Taste Test: Trader Joe's S'Mores Frozen Sandwiches
S'mores, by definition, are a hot treat, the perfect vessel for a marshmallow that's been freshly roasted over a campfire; tucked into two graham cracker squares along with a square of melty chocolate, it's nothing short of one of life's greatest simple pleasures. But what happens when you try to take that goodness and convert it into ice cream sandwich form? The results could be earth-shattering, but they unfortunately aren't in the case of the ones that Trader Joe's sells.
These "frozen sandwiches," which come four to a box, claim to be "graham crackers with marshmallow-chocolate swirl gelato and milk chocolate flakes." Sounds great, but the results were a little different. Our taste testers couldn't identify any of that classic s'mores flavor, largely because the marshmallow flavor was absent (and we know they're not Ben & Jerry's, but a hit of real marshmallow swirled in would have been nice, too). And while the cookie looked the part, it didn't taste much like a real graham cracker, oddly enough. The chocolate pieces were nice, though, but the whole sandwich didn't taste anything like a s'more.
The texture also left something to be desired. It melted almost instantly, and the cookie became sticky and fell apart as soon as it was picked up. The gelato also wasn't creamy at all, and had more of an icy texture before it dissolved into a watery mess. Also, the term "ice cream" is nowhere to be found, leading us to believe that the laws allowing use of the word "gelato" instead are a little more lenient.
The classic ice cream sandwich, with its vanilla ice cream inside and chocolate cookie outside, is usually enough to satisfy, and this will do just fine as a replacement. But if you're looking for a s'mores-eating experience translated into ice cream sandwich form, you're going to have to look elsewhere.
Each sandwich contains 250 calories, 8 grams of fat, 43 grams of carbohydrates, and 23 grams of sugar.