The Best Marshmallows You Can Buy at the Store

I believe that a marshmallow's highest calling is to be the binding agent in a batch of Rice Krispies Treats. The classic after-school bars are one of the purest, most perfect things in this godforsaken world: sweet, toasty, and (if you add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the back-of-the-box recipe, as I am fond of doing) salty—plus they take all of 15 minutes to make.

But marshmallows do have other noble purposes. Namely: s'mores, hot chocolate, rocky road–inspired treats, and—if you must—sweet potato casserole. We wanted to find the best marshmallows for all of these tasks, so we gathered eight brands of classic (i.e. not mini) marshmallows for an official Epi Taste Test, including a few gelatin-free varieties. The winner, Campfire Marshmallows, are ideal for summer bonfires, back-to-school treats, and any other marshmallow moments you value. For our methodology and the full list of marshmallows we tasted, scroll to the bottom of the page. First up, the rankings!

Our Favorite Marshmallows: Campfire

Straight out of the bag, these marshmallows are puffy, pillowy, and as light as I imagine a marshmallow can get. When roasted over an open flame, Campfire's marshmallows charred evenly while the insides turned gooey throughout. While making cereal treats, the marshmallows melted evenly and quickly and turned out bars with ideal levels of chew and crunch. But frankly, Jet-Puffed (which is probably the most prolific brand of marshmallows) performed equally well in all of these tasks. What really put Campfire over the edge was its flavor. Some marshmallows had a chalky, powdery taste; others an intense, almost medicinal quality; and others a wisp of absolute nothingness, but Campfire's neutral, totally mild, vaguely vanilla undertones triumphed over its competitors.

BUY IT: Campfire Marshmallows, $2 for a 10-ounce bag on Instacart

The Best Marshmallows for Baking (Among Other Things): Trader Joe's

If you are the kind of person who snacks on marshmallows out of the bag, you may prefer these vegan, gelatin-free marshmallows. They are more dense than the pillowy varieties (i.e. Jet-Puffed, Campfire), but several members of our tasting panel actually preferred their chewiness over the lighter varieties' tendency to dissolve as soon as they hit your tongue. Even more surprising, when we roasted the marshmallows in the oven, the airy varieties of marshmallows ballooned to three times their size, transformed into an unappealing foam, and then collapsed as soon as they were removed from the heat. Trader Joe's only puffed slightly but melted into a river of saucy, delicious molten marshmallow.

However, when roasted on a skewer over an open flame, the outside of Trader Joe's marshmallows charred unevenly (and took a longer time to do so) than those lighter guys, and by the time the exterior was beyond charred the centers were still solid. When making Rice Krispies Treats, these marshmallows practically seized as they melted, turning into one stiff mass instead of liquifying the way the lighter marshmallows did. Because of this, the cereal was hard to stir in, resulting in a stiff, dry "treat" that none of us enjoyed.

Where can you use this information? Baking. If you're making indoor s'mores in the oven, stirring marshmallows into cookies or brownies, or putting them on top of that sweet Thanksgiving side, we think the superior roasted texture of Trader Joe's 'mallows would be the better choice. Oh, and if you can't find them, we have a sneaking suspicion that Dandies are the exact same marshmallow.

BUY IT: Trader Joe's Marshmallows, $3 for a 10-ounce bag in store at Trader Joes'
BUY IT: Dandies All-Natural Vanilla Marshmallows, $4 for a 10-ounce bag at Thrive Market

What We Were Looking For

We wanted to find the best-tasting, best-textured classic marshmallow. That meant a pillowy puff that melted easily, didn't fall off a stick when roasted, and had some hint of vanilla flavoring. We only tasted vanilla-flavored or classically flavored marshmallows for this test—no cinnamon or pumpkin spice or peppermint marshmallows. And definitely no Peeps.

However, unlike most of our tests, we did have two outliers. First, Smash Mallow, which bills itself as the "snackable marshmallow" and comes in assorted flavors like "Strawberries and Cream" and "Cinnamon Churro"—we tasted their "Toasted Vanilla" flavor here. We also sampled Stuffed Puffs, which are filled with a chocolate truffle–like ball that melts when you roast it, ostensibly bypassing the need for a chocolate bar when making s'mores (we live in exciting times).

How We Tested

The first round of tasting involved eating the marshmallows plain, straight out of the package. Next we roasted each contender on a sheet pan to see how they would fare in a baking situation. After a few eliminations from the first two rounds, I speared the remaining contenders with a metal skewer and roasted them over an open flame in the Test Kitchen. Finally, the top contender in each of three designated categories—airy, dense, and "outlier" marshmallows—were made into Rice Krispies Treats.

As stated above, the dense marshmallows performed very poorly in this last test. The lead outlier-marshmallow contender, Smash Mallow Toasted Vanilla, did a little better. The marshmallows melted as expected and the cereal mixed in cleanly. But though the treats tasted great after they cooled, they were tougher to chew than what we think is ideal. What's more, when eaten out of the bag, the Smash Mallows boasted almost herbal undertone of flavor, which turned many tasters off. But that same flavor intrigued Epi staffer Tiffany Hopkins, who said that while she "doesn't usually enjoy eating marshmallows by themselves," she'd happily snack on them again.

The Other Marshmallows We Tasted

In alphabetical order:

• Everyday Essentials Marshmallows
• Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows
• Kroger Marshmallows
• Smash Mallow Toasted Vanilla Marshmallows
• Stuffed Puffs Chocolate-Filled Marshmallows

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