Sucking the sugar out of Easter

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Sucking the sugar out of Easter

POSTED: Friday, March 20, 2009, 5:00 PM

Filed Under: Product Placement | Vegetarian

Photo l Felicia D'Ambrosio

But will they explode in the microwave?

Today I just noticed Just Born Sugar-Free Peeps in the hyper-pastel Easter candy aisle at CVS.ï¿½ The diatetic treats are made with Splenda, and carry the appetizing warning that "excessive consumption may cause stomach discomfort and/or a mild laxative effect." Good times! Anyway, since that the female half of Meal Ticket is a card-carrying candy fiend, the sugarless marshmallow chicks had to be put to the test in a side by side comparison with traditional, corn-syrup filled Peeps.

PEEP SMACKDOWN MATRIX
	Traditional Corn-Syrup Peeps	Sugar-Free Splenda Peeps
Looks	Slightly mashed and misshapen, these are less than gorgeous, even in spring green	Packaged in a wasteful but effective plastic box, these chicks get the star treatment and wind upï¿½ looking cartoonishly perfect
Price to Serving Ratio	$1.50 for 10 Peeps, two 5-Peep servings	$1.50 for three larger-than-average Peeps, equaling one serving
Taste & Texture	Crispy sugar exterior provides a subtle crunch to the very soft, fresh Peep marshmallow. Very sweet.	No sugary crunch or texture contrast. Marshmallow is still soft, but does not spring back when bitten. Less sweet than regular Peeps, with a slight chemical off-flavor characteristic of sugar alcohols.
Microwave Explodability, 30 sec on High	Behaved in the predictable manner, blowing up and tilting over, revealing a burnt, stiff sugar interior	Swelled into a hostile blob-like MegaPeep. Yellow coating melted off and formed a toxic lake. Interior turned brown and taffy-like, very chewy.
Calories per Serving	140 calories per 5 Peep serving, 0g fat, 34g sugar	60 calories per 3 Peep serving, 0g fat, 0g sugar
Conclusions	Gold-standard Easter basket filler. Cheap, unhealthy and way sweet. A classic.	Lacks the crispy outside/soft inside texture contrast that makes original Peeps so well-loved, but if you can't eat sugar, these are a decent substitute.

Visit Just Born's Web site, marshmallowpeeps.com, to find stores that carry Sugar-Free Peeps, or to take a tour of the Just Born factory in Bethlehem.

Posted by Felicia D'Ambrosio @ 5:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews here — those are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

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