So Easter was yesterday.
Admittedly, Easter isn’t one of my favorite holidays. One, I’m not a fan of the traditional food served. Ham and scalloped potatoes kind of give me the heebie jeebies. And aside from jelly beans, I am kind of blase with the rest of the candy selection. Don’t even get me started on those scary chocolate bunnies with faces. When I eat chocolate, I’d prefer it to NOT be in the shape of an animal, or have a face, or sometimes wear clothes or look like a gangster bunny because that is WEIRD and makes me feel like a barbarian.
And also, because of this:
I was a pretty fearless child. I didn’t mind sitting on Santa’s lap, I didn’t cower in the presence of walking characters in costume, and it wasn’t until I was older and wiser that I finally realized how frightening the animatronic Chuck-E Cheese characters are, especially when they sing Happy Birthday to you in the party room.
However, when I found this Polaroid a few years ago, I felt a strange sensation deep within my stomach. Like, have you ever been an innocent child wearing flower pants while holding your prized baby blanket and a cool balloon when your parents, the people you entrust not to screw your childhood up, assured you it was perfectly okay to pose with a terrifying rodent somewhere?
Not only is that Easter Bunny (or terrifying rodent; can you blame me that the terms are interchangeable?) staring into the camera with beady, soulless eyes and freakishly long whiskers, he is also touching the future home of my boobs.
Frankly, I’m surprised I don’t have Easter PTSD or something. If being grabbed by an evil bunny impostor person wasn’t frightening enough, they also confused my feeble child mind with a Merry Christmas decoration in the background. And to top it off, Santa looks like he’s pooping in the chimney. It’s a miracle that I even celebrate holidays after such a traumatic experience of cross-holiday contamination and rodent assault.
Oh, and when I went to New York, my childhood fears of creeps in costume were reignited when I walked around Times Square and realized I was swarmed with knockoff characters that I’m presuming weren’t sanctioned by Disney or Nickelodeon..
How come Elmo looks so strange, Mommy? Why does SpongeBob have a weird, electrical tape unibrow? And how come Mickey only has one eyebrow? Where did his other eyebrow go, Mommy? Did it run away screaming like I did when they came up behind me and said, “Come here baby!” ?
Even his pupils are devoid. Like, literally, there are holes in his pupils and it looked and smelled even more frightening in person. But I read somewhere that confronting your fear is the key to overcoming it, but somehow this just made me more creeped out by weirdos in costume. Also, I gave SpongeBob a dollar, so I’m one-dollar poorer and still ooged out. Fear-facing fail.
Anywhoooooo, one thing I do like about Easter is the candy. Pastel-colored errrythang, jelly beans, even PEEPS! While I’m not typically a huge PEEPS kinda girl, I couldn’t resist passing up the limited edition Party Cake PEEPS at Walmart. Cake-flavored marshmallows? Yes friggin’ please.
So I took a not-so-original idea (a S’mOreo) and updated the classic flavors with a celebratory, sprinkly spin.
I promise, there’s no reason to be afraid.
Birthday Cake S’mOreos *s’mOreo idea adapted from CakeSpy
- 20 Birthday Cake Oreos
- 1 pkg Party Cake PEEPS
- 1 pkg white chocolate bark (I like Candiquik)
- Rainbow sprinkles
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Gently twist the tops off of each Oreo cookie, placing the frosted side of the cookies face-up on the foil-lined baking sheet and the unfrosted sides on the counter.
- Take a sharp knife and carefully cut each PEEP in half lengthwise (I know it seems totally brutal to slice a PEEP in half, but in the name of delicious food, you must do it). Place a PEEP half on each frosted Oreo cookie.
- Pop the PEEP-topped Oreos into the oven for approx. 3-4 minutes or until they begin to get puffy and slightly bubbly. Remove immediately, and gently press the unfrosted half of the Oreos on top of the puffy PEEPS to make the sandwich. Allow the S'mOreos to cool completely.
- Once cooled, melt the chocolate bark according to package directions. Dip each Oreo into the white chocolate, coating completely. Allow excess coating to drip off. Return to the foil sheet and immediately top with sprinkles. Repeat until all S'mOreos are coated. Allow coating to harden before serving. Makes 20 -- can be stored airtight at room temperature for several days.
So as a non-PEEP fan, I feel like it’s my obligation to introduce y’all to toasted PEEPS. They are AMAZING. The sugary coating on the marshmallow caramelizes in the oven, giving the PEEPS an irresistible crunch which is SO tasty against the gooey, melty marshmallow center. You’ll be so surprised how much these taste like birthday cake!
Have a wonderful day!!
xo, Hayley
Heather @ Sugar Dish Me says
I’m having a major Easter candy hangover. We did “brunch” which actually means we had no real food all day and just ate LOTS of candy (because my mom is so cool that she still makes me an Easter basket), champagne, champagne, champagne, a slice of ham, a pile of fruit and then… more candy.
These look awesome, though. Maybe next year? When I’ve recovered?
Kelly @ Hidden Fruits and Veggies says
I’d never heard of a smoreo, that’s the most adorable word I think I will ever hear. This is one of the few times I’m so so sad I’m a vegetarian. Marshmallow peeps are everywhere and I vaguely remember loving them when I was little. Cake flavored marshmallows jsut dont even seem fair.
faithcatherine says
I’ve never heard of a s’mOreo, but that sounds absolutely delicious! Especially cake flavored ones; ohmygoodness.
cookingactress says
Easter isn’t my most favorite either. But these s’moreos look AWESOME! Yum yummers.
Now I’m all icked out thinking about all those creeps we encountered/that terrifying bunny in your photo.
Chung-Ah (@damn_delicious) says
You are adorable! And dude, can you mail me some of these smores? I need them as a post-workout snack!
Nicole @ Young, Broke and Hungry says
That picture of you with the giant evil Easter bunny is gunna give me nightmares tonight. I am surprised you didn’t have to go to therapy. Moving on to happier subjects like Cake Batter Marshmallows, I am loving how you s’mOreod them. These are the best kind of birthday treat I can think of.
Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking says
Oh my god, that is brilliant. You should’ve been included in this list… http://www.happyplace.com/15235/the-creepiest-easter-bunny-photos-ever-taken.
Heather @ French Press says
how did I not see cake flavored peeps…and i’m not a BIG Easter fan myself
Regina says
Oh my, this picture creeped me out on IG already. Your were very brave still going so close to the Spongebob imposter.
Cake flavored peeps sound amazing. We didn’t really have any Easter candy here in Vietnam.
crazyforcrust says
These are SO yum Hayley. And characters. Freaky. Especially the feeling up kind. I got one of those when I was 10 at Disneyland…
Jess @ On Sugar Mountain says
I’ve never even HEARD of SmOreos!! GAH WHY DO I MISS OUT ON THESE THINGS?! And though I never personally remember having issues with the bunny, my brother was absolutely terrified of him. Or her. We never really know if the Easter bunny is a girl or guy do we? But we can put the terrifying bunnies behind us and feast on these S’mOreos Instead!! 😀
Ashley @ Kitchen Meets Girl says
I have a picture of Doodle when he was a baby sitting on the Easter Bunny’s lap…this creepy character stuck a roll of smarties in his (own) mouth, and in the pictures it looks like a cigarette. Awful! Totally NOT awful are these S’mOreos – you are brilliant!
PapaChef says
I feel kinda bad at the way I laughed when you were describing the “Easter Bunny” sexually harassing you, but that story is golden! And Santa in the background casually leaving some special coal in a chimney?? I’m sorry, I know it must have been traumatic looking back at that, but oh man.. I’m SO glad you did. That was a good, 1:30 in the morning laugh.
The birthday cake smoreos… my teeth hurt looking at them! But from your description, it sounds like an awesome creation!
The Domestic Rebel says
Thankfully, Birthday Cake S’mOreos make up for traumatic childhood memories 🙂
[email protected] says
Not a huge fan of peeps, but I’m pretty sure I could get on board with them being toasted! These are pretty amazing!
ashley says
Oh man this made me laugh so hard. That Easter bunny really is creepy!! I’m not a huge fan of traditional Easter food, either. I filled up on desserts this past weekend 🙂