Trader Joe's Nocciolini Tiny Hazelnut Meringues

Cuteness is not generally the first thing I look for in a snack. If it's there, I guess it's a bonus. I won't not eat something because it's cute. It's just not very high on my list of priorities in terms of acquiring, preparing, and eating food.

And despite the fact that cuteness might be the first quality of these little nocciolini that jumps out at you, it's certainly not the only thing they've got going on for them. They've got simple ingredients: sugar, hazelnuts, and egg white. They're not super indulgent, containing only 10% of your RDA for fat, 3% for saturated fat, and 6% for carbs, respectively. And at $2.69 for an Italian import, they won't break the bank either.

But most of you are probably wondering how Trader Joe's Nocciolini Tiny Hazelnut Meringues taste. Well, if you like hazelnuts, you're probably not gonna hate these. They're about the same size as hazelnuts, they're crunchy like hazelnuts, and they taste a heck of a lot like hazelnuts.

So why not just eat some hazelnuts instead, you ask? If you've got a sweet tooth, these are a shade sweeter than your typical hazelnut. If you're someone who's gotta have dessert after a meal, these would certainly fit the bill with their crunchy cookie texture and fun round drop shape. And I don't know if I'd say they're more versatile than hazelnuts, but you could do interesting things with them like decorating cakes or cupcakes or even tossing them on top of yogurt, ice cream, or gelato.

I must admit, I was unimpressed at first, but these tiny hazelnut meringues are growing on me pretty quickly. They stick to my teeth a little, but the flavor is quite pleasant and there's virtually no aftertaste. Sonia likes 'em a lot. She'd buy again for sure, but once again, she wishes they were sold in a larger pack. Let's go with seven and a half stars from me on Trader Joe's Nocciolini. The beautiful wifey will throw out nine out of ten.

Nathan's score: 7.5 out of 10.

Sonia's score: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Amarena Cherry Goat's Milk Cheese

Growing up, there were a bunch of food allergies in my family so we avoided many common foods like cow's milk dairy products. We'd frequently buy goat's milk and goat's milk cheeses from local farmers as alternatives.

Oddly, it seemed we only ever bought savory goat cheeses. It wasn't until after I tried a few varieties of Trader Joe's chevre cheeses many years later that I learned to appreciate goat cheese as a sweeter dessert-style cheese. Even unusual combos like jalapeño and honey chevre became fast favorites of mine, garnering some of the highest scores we've ever bestowed upon TJ's products in the entire 15 year history of this blog.

If anything, this amarena cherry goat cheese tops them all. It's absolutely delicious. Somewhere between a cherry flavored cream cheese and cherry cheesecake, this spread is rich, creamy, yet not over-the-top sugary. It's got a great balance of the goat cheese and sweet-tart cherry flavors.

It's perfect on crackers or sourdough just by itself. We also tried adding some real fruit preserves, and it worked great that way, too. It's a seasonal product that will disappear pretty soon if it hasn't already, but it will reappear next year around early February if history repeats itself. It IS still available at our nearest Trader Joe's location as of the writing of this post.

$2.99 for the four serving package. Product of Canada. Sonia just wishes they sold a larger package of the stuff. This one will be gone in no time flat, and we'll have to wait almost a year to buy some more. The nutrition info is pretty reasonable, too, considering how scrumptious the product is. Nine and a half out of ten stars from Sonia for Trader Joe's Double Cream Amarena Cherry Goat's Milk Cheese. I'll throw out an exceptionally rare perfect ten out of ten on this one.

Bottom line: 9.75 out of 10.