The candy horror that is --- circus peanuts

I *lovelovelove* circus peanuts. There's nothing quite as awesome as legume-shaped lumps of pure straight-up sugar with orange coloring to ruin my daughters' day.

Meaning, of course, that I love to give 'em to the babies. Great fun ensues, especially when I save THAT little present until right before they get in the car for the four-hour drive back to Kentucky. Occasionally, I'll have one myself and then I spend the next week writhing in agony while my molars protest.

They're OK if I can't find any styrofoam packing peanuts and I have something fragile to ship. Other than that, no.

You know--circus peanuts last almost as long as packing peanuts. That presents a whole realm of possibilities for any Doomsday Preppers out there.

I must have lived a sheltered childhood, as I've never had a circus peanut before. Didn't even know what it was until I looked it up just now.

Doesn't appear too appetizing, so maybe I didn't miss out on much...

Circus Peanuts!

My recollection was of a much softer confection than the hard ones I find nowadays.

*sigh*

But I do still buy them on occasion. Brach's is the only brand I see on store shelves locally. Bland, more of a funky puffed candy of sorts.

I adore circus peanuts. In fact, just the other day, I ate an entire bag of them (in two sittings). And now that I'm thinking about them, I'm considering making hubs drive to the store and get me some more.

Poor Silver! Obviously that particular candy has built-in appeal for children, and not so much for adults.

Silver King said:

I must have lived a sheltered childhood, as I've never had a circus peanut before.

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Me neither. In fact, I've never been to the circus either.

http://nuts.com/chocolatessweets/old-time-candy/circus-peanuts/original.html?gclid=CIvW59vHoa8CFQ4zhwod6CfIZg


They are orange marshmallow candies.

I use to like them, but only if fresh. When old they get hard.

Aw! They are very nostalgic for me, so yes, I do like them.

My paternal grandmother, a very austere woman, always had either orange circus peanuts or sugar 'orange slices' in her candy jar. You'd think that getting caught with your hand in the candy jar would be a bad experience at her place, because she was so incredibly rule-based. Nope. It always made her smile this sneaky smile

They were her favorites! That always cracked me up. Her, too.

Ew. No. They're the worst.

I love them, probably partly because my great grandmother had them on a dish in her room. We couldn't eat candy, so my cousin and I would go visit her almost every day to have a circus peanut.

I haven't had one of those things in years!

the last argument my husband and i ever had was over circus peanuts. swear to god. he had a bag of those nasty pastel colored ones hidden from the kids--it was easter and they were on a peeps, jelly egg and circus peanut binge. i came across the bag and ate it out of sheer boredom. he was pissed because he loved them and i don't even like them. so he proceeded to eat my white choc bunny's nose for spite. --good times, good times--s6

I loved those things as a kid, but they were different then. Most everything I remember from my childhood has changed in some way, and not for the better. As SWest mentioned, they were definitely softer and memory (the tricky devil) says they tasted better than they do now. So, I voted I'd eat them if I was starving.

All I have to say is.......

Ew.

Having googled them, I think I've seen those things. I don't think I've ever eaten one.

At K-Mart circus peanuts are sold next to my other favorite, toasted coconut-covered marshmallows.

I like circus peanuts. I haven't had them in a long time. I also like candy corn and orange slices, none of which I've had in a long time.

Alessandra Kelley said:

It's like eating slightly mummified, banana-flavoured nougat.

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Um. Well. Gotta get me summa that, then. Ahem.

So...it sounds like these things are akin to those mysterious orange Hallowe'en blobs that come in waxed paper wrappers and are oddly addictive despite being utterly revolting in flavour.