S'more {Peep} Casserole

First off . . . I'm alive. I know . . . it's been forEVER and I've probably lost every follower I had. So sorry!! I've hit a wall as far as crafting goes. I had a sweet baby boy in December and just haven't gotten back in the groove. I really need something like this . . . a "me" thing . . . so I'm going to work on bringing this poor blog back to life!

Okay! So I found this adorable idea on my friend, Heather's, blog. You can find her original post {HERE}. I fell in love with it . . . and anything that involves Peeps . . . LOVE.

Here's what you need:

1 sleeve graham crackers {crushed in a large baggie using a heavy rolling pin}

1/3 cup brown sugar {I like more brown sugar so I use 1/2 cup}

8 marshmallow Peeps

1 cup plain Easter M&M's

1 quart mason jar {I used a paper circle for the lid and some ribbon to decorate}

{to make you'll need to following}

1 stick butter {melted}

1 tsp vanilla extract

I went to Walmart looking for jars and found this box of 12 Mainstays brand for under $8. Can't beat that!!

I've made three of these now. The first time I had a hard time squeezing in all of the M&M's at the end, so the second time I mixed the M&M's with the graham cracker/brown sugar mixture . . . then it was hard to squeeze the Peeps in at the end. So the third time I decided to just layer everything. It turned out the cutest but still was hard to squeeze the Peeps in.

haha . . . slightly crazy, but I got them all in. NEXT time I'm going to pour in half of the graham cracker/brown sugar mixture, then M&M's, then Peeps, then I'm going to pour in the last half of the crumb mixture. I'm thinking this will work better . . . maybe?? haha

To make:

Dump all of the jar contents into a large bowl. Take out the Peeps and either cut them into small or large chunks or save and layer them whole on top of mixture before baking. Melt 1 stick of butter and add to bowl along with 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix well until everything is coated evenly. Dump into a greased 8x8 baking dish {or whatever you have . . . I don't have one small enough so I used a pie pan} and, with greased fingers, firmly pat the mixture down.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool COMPLETELY before cutting into them so they don't crumble.

A perfect teacher gift or just to swing by a friends house to let them know you're thinking of them.

Happy Easter!!!