Today was pretty Mondayish right up until I went to the store. I needed lights for the kitchen and while I was there I figured I’d look and see if there was anything interesting and chocolaty to be found. Ritter Sport found it’s way into my grubby hands but the true catch of the day was a package of Peeps Cocoa Cats.

Yes, I am one of those sick-headed individuals that actually enjoys Peeps. I’ve loved them all my life and look forward to each of the Peep holidays of the year. I tend to get one package each holiday and usually wait until they are 75% off to buy them and slowly eat them over a few months, but I really really wanted some Cocoa Cats. I’ve had a hard time finding chocolate that I’m excited about lately and this had me excited on the spot.

So just how are these little critters? Well, the rule I’m going to run with is this: if you like Peeps and like instant hot chocolate then give them a shot. It’s a good shot you’ll like them. If you don’t like Peeps then don’t expect these to change your attitude toward them in any way. They smell like a freshly opened packet of instant hot chocolate (not the good real hot chocolate, but the stuff that comes with those crunchy little mini-marshmallows in it). They taste like a Peep with cocoa in it. Really, that’s the best description I can offer. Sorry!

So, yeah, they’re good and Peep-elicious and all, but there is more to the humble Peep than just a painfully sweet sugar coated marshmallow critter. There is potential. Over the past couple of years we have seen a number of recipes for Peeps the most popular of them being Peeps Brûlée. The proper way to do Peeps Brûlée is to let the Peeps air cure for a week or two and get good and stale and then kill on an open flame. Me, I’m impatient. And I can’t do the open flame thing in my apartment (the rabbit is afraid of smoke and my smoke detector is supernaturally powerful and unbelievably LOUD). But I refuse to allow that to ruin my fun! I set the back burner on high and impaled a Peep on a dipping fork and let the poor little critter burn!

Without an open flame you get some very…. scary results. But the important thing is how they are to eat! The inside is like marshmallow foam - cocoa flavored marshmallow foam. The inside is great. The outside is moderately caramelized but super sweet and chewy and doesn’t do it for me like the insides.

Ok, not perfect Brûlée but pretty tasty stuff. I'm going to let the extras sit and stale for a few days and see if I can't get my hands on a proper crème brûlée torch and try it again. Yes, I will make this sacrifice for you, my dear readers.

After two rounds of brûlée and one raw I had one spare Peep. Rather than allowing it to escape unscathed I decided to see what happens when you put one of them in the microwave (I've seen pictures on the great and powerful internet so I had a good idea what would happen). I wish I could get a good picture of the monstrosity in my microwave because a nuclear Peep at the height of it’s power is a sight to behold. It grows HUGE – like six times it’s normal volume or more. I pulled it from the nuke-o-matic and tried to capture the majestic mutation, but it deflates pretty quickly and becomes a horrible puddle of inedible (yes, I tried to eat it) goo.

Okay, bottom line of the whole Cocoa Cat experience is as I stated before: If you like Peeps then give them a shot. If you don’t like Peeps then it’s pretty safe to say you won’t be enjoying these a whole lot.