Thursday, April 22, 2010

Russell Stover Giant S’mores Bar & Mint Dream

Russell Stover Giant S'mores BarThere are a lot of candy bars that try to emulate fresh fireside S’mores. Russell Stover may have hit on the closest thing.

The Girl Scout Handbook is the first recorded transcription of the recipe. For the uninitiated, S’mores are constructed like this: a fresh toasted marshmallow is mashed on top of a piece of milk chocolate between two graham crackers. Three great tastes are made better by their association.

I don’t consider S’mores themselves to be a candy, because they violate one of the primary rules of candy: it must be ready to eat and require no cooking or assembly.

The Russell Stover Giant S’mores Bar takes the assembly and toasting out of the equation.

I had to buy my bars online at the Russell Stover webstore because I couldn’t find them in any of the shops near me. At $1.49 it’s a bit more expensive than other candy bars, but it’s also unique so I figured it was worth it.

Russell Stover Giant S'mores Bar

The bar looks exactly as it’s depicted on the wrapper. The 2.5” graham cracker squares sandwich a large square of milk chocolate covered marshmallow.

In all instances at least one of my graham crackers wasn’t quite stuck to my marshmallow, but reassembly was simple.

It was messy, biting into the corners was fine, but the deeper I got into the bar the more crumbling of the graham cracker and flaking of the chocolate I got. The marshmallow center was moist and fluffy, just like all the other chocolate marshmallow products from Russell Stover. The chocolate tasted milky and fresh. The graham cracker tasted like cereal and kept it all from being too sickly sweet.

In case you’re wondering, yes, you can microwave it. I put it in the microwave for 15 seconds, but took it out at 12 when the innards came oozing out. It makes a horrible gooey mess and the marshmallow deflates into a sticky latex bonding agent that gets dry and tacky. I lost a lot of it to the plate.

I’d say in the future I will just lay in a stockpile of whatever seasonal marshmallow product is around, like the Marshmallow Egg and then get my own graham crackers to make my own since these are so hard to find. It’s a great idea and pretty well executed with good quality ingredients.

Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Mint DreamThe other item that prompted me to do my web order was the Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Mint Dream. They’ve been out for about a year, but I hadn’t seen them in stores. (I thought for sure they’d do an Easter version.)

The dark chocolate puck is a fluffy mint cream covered in dark chocolate.

It’s about the same size as the holiday Eggs, at 1.125 ounces it’s a nicely sized portion and rather economical on the calorie front with only 140 calories.

Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Mint Dream

I bought three of them and all of them had cracks with innards leaking out. But still, they’re handsome and well proportioned at about two inches in diameter and about 1.25 inches high.

Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Mint Dream

I feel a little bad reviewing these because of the cracking problem. I can’t say for sure what the filling is supposed to be, as I wasn’t sure if the leaking problem meant that the texture changed. The inside was similar in texture to the Raspberry Whip, but perhaps smoother. It’s almost a marshmallow, just as fluffy but the ingredients list no gelatin.

The mint is light and fresh, the center has a little salty note to it to even out the sugary sweetness. The dark chocolate isn’t terribly rich but it’s still creamy and not so sweet that it makes it all too cloying. It’s different from the fondant style of a Junior Mint, far fluffier and creamier. It’s enrobed instead of panned with a light glaze, so the chocolate melt is better. I would probably buy these again and would be willing to re-evaluate the breakage and seeping issue at that time.

Related Candies

  1. Russell Stover Color Me Candies
  2. Peeps Mash Ups - Savory
  3. Russell Stover Marshmallow Rabbits
  4. Snickers Rockin’ Nut Road Bar
  5. Junior Mints Deluxe
  6. Russell Stover Eggs (2007 edition)
  7. Artisan Marshmallows: Plush Puffs
  8. Hershey’s S’mores


Name: Giant S’mores Bar
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Russell Stover
Place Purchased: RussellStover.com webstore
Price: $1.49
Size: 2 ounces
Calories per ounce: 115
Categories: Russell Stover, Chocolate, Cookie, Marshmallow, 7-Worth It, United States


Name: Dark Chocolate Mint Dream
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Russell Stover
Place Purchased: RussellStover.com
Price: $.69
Size: 1.125 ounces
Calories per ounce: 124
Categories: Russell Stover, Chocolate, 6-Tempting, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:28 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewRussell StoverChocolateCookieMarshmallowMints6-Tempting7-Worth ItUnited States

Comments
  1. sweet charlotte! russell stover please send me some!

    Comment by vanillasugar on 4/22/10 at 3:14 pm #
  2. sdswcu's avatar

    Good timing since the official start of S’mores season is Memorial Day.

    Comment by sdswcu on 4/23/10 at 7:19 am #
  3. Hey,

    I wanted to let you know that smores come out much better when you use a chocolate covered graham cracker.  I find that a square of hershey chocolate does not melt enough.

    Comment by celia on 4/24/10 at 5:36 am #
  4. I love the mint dreams but can’t find them anywhere!  Where did you get yours or do you know who sells them?

    Comment by Pam Walter on 4/24/10 at 10:27 am #
  5. Mint Dreams (milk chocolate, not dark) are SCRUMPDILLYICIOUS!!!  Have been eating these for decades.  Fluffy, whipped mint cream center dipped in milk chocolate.  Perfect consistency and taste!

    Comment by George Pitt on 7/18/13 at 7:16 am #
  6. Yes, where are the Mint Dreams in California, milk or dark chocolate? Any why have they been gone so long? Everyone who has ever had even one wants to continuing having them forever and to share with the younger gen.

    Comment by Barbara on 5/09/14 at 6:45 pm #
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