Trader Joe’s Peppermint Marshmallows, reviewed

 I love marshmallow creme and fluffy, fresh jet-puffed marshmallows in both jumbo and mini sizes, but I am incredibly picky about “gourmet” marshmallows. Does that make me a marshmallow snob, or just a connoisseur? These high-priced marshmallows have been becoming more and more common over the past couple of holiday seasons and are now appearing in more places and flavors than ever before. Picky though I am, I almost always try gourmet marshmallows when I see them. Natually, when I found out taht Trader Joe’s just introduced their own gourmet Peppermint Marshmallows, I had to pick up a box.

The mallows had an odd pink color running through them to look like a swirl of mint, but the smell coming from the box was quite strong and I doubt there would be any mistaking the flavor of these sweets. I popped a whole one into my mouth. The mint was strong and, unfortunately, not at all pleasant. That first marshmallow was so overwhelmingly minty that I actually couldn’t finish it. The next day, I tried again and found that while the precise amount of mint flavor seemed to vary slightly by individual marsmallow, just about all were over-the-top minty.

As much as I love mint, I’m just not a big fan of these even though I had high hopes for the product. TJ’s suggests serving the marshmallows with hot chocolate and I think that would be a far better application for these than trying to eat them straight. The mintiness would be mellowed by a strong chocolate flavor and, of course, chocolate and mint are an excellent combination in general.

For now, I’ll be sticking with my own homemade marshmallows, in either the original formulation or my peppermint variation if I want a mint fix.