A moment of respect for the marshmallow, who manages to remain relevant no matter the season: be it in Peeps form in spring, s'mores form in summer, and, of course, hot cocoa form in fall and winter. In 2018, our respect for the 'mallow bled into a particularly delicious trend of hot cocoa-flavored things. If you are a person who has been riding that delicious wave, this one seasonal treat that flew under the radar during the holidays deserves your attention: Toasted Marshmallow Milanos.
If you, too, use Milano flavors to track the seasons more reliably than the Gregorian calendar, then you already know that this time of year brings plenty of seasonal ones. This year, for example, the iconic cookie has lended itself to Pumpkin Spice, and then to Candy Cane later in the winter. But the excellent news about the Toasted Marshmallow Milanos is that, unlike most of its marshmallow and hot cocoa-flavored brethren, it doesn't appear to be a seasonal item; while Pepperidge Farms has other flavors listed as "seasonal," the Toasted Marshmallow is listed with the mainstays, implying that you don't have to fight off your fellow local Cookie Monsters in the dessert aisle (for now).
As the self-appointed dessert consumer of Bustle dot com, I happened upon a bag of these Milanos and tried them for myself. After 27 years of Milano cookie consumption, it takes a lot to impress me (read: Dark Chocolate Sea Salt), but I enjoyed this flavor. Maybe I just got lucky, but the fillings on this package seemed to ooze out of the cookie a bit more, which is always a plus in my book. The layer of marshmallow was true to the flavor, and not overly sweet, which made for a good pairing with the milk chocolate layer. Here is a picture of what it looked like before I started digesting it, for your reference.
As you can see, the marshmallow layer somewhat eclipses the chocolate layer — a feeling I can relate to, as I, too, will stop at no lengths to be noticed over my peers. All in all, this is definitely one of the more delicious takes on the hot cocoa/marshmallow-flavored trend, and I'm glad it seems to have found a home on shelves.
But since the seasonal Milanos are bound to change with the passage of time, you may as well use this as an opportunity to prepare yourself for what's on the cookie horizon — per Milano's website, it looks as though Banana Chocolate Milanos will be available soon, if they aren't already. A Milano that, if my tastebuds are half as good at predicting things as I hope they are, will likely pair quite well with the Toasted Marshmallow flavor (because what is life if not an opportunity to make cookie combos wherever you go?). You can check out the availability of both the Toasted Marshmallow and Banana Chocolate flavors by heading to Milanos website here — or just head to the cookie aisle and surprise yourself. With a Milano, you really can't go wrong.
