Aldi S’mores

Campfires are a fun gathering during many times of the year, but they have a special place in the fall. As temperatures drop, a fire becomes not just a place to sit around, but also a place to warm up even in the great outdoors.

Cooking over a fire is a lot of fun, too, whether it’s hot dogs or foil packet dinners. Just as much fun — more maybe — is that time-honored campfire dessert: s’mores.

S’mores go back to at least the early 20th century, with the name a contraction of the words “some more.” How that exactly got changed isn’t entirely clear. What is clear is that if you live in the United States and Canada, you know what they are, and how to make them. In case you’re living under a rock, the answer is: toast a marshmallow over a fire, then put it and part of a chocolate bar between two Graham crackers. (One delightful variation: substitute a peanut butter cup for the chocolate bar.)

If s’mores are on your menu, Aldi has the ingredients to make them. All of these are Regular Buys, so you can find them in stores all the time.

Benton’s Graham Crackers

Benton’s Graham Crackers come in a traditional cardboard box. Inside, the cracker sheets are stacked inside three large plastic wrappers. Like most other graham crackers I’ve bought, the plastic wrap isn’t resealable, so I often use a Ziploc-style storage bag to keep them fresh once I’ve opened one of the packages.

At the time of this post, the graham crackers are $1.25 for a 14.4-ounce box — about 8.7 cents an ounce — although they can fluctuate in price.

The graham crackers come in honey or cinnamon flavors, and we’ve found that the honey variety tastes best in s’mores. We’ve found them to taste like the name brand crackers we’ve tried. They’re crispy, flaky, and have that slightly sweet flavor we’ve come to expect from graham crackers. In other words, we think these are just about right.

Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

Baker’s Corner Marshmallows

Baker’s Corner Marshmallows come in a plastic bag. The plastic bag is not resealable, so we either use a clip or tie to keep them closed or we transfer them to a Ziploc-style bag. They can be stored at room temperature, but we’ve learned the hard way in the past that if they get too warm they can melt together in a fused mess. If you’re going to be camping somewhere hot, you might want to store them in your cooler.

At post time, the marshmallows are 85 cents for a 10-ounce bag, or 8.5 cents an ounce.

These marshmallows are really good. They’re nicely sized for a s’more especially, with a just-right texture. They cook up well on a fire, making for a toasty, gooey sandwich filling.

Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

Choceur Milk Chocolate

Choceur Milk Chocolate bars come in a plastic wrapper. As with the other s’more components, the wrapper isn’t resealable, and we usually clip the wrapper closed or at least fold it over if we don’t eat all of it in one sitting. Like the marshmallows, the chocolate can melt in the heat, so we store it in a cooler if we’re going to be anywhere warm.

The chocolate currently costs $1.39 for a 5.29-ounce bar, or about 26.3 cents an ounce. We’ve seen the price fluctuate from as low as 99 cents (18.7 cents an ounce) to as high as $1.49 (28.2 cents an ounce).

We think these chocolate bars are good, although they have a slightly different taste from a Hershey’s chocolate bar. The reason: one component of the chocolate is hazelnut paste, which gives the chocolate a slightly different flavor from its name-brand counterpart. We’ve grown to really like the Aldi chocolate, but be aware that it isn’t an exact duplicate of Hershey’s.

Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The Verdict:

If you’re looking for a s’more, Aldi has all the ingredients for a good one. The graham crackers are tasty, the marshmallows are sweet, and the chocolate, while slightly different than a Hershey’s bar, is good in its own right. We’re fans of this trio.