Testing 1, 2, 3: Mixed reviews for new Stuffed Puffs marshmallows
S’mores!
A campfire tradition codified for the United States in the 1927 Girl Scout handbook.
Simply put, those directions called for a roasted marshmallow atop a generous slab of chocolate, sandwiched between graham crackers. This simple recipe has worked for 10 decades.
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Except for Michael Tierney, who complained that his marshmallows never produced the heat necessary to melt his chocolate.
“It (the chocolate) was always ice cold and slid around on the graham cracker like a hockey puck on ice,” is how he described the problem for a magazine interview.
In 2008, Tierney, then 19, was relaxing around a campfire with friends when he decided to address his s’mores problem. He literally took matters into his own hands and split his marshmallow, stuffed it with chocolate, then roasted it.
Problem solved.
Eleven years later, his marshmallow experiment evolved into Stuffed Puffs and appeared on Walmart grocery shelves across the country.
His Puffs might look the same as any marshmallow. The difference is in the chocolate stuffing and in the price, roughly 46 cents per ounce versus about 13 cents for the traditional.
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Chloey Byrd, Maddy Hale and Lyra Kane, all of Wooster, took a break from Boys and Girls Club summer camp to determine whether the Stuffed Puffs classic white as well as its companion chocolate-on-chocolate version, are worth the extra cost.
Things got off to a good start as they studied the packaging. They liked the color choices, the artwork but especially the lettering.
“I like the cartoon style and the lettering really catches your eye,” Byrd praised. Kane agreed, “I like how the word ‘Puffs' is puffed up …The lettering is really unique.”
The fluffy appearance produced another unanimous set of positives. However, when it came to aroma, it was a different story.
For the classic white, all was good. The chocolate-on-chocolate version, being totally chocolate from the inside out, caused some concern in at least one of our testers. Byrd’s hesitant “Er, I don’t know if I am going to like it,” was contrary to her fellow campers who pronounced the triple chocolatey scent unquestionably yummy.
Too much cocoa, not enough sweet
Tasting the chocolate-on-chocolate proved a total disappointment as all three girls rated it below par.
I agreed with them. The overwhelming impression here was cocoa, not the sweet smoothness of milk chocolate I was looking for.
The classic white fared much better with the young ladies who declared it soft, smooth and funky. With that — the white was their unanimous choice for their smores — it was off to the microwave (no campfire available) with graham crackers and Stuffed Puffs in hand.
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Ooh and aahs greeted the microwaved s’mores as the girls quickly checked out the taste factor. The stuffed-marshmallow s’mores were a smashing success with Hale and Kane.
“Yes, I prefer this marshmallow over the regular one,” Hale decided.
Kane was even more impressed. “The next time we go camping, I am going to ask my dad to go with these.”
However, Byrd and I voted for the traditional marshmallow and chocolate bar combo. I must say, those 1927 Girl Scouts were spot-on by calling for lots of chocolate in their recipe.
The 1927 Girl Scout guide includes a word of warning to readers along with the s’more recipe. “Though it tastes like ‘some more,’ one is really enough.”
That was 95 years ago. National S’mores Day (Aug. 10) is just around the corner, providing the perfect 2022 excuse to indulge, maybe even with Stuffed Puffs.
Until next time …
Reach Cami by email at camboh49@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Testing 1, 2, 3: Mixed reviews for new Stuffed Puffs marshmallows
