Peeps: Chocolate Covered

In my continuing quest to conquer the world of Peep flavors this year, while I was looking for something new for Easter, I found these Chocolate Covered Peeps! It's not like there was any question of I was going to buy them or not -- my only real question was: could I still attempt to set something chocolate covered on fire?



Yeah guys, I think I have taken to pyromania just a little too much. But don't worry about me. I still have eyebrows, and most of my furniture is intact. It's just that something about burning Peeps brings out my inner Beavis, giggling "FIRE!"

Pyromania aside, the chocolate covered Peeps come in either dark or milk chocolate. And of course, being the thoughtful person that I am, I picked up both. Rather than being sold in a bulk package, they are sold individually. For sake of the review, we are going to talk about the chocolates separately. And since I didn't notice any differences with the marshmallow center, we'll discuss that on its own.

Let's start with the milk chocolate version:



It's a light brown shell that has sort of a matte satin sheen, and the chocolate coating is thicker than I was expecting. The chocolate also breaks off into pieces a little easier then one would expect. It's almost like it was made with Magic Shell. The chocolate is -- to be diplomatic -- not the best milk chocolate ever. It's overly sweet and reeks of fake vanilla. This one I would skip in the future. As much as I might have liked the marshmallow, I thoroughly disliked the chocolate.



The Dark Chocolate:



I had higher hopes for this one, mostly because at the very least I thought it would be less sweet. And it is -- but that didn't make it much better. The chocolate itself has a vaguely coconut taste and seems oily. There is also kind of cocoa powder taste, and that's OK. But it's not really a dark chocolate (there's milk solids in it), and it's not really good. It's better than the milk chocolate version -- but only in the sorry sense that Showgirls is a slightly better movie than Freddie Got Fingered. How big of a compliment is that, really?




The marshmallow center: The marshmallow is incredibly soft; almost to the point of being spreadable. I have long stated my love of stale Peeps -- but I have learned to appreciate them when they are this smooshy as well (even if it is mostly because I get to use the word "smooshy"). If you are a fan of the crusty, sugared top layer that all of the traditional Peeps products had, this may be a sad day for you. That crust is nowhere to be found.

Another difference between these Peeps and the classic line is that the marshmallow is colored all the way though. The innards are sort of a hard-boiled egg yolk yellow. The taste is like every other marshmallow you've ever had. Which is to say, sort of a mellow vanilla and a little sweet.

All right. I know what you are all really waiting for is the fire! And, so as not to disappoint, here were go...

First, the milk chocolate:



Interestingly enough, the milk chocolate itself resisted burning and simply got very melty. The marshmallow bubbled and caramelized nicely. But there was nothing spectacular to see.

Next, the dark chocolate:



This version went almost immediately into flame -- chocolate and all. OK, not as awesomely as the Strawberry Creme Hearts Peeps did, but it wasn't a complete disappointment either.

In either case (as you might expect), the addition of toasting did nothing for the flavor of the chocolate. But the marshmallow center did taste extra good toasted (actually, "toasted" is not strong enough -- it was burnt -- but I happen to like burnt marshmallows).

Be sure to check out Cybele's reviews here. She liked these Peeps more than I did.

Ratings time! (I will rate each separately.)

Milk Chocolate Peep:




Dark Chocolate Peep:



PURCHASED FROM:
Walgreen's

PRICE:
$0.79 each, two for $1.

CALORIES:
Milk chocolate: 110 calories per 1 chick.
Dark chocolate: 120 calories per 1 chick.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
May contain: peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, eggs. Gluten free. Contains gelatin, so not kosher or vegan/vegetarian friendly.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
marshmallowpeeps.com