Sweet & Sara Vegan S’mores

“S’mores” is a treat that instantly conjures up childhood memories: a crackling fire, vegetation crunching underfoot, and curls of smoke rising from marshmallows when they’re just right to pinch between layers of chocolate and graham crackers.

Well, throw that image out the window for the moment. I’m sitting at my dining room table on a relaxed Sunday morning, television blaring from the other room and a bored cat pawing at my foot. What better time, what better place, for an honest and unbiased review of – you know what.

Will s’mores taste as good without the campfire? Will I feel lazy eating pre-assembled s’mores? Most importantly, will vegan s’mores taste as good as the real thing? It’s time to find out.

Appearance

There is one major difference between Sweet & Sara s’mores and homemade s’mores from summer campfires: S&S are premade, shipped around the U.S. and ready to enjoy. They’re not the traditional sandwich variety; in fact, at first glance they look like a chocolate moon pie. But Sweet & Sara has managed to retain a charming, homemade quality to their products that I can really appreciate. (Translation: I might get away with serving them to friends as my own!)

These babies are large, so I cut mine in half. Doing so reveals the nice tri-layer effect and seems a little less messy to eat.

Smell

Once I cut in, I get a whiff of dark Belgian chocolate, and a lingering aroma of “healthy” whole-grain cracker. This dessert doesn’t smell particularly sweet, but that’s a good thing. The marshmallow is bound to make up the difference.

Taste Verdict

At room temperature (which the label recommends), Sweet & Sara S’mores are tasty. The vegan chocolate and marshmallow taste like their non-vegan counterparts. The graham-cracker-crumb base tempers the sweetness of the marshmallow, but could use more crunch. It also feels too thick in comparison to the delicate chocolate coating. Most of all – which I was not expecting – I miss the ooze factor and feel the flavors lack intensity. So I finish most of it, and nuke a few bites in the microwave. What a difference!

Heat gently in the microwave for a few seconds, and the flavors get a welcome boost. This vegan marshmallow can get its goo on, after all! The flavor of the chocolate permeates every bite, and the graham cracker base really starts making sense. A cautionary word though: because of the construction of these s’mores, heating them up is going to make a big mess, and you’ll most likely need to eat them with a fork.

All in all, I enjoyed my first encounter with vegan s’mores. Next time I plan on ordering some of Sweet & Sara’s specialty marshmallows and experimenting with my own vegan s’more concoctions. When it comes down to it, I’ve determined that making them is half the fun. And, even without a skewer and a campfire, a little heat will pull all the ingredients together and provide a killer dessert. (Yes, even for grown-ups.)

Purchase your own vegan marshmallows and vegan s’mores! And come back and tell us what you think! Sweet and Sara vegan treats