Here’s Why You Won’t Find Peeps in Stores This Year
Updated: May 11, 2022
Love 'em or leave 'em, Peeps won't be available for the 2020 Halloween and Christmas seasons.
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When it comes to Peeps, you either can’t get enough or one is just too much. No matter your opinion, we can all agree Peeps are a holiday staple, serving up the best new flavors every Easter, Halloween, Christmas and more. (Just make sure you’re not putting Peeps in the microwave.)
Unfortunately for all you Peeps lovers, the sugar-coated marshmallow delights won’t be around to wrap up 2020.
Is There a Peeps Shortage?
According to Just Born and foodie Instagrammer @JunkFoodMom, Peeps won’t be making their seasonal debut for Halloween and Christmas this year. Why is that? In March, a handful of news outlets reported a decrease in Peeps production this year since facilities shut down due to COVID-19 risk. While there were enough to carry us through Easter, not enough Peeps were produced to cover Halloween and Christmas.
That means we won’t be seeing classic ghosts, black cats or gingerbread men in stores until 2021’s holiday season. According to @JunkFoodMom, this will be the first year Halloween Peeps have been unavailable since 1958.
It’s not all bad news, though! Your favorite Peeps are projected to return next year for the 2021 Easter season. Still, we’ll be missing a festive Peep in our homemade hot cocoa come Christmastime.
There Are Other Ways to Get Your Fix
If you’re still mourning the loss of your Halloween and Christmas Peeps, have no fear! You can find some of the regular Peeps in stock on Walmart’s website. While these may not be the festive shapes we’re used to, they’re the same general flavor—and Peeps have a shelf life of two years, so you can still safely indulge in last year’s finds.
We’re going to miss Peeps this Halloween and Christmas, but we can’t wait for Easter of 2021!
The Best Halloween Treats to Make at Home
Halloween Peanut Butter Cookie PopsSurprise! There's a miniature candy bar hidden inside each one of these adorable treats. For even more fun, bake the cookie pops, then let your party guests decorate their own creations with candy corn, mini chocolate candies and sugar eyeballs.
Cake Eyeballs
Is someone watching us? This deceptively simple dessert comes together in a flash thanks to store-bought cake mix, colored candy melts and your choice of confectionery decorations.
Witches’ Fingers
There's no double boiler (or even a stove) needed for this easy, 3-ingredient recipe. Just melt candy coating discs in the microwave, dip pretzel rods into the melted candy and add jelly bean fingernails for maximum spookiness.
Halloween Sugar Cookies
No ghost or cat cookie cutters in your kitchen? No problem. Cut triangle shapes for candy corn, circles for spiderwebs and squares for Frankenstein's head. Any leftover cookies will last up to a week in the freezer.
Brainy Cake
Don't worry, the secret ingredient in this rich, moist cake isn't real brains. It's actually mayonnaise, which adds a depth of flavor and texture that will wow your Halloween guests.
Martian Marshmallows
What's about a million times more fun than a lollipop? A martian marshmallow, complete with a dusting of colored sugar, candy eyes and sugar straw antennae. Best of all, they only take half an hour to whip up.
Halloween Chocolate Cookie Pops
There's a trick to this treat. To get the lollipop sticks centered inside the cookie, roll the dough into a ball, press a stick into the center, then flatten the ball into a cookie shape with the bottom of a sugar-dipped glass.
Halloween Peanut Spider Cookies
Party guests will think you spent all day handcrafting these creepy crawly creations. But with about half an hour and seven ingredients, you can bring two dozen of these tasty spiders to life.
Mini Pretzel Pumpkins
Is there anything better than the sweet-and-salty combo of candy-coated pretzels? Yes: Candy-coated pretzels that also happen to look like adorable mini pumpkins. These four-ingredient cuties don't take long to make, but there is a little set time for the candy coating.
Ghostly Custards
Canned pumpkin, eggs, evaporated milk and pumpkin pie seasonings come together to make an easy and festive Halloween treat, complete with a ghost made of store-bought whipped topping. (But if you're an overachiever, you could try making whipped cream from scratch.)
Halloween Candy Bark
With Oreos, pretzels, M&M's, peanuts, candy corn and Reese's Pieces, this candy bark recipe is guaranteed to be a Halloween hit. But you might want to make a double batch. Once you set it on the snack table, it will vanish without a trace.
Freaky Frankenstein Cookies
Save the plain sugar cookies for Christmas. These monster-approved sweets are made with peppermint and vanilla extract, plus a secret ingredient: Andes mint candies.
Spooky Gelatin Bubble Cupcakes
Your guests will never guess how you created these delightful alien cupcake toppers. Want to know the trick? Inflate a water balloon, dip it in a gelatin mixture, then allow it to harden before popping the balloon.
Candy Corn Ice Cream Sandwiches
We all scream for these festive ice cream sandwiches, which feature orange sherbet sandwiched between homemade candy-corn sugar cookies. Time-saving tip: Shape the dough and store it in the fridge, then slice and bake the cookies whenever you're ready. Then, you can assemble the sandwiches and store them in the freezer until it's time to serve them.
Chocolate Candy Corn Cupcakes
Love it or hate it, candy corn is a Halloween must-have. And while these cupcakes look like they were made by a professional bakery, you can whip up a batch in under an hour with only eight ingredients. Not a fan of whipped topping? Try our buttercream frosting instead.
Jack Skellington Pops
The best character from the best Halloween movie possibly ever just became our new favorite dessert. To keep the candy coating from smudging, dry the pops upright by poking their sticks into a block of styrofoam.
Gourmet Caramel ApplesThere's no better combination than apples and caramel. Well, except apples and caramel and peanut butter and pretzels. Oh, and chocolate... Did we mention the chocolate?
Ghostly Cupcake ConesIt doesn't get much easier than this: you can bake the peanut-butter cupcakes right inside the cones. Opt for 3-inch cake cones with a flat bottom (as opposed to a pointed one) so they'll fit snugly inside a cupcake tin.
Originally Published: September 09, 2020
