Camping Marshmallows

Way back on an early camping trip, we decided that we should get *extra* with campfire marshmallows.

I can’t remember what inspired us - I’m guessing we saw one of the fancier types on a trip to Canadian Tire - but the idea set.

Sure, regular marshmallows are a traditional standby for traditional s’mores... but what if we wanted to do something different?

Like GIANT s’mores... or rainbow s’mores?

So, we bought a few different kinds of marshmallows, and had a big ol’ taste test.

You know. For science.

In the end, some marshmallows weren’t great.

Some weren’t amazing as s’mores, specifically... but were fun as a standalone roasted marshmallow. One was.. A little concerning.

... and one marshmallow stood out above all others.

We’ll probably update this post in the future, if we end up coming across others we want to review... in the meantime, here are our findings:

Note: We bought all of the reviewed marshmallows with our own money, and have not been approached or reimbursed by any brand or retailer for reviewing them. 100% legit review, here!

Campfire Marshmallows - Reviews!

Here’s what we thought of a few of the more interesting options out there - we’ll work our way up from the bottom of the pile, to our absolute favourite marshmallows of all time.

Rainbow Twist Marshmallows

Before the current situation happened - and I mean like... a year ago - we bought a few packages of these Rainbow Twist Marshmallows on a big order from Amazon in the USA.

Honestly, not much to say... beyond “it’s not a camping marshmallow”!

They’re much smaller than the photos made them out to be, and won’t fit on any roasting stick easily. Better to keep these as a non-roasted tasty treat.

Our rating: 1/10 as a roasting marshmallow, 4/10 as a snack marshmallow.

Jet-Puffed Color Changers

Placed on the same order as the rainbow twists, we had to buy these Jet-Puffed Color Changers Marshmallows because they sounded so WEIRD.

This bag of marshmallows comes with two different colours in it - Hot pink and a sky blue, both about the size of regular marshmallows.

The gimmick here - beyond the wild colour - is that they CHANGE colour when roasted.

And they actually did... sort of.

The hot pink marshmallows turned a little orange, and the blue ones went a little green. You had to get the marshmallows a little brown before any colour came through, though, which seemed to defeat the purpose.

We both tried one each, of each colour... and that was enough for us.

They didn’t taste bad or anything - they just tasted like regular marshmallows - but the whole colour change thing was a bit weird for us.

Maybe we’re purists, but intensely coloured marshmallows are a bit weird on their own... without wondering what had been done to make them change colour. (Oleoresin turmeric, if you’re also wondering!)

Our rating: 4/10. Fun as a novelty, a cute idea... but a bit too weird. Maybe we’re getting old?

President’s Choice Maple Marshmallows

President's Choice Maple Flavour Marshmallows are quite a bit easier to come by, as they’re carried by most of the Loblaws brand of grocery stores.

These are perfect marshmallow for making s’mores. They’re bigger then regular marshmallows, but that’s diameter only.

They’re hockey puck shaped and wide enough to nicely cover the top of the graham cracker, while also being the right thickness to mostly REMAIN between the graham crackers, when eaten.

The maple flavour is subtle, but nice.

This is a marshmallow that would work well with all kinds of cookies, when making more alternative s’mores: think peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, etc.

If you want to be really extra, you could try making S’mores with maple creme cookies... but you’d probably want to cut the marshmallow in half.

They’re WAY too big for those maple cookies, as is!

Our rating: 7/10. Would be higher, if more maple flavour.

Campside Super Giant Rainbow Marshmallows

These live up to their name - they are GIANT marshmallows! They’re almost too big for s’mores, but they’re great as-is.

They’re perfect for the way I roast marshmallows: Toast the outside (either golden brown or charred to death, depending on my mood), then pull the “skin” off and eat that... then re-roast the remaining marshmallow mass.

You can get a lot of rounds of roasting and peeling, with marshmallows this size!

They come in four colours, each with a different colour inside. (You can see both colours on the ends, though).

The ingredients list the flavours used as being “Vanilla, Strawberry, Orange, Peach, Apple”, but we really just taste them as a generic, “fruity” mashup, kind of on the subtle side.

We’ve seen them - and/or this brand in general - available at Canadian Tire, Sobeys, Giant Tiger, and Party City... though availability seems to be a bit sporadic.

Our rating: 8/10 for roasting on their own, 7/10 for s’mores. They’re nice, but a bit too big!

Campside Super Giant Twister Marshmallows

Our final review of this post. Same brand as the last ones, but these ones blow them away just based on aesthetics.

Like the giant rainbow marshmallows, these list multiple fruit flavours in the ingredients: Vanilla, Strawberry, Orange, Peach, Apple, and Grape, in this case.

A bag has about 28 Marshmallows, we usually buy them for about $5-6 at Canadian Tire, though the brand is sometimes available at Sobeys, Giant Tiger, and/or Party City.

They taste fine. Again, kind of a generic, subtle fruity flavour. Nothing offensive, nothing really in your face, not really anything to write home about, on that front.

It’s a good, solid marshmallow taste.

But seriously, LOOK at this:

A marshmallow that very accurately matches the sunset you’re enjoying over Lake Huron?

Amaze.

Then you toast it up, and those high/low points make for THE most aesthetically pleasing roasted marshmallow you’ll ever see:

Tell me that’s not ART.

They even make gorgeous s’mores:

*Happy sigh*

Anyway, when you peel that outer layer off, you’re left with swirls of colour. Not as amazing, but still pretty enough without being off-putting:

Anyway, maybe I entertain too easily or am too much of a ho for aesthetics sometimes, but - IMHO - a more visually satisfying roasting marshmallow has never existed.

The fact that it tastes good as well? Perfect.

Our rating: 10/10, You definitely need to get your hands on some before your next camping trip. Especially if sunsets over a lake are involved!

More Camping Snack Recipes & Ideas

Looking for great ideas to cook on a campfire, bring on a road trip, enjoy while RVing? Here's a few simple recipes to start with!

Apple Fritter Bread Pudding
Basic Ground Beef Jerky
Campfire Walking Tacos
Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread
Fire Roasted Spiced Nuts
Homemade Mushroom Jerky
Hot Chocolate Mix [Protein Powder Mix]
Jalapeno Cheddar Bannock
Jalapeno Chicken Jerky
Maple Cinnamon Apple Chips
Maple Snow Taffy
No Bake S'Mores Bars
Pepperoni Jerky
Roast Chestnuts on an Open Fire
Rosemary & Blueberry Beef Jerky
S'Mores Board
S'Mores Trail Mix
Tofu Jerky, 2 Ways
Traditional Bannock

... But wait, there's more! We've been having so much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!