Some submissions are so complicated that they don’t read visually until you read what they’re describing,” Chin said. “With the ones that are successful, you immediately know what it is.”
Cheryl Maplethorpe made the creation pictured here in 2005. It’s called “Justice of the Peeps.”St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest / St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest -
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ofMelting Peeps
This 2006 creation by Jessica, Devorah and Shana Greenstein is called “Persistence of Peeps” — a play on Salvador Dali’s painting “The Persistence of Memory.”
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ofA sterile setting
This entry from 2006 is called “The Latest Procedure for Separating Conjoined Peeps.”
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
ofHear the train a comin’?
This straight-to-the-brain, Johnny Cash-inspired entry from 2006 is called “Folsom Prison Blues.”
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ofDid Truman Capote build this one?
Check it out – it’s the murder scene from “In Cold Blood”! Chin still remembers his reaction when he first saw these poor, innocent marshmallows behind crime-scene tape in 2007: “WOW, that’s something.”
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ofIt’s made out of Peeeeeeeeeps!!
This 2007 creation by Amy Lindmeier, Mary Lindmeier and Cory Hummell is called “Peeps Processing Plant.”
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
of‘Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush’
There’s no denying that this Peep bunny bears an eerie similarity to the protagonist in “Goodnight Moon.” The Pioneer Press received this entry in 2008.
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'#PeepDress?!' Intricate candy creations hop to silly heights
of‘Be Peepared’
As the Pioneer Press noted in 2011, “even marshmallow rabbits have problems with erectile dysfunction.” This creation by Patty Dunlap is a play on the Cialis commercials that say “you can be ready anytime the moment is right.”
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ofOh yeah, Peeps like to exercise
This 2008 entry is called “Boxing Weeps” — a play on the Nintendo Wii Fit the bunnies are using.
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ofHope and Peeps
This 2010 submission from Melissa Grass and Elizabeth Lenzen is called “Mr. Peepident, Barack Obama.”
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ofRight Honourable Peeps
Diane Combites submitted “Peepton Abbey,” her own unique take on the hit series “Downton Abbey,” to the Pioneer Press in 2012. At the time, Chin called the entry “particularly strong.”
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ofA mighty leader
Meet “Hiawatha Peep,” a creation shared with the Pioneer Press in 2010.
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ofI want you
Look! It's “The Voice, Season PEEP”! Megan Lowell, Jessica Doody and Dana Lowell submitted this creation in 2012.
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ofBread and circuses
Wow! Janell Otten created “Hunger Games: The Peeping” in 2012.
To see more examples of Peep creations submitted to the St. Paul Pioneer Press — including painstakingly produced Peep videos, like this one inspired by that well-known Old Spice commercial — visit TwinCities.com/peeps.St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest / St. Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest
This article was originally published April 14, 2017.