A Miniony Little Christmas.

These were in the store, in with the seasonal foods:

I was a little baffled, I confess. First, I didn't know Peeps was making Minions products. It's amazing how they've spread out; just a few years ago you only ever saw Peeps at Easter, and only as chicks and bunnies. Now movie tie-ins? And why now? The Minions movie doesn't open until July, and yet the Peeps site says that this product is only available "for a limited time only".

A few days later, though, it became a little more clear as I saw the first of what would prove to be a series of Minions-packaged Christmas Peeps: the others don't look like Minions, but they have the little yellow dudes on the packaging. Here's one:

Which I, being a hard-boiled reporter, felt obliged to try, in fulfillment of my mission to inform the public.

The Hot Cocoa & Cream Peep was weird, but all Peeps are kind of weird. If you don't like the taste of sugar, you shouldn't be eating a Peep, is my first note. You may have had other chocolate-flavored Peeps, and that's what the chicks are, but their little chicky butts have been dipped in a kind of white-chocolate intended to simulate cream. They could have called it Hot Cocoa & Marshmallow, but all Peeps are marshmallow, and the cream part is not; it is a pedestrian-quality white chocolate.

Still, Dave the Minion, who as you see by the label is now an Official Peeps Taste Tester, appears to approve, and I'll give it a thumbs-up. If Peeps are the kind of thing you like, you will likely like this kind of Peep.

Interesting that Just Born, the company that makes Peeps, now has Minions working for it. According to the IMDB description of the upcoming movie, "Minions evolve through the ages, perpetually serving the most despicable of masters." Can the manufacturers of Peeps be vile and despicable? Yipe!