Trader Joe's Maple Leaf Ice Cream Sandwiches

Pumpkins, apples, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash all get harvested in the autumn. So it's logical that they're considered fall foods. Maple syrup is harvested around March. So...why we eat maple stuff at this time of year, I'm not really sure. Maybe it's the whole leaf association..? We think maple, we think trees, we think leaves, we think fall..? Gemini says it's because it pairs well with "squash, cinnamon, pumpkin, and baked goods." Fair enough.

All I know is that if TJ's rolls out a seasonal product, we race to grab it and review it regardless of when it's harvested, because no doubt these puppies will be gone in a matter of weeks, if not sooner. Pretty sure this is the very first year for this particular product. Think I would've remembered it if it had been around previously.

We've got ourselves a product of Canada here. That does not shock me for any reason. It's about four bucks for four little ice cream sandwiches, and they're pretty darn good. They're nice and mapley, but not overly so—containing real maple syrup in both the ice cream and the cookies. They're creamy, milky, and buttery too.

There's a brown sugar sweetness that accompanies the maple flavor. It works. The breading is soft and lightly sweet and does nothing to interfere with the great maplicious flavor of the treats. There's very little if anything in the way of miscellaneous fall spices. It's just maple, maple, and more maple with a hint of brown sugar.

Complaints? The sandwiches are quite small for the price. I wish they were a tad bigger. Could be worse, I suppose. Some grocery prices are getting ridiculous these days. Some folks might want even more maple taste, but I liked the flavor just fine as is.

Sonia and I would both buy these little kosher leaf-shaped desserts again. I'll go with eight and a half stars out of ten for Trader Joe's Maple Leaf Ice Cream Sandwiches. The beautiful wifey will throw out nine out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Hard Top Chocolate Shell Topping

"What sort of wizardry is this?" I thought to my young self as I marveled at the combination of firm chocolate and soft, milky ice cream sitting atop my friend's waffle cone at the local Dairy Queen. I was sitting in a booth when my compatriot returned from the counter with the hard-shell dipped ice cream confection. "Why did I get this crummy Blizzard when I could have had that?"

Since then, the novelty of the hard shell ice cream has worn off, especially since they started selling the stuff in grocery stores. And, of course, I'm not thirteen anymore. But even as an old man, I still enjoy some creamy treats topped with child-like wonder every once in a while.

So I was excited when I squeezed this bottle of Trader Joe's Hard Top onto my bowl of ice cream for the first time. Except instead of a shiny chocolate liquid emerging, a long, narrow cylinder of dull brown goo came out of the container. It didn't coat the ice cream at all. We'd kept it at room temperature and never refrigerated it. So why was it so solid?

At any rate, Sonia read that you can put the squeeze bottle in warm water to re-liquefy it. After just a few minutes, I shook the bottle and determined that it had, in fact, returned to a much more viscous state. I squeezed out another shot and voila! Our vanilla ice cream had an attractive chocolate shell atop its center scoop (see photo above).

It's a darker chocolate than most chocolate shells I've had. It's rich and tasty. It coats and then immediately solidifies. It's still fun to tap the shell and listen to the little thud and then crack it into pieces before eating it.

Both the price and the ingredients of this product are comparable to other leading brands. Here's a link to the only other do-it-yourself ice cream hard top product I've ever had: Smucker's Magic Shell, in case you're interested.

$3.29 for the 6.17 oz squeeze bottle. This isn't a product we have any use for on a regular basis, but if for some reason we needed chocolate hard shell for our ice cream again, we'd consider grabbing Trader Joe's Hard Top Chocolate Shell Topping. Seven and a half stars from Sonia. Seven out of ten stars from me.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Parsley Crackers

This isn't the biggest box of crackers in the universe, to be sure, but at five plus ounces it ain't the smallest either. It's imported all the way from Italy, as a good many of Trader Joe's products are. I'm just saying, have you seen the price of a box of crackers lately? And I'm not talking fancy, top-of-the-line crackers for rich people that you'd find on a charcuterie board at the Met Gala or a rare vintage wine auction. I'm talking regular old water crackers or butter crackers.

They're easily more than double the price of these Italian imports. At $1.49, these parsley crackers are, if nothing else, a great bargain. One side is mostly dark green, infused with a significant amount of parsley flavor. I might even dare say they taste more like parsley than actual parsley tastes like parsley. That is to say, parsley by itself doesn't exactly pack a wallop in the flavor department. And while these crackers aren't a stellar snack just in and of themselves by my estimation, they do have a pleasant, salty, savory, herbaceous essence. I guess they taste as much or more like garlic as they do parsley, but that's just fine by me.

They go great with feta cheese. Olives, artichoke, egg, tuna, or any kind of canned fish really would work well with these crackers. Most cheeses would go great with them. Soups? I can't really think of a soup I wouldn't try these with.

There's a dense, crisp breadiness to these snacks. Texture-wise, they kind of remind me of certain pita crackers I've had. Along those lines, I think they'd go great with hummus or any other Middle Eastern type condiment.

The best crackers we've sampled from Trader Joe's in a great while, or maybe ever, were the Green Olive Flats, also imported from Italy. Those were just about double the price of these inexpensive morsels. I think I still prefer the texture and flavor of those olive flats, but these parsley crackers are quite decent, too.

If you're looking for something a little different for your next get-together or party, keep these in mind. Sonia and I would both buy them again. They're versatile, crunchy, and very inexpensive. Buck and a half for the 5.28 oz box. Product of Italy. Sonia will throw out eight and a half stars. I'll go with seven and a half out of ten.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin & Spice Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix

Prior to 2025, the only flavor of snickerdoodle I'd had was, you know, snickerdoodle-flavored snickerdoodles—cinnamon and sugar. Earlier this summer, we checked out Trader Joe's Strawberry Doodle Cookies, a product I didn't expect to work at all but was pleasantly surprised with.

I guess pumpkin spice isn't too far a cry from a classic snickerdoodle, since both flavors typically contain sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and clove or cardamom. Trader Joe's even threw in some actual autumn squash in the form of pumpkin powder for just a hint of harvestiness. It's balanced out by all the aforementioned spices and the nice soft breadiness of the cookies.

To prepare, you simply combine the mix with an egg, milk, and a stick of butter. Then you form the batter into little balls which then get rolled in the separate "sugar and spice mix." Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375°F and you've got about 22 pumpkin spice snickerdoodles.

Sonia and I both enjoyed the fresh-baked cookies quite a bit, and they're still scrumptious even after they've cooled down and solidified. We tried them for the first time live on camera, and you should totally watch, like, and comment on the YouTube video embedded below. <hint, hint>

The cookies are slightly crunchy on the outside thanks to the crystals of sugar and cinnamon. They're soft and chewy on the inside. We found the pumpkin spice level to be just about right here. We'd both buy this product again.

I kind of wanted to call them "pumpersnickle cookies." But then I Googled "pumpersnickle" and the Urban Dictionary entry for that word made me reconsider.

If it's not back on shelves at your local Trader Joe's now, it should be by the first or second week of September. $3.99 for the 17.57 oz box. Kosher. Eight and a half out of ten stars from Sonia. Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Pumpkin & Spice Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Fruit Leather Wraps

Trader Joe's offered these same fruit bars over fourteen years ago. They even had the same wrappers, same colors, and similar, if not identical, ingredients. I'm not sure which flavors they had back then, but we were fortunate enough to snag Apple Raspberry and Apple Wild Berry for a blog post in 2011. Pretty sure we'd had them a few times before we got around to reviewing them so many years ago.

And now, they're back! After a lengthy hiatus, Trader Joe's has these same Organic Apple _____ <---- "insert random other fruit name here" type fruit bars once again. They're certified organic and they're only 49¢ a piece. Talk about a blast from the past.

This time we picked up five different flavors. Organic Sour Apple Watermelon, which I'm pretty sure is brand new, Apple Blueberry, Apple Strawberry, Apple Raspberry, and Apple Wildberry. Yes, "Wild Berry" was two words in 2011 and is now a single compound word in 2025. Go figure. My spell checker prefers the two word version. Maybe it just needs a system update.

Raspberry and Wildberry are both good vaguely berry-esque flavors. They're sweet and fruity and we'd buy 'em again for sure. Strawberry and Blueberry are even better. There's no mistaking the flavor of either one. They taste distinctly like their eponymous berries. Strawberry is the sweetest of those four flavors by a good bit.

And the Sour Apple Watermelon? It is simply divine. It's super sweet and simultaneously super sour. It's got a bold, bright taste and the same soft, moist texture of the other fruit wraps. It honestly tastes like sour candy, but there's nothing in it but fruit juices, pectin, and malic acid. We would buy that flavor by the dozen.

Score-wise, there's a bit of a hierarchy with this one. Sour Apple Watermelon will get top marks, landing squarely in The Pantheon. Strawberry and Blueberry will get "really darn good" status, and finally Raspberry and Wildberry will get a "not bad" score.

Bottom line: Trader Joe's Organic Sour Apple Watermelon Fruit Wrap: 9.25
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Organic Apple Strawberry Fruit Leather Wrap: 8.5
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Organic Apple Blueberry Fruit Leather Wrap: 8.5
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Organic Apple Raspberry Fruit Leather Wrap: 7.75
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Organic Apple Wildberry Fruit Leather Wrap: 7.75

Trader Joe's Japanese Soufflé Cheesecakes

It was only a week or so ago, Sonia and I found ourselves watching something on YouTube about Americans losing weight when they move to Japan—the name of the channel escapes me at the moment. There were several reasons they mentioned, but the main one was that Japanese desserts have so much less sugar in them than American desserts. When an American tastes the average Japanese "sweet" it just doesn't appeal to them at first, but over time, their palates adjust and Japanese sweets eventually taste normal and American desserts are just over-the-top sugary.

This is probably a good example of the phenomenon. It's imported from Japan at a price point of just $3.49 for two of the fluffy cakes. It's much more airy and less dense than the typical cheesecake you'd find here in the US. It's also a good bit less sweet.

At 150 calories per cake, these soufflé cheesecakes are significantly less indulgent than most American desserts. It was a bit off-putting to me at first. When I see the word "cheesecake," I want something rich and heavy. To be fair, the word "soufflé" suggests something a little lighter.

By the end of my cake, the relatively understated flavor had grown on me. The cream cheese, milk, lemon, and tapioca provided a more subtle dessert flavor than I'm used to, but it's not inferior by any means. The product went great with strawberries, just as the serving suggestion on the packaging indicated.

Sonia loved hers from first bite. She would buy this again in a heartbeat. I'd happily eat it again, and I might dress it up with some different berries or even a dollop of whipped cream.

Available for a limited time only. Just a hunch, but this will probably be unavailable by the time TJ's fall stuff rolls in next month. Found in the frozen section—simply thaw for three hours in the fridge to prepare. Eight and a half out of ten stars from Sonia. I'll go with seven and a half for Trader Joe's Japanese Soufflé Cheesecakes.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover's Nut Mix

Well, this product was released around Valentine's Day and for some strange reason is still around. It's an unusual mix of nuts, cookies, pretzels, and mini peanut butter cups. At first, neither Sonia nor I were particularly enamored with it. It seemed dry and kind of boring.

But over time, it grew on both of us. I think for me it was the uniqueness of the elements and the plethora of almonds and cashews in the bag. For Sonia, it was the absence of "milk chocolate gems" which seem to make an appearance in nearly all of Trader Joe's snack mixes that put this blend over the top into winning territory for her. Let's break it down ingredient by ingredient, as we've done in the past.

First up, Trader Joe's Tiniest Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're probably the most unnecessary element in the mix. At least at one point, TJ's sold these by themselves in a resealable bag. They got a 6.5 out of 10 on this blog. So...they're just kinda "meh." Plus, this is a chocolate and peanut butter lover's mix, not a chocolate chip cookie lover's mix.

Next, let's look at the pretzel sticks. Also somewhat pointless, but some type of pretzels generally get thrown into every trek mix/trail mix/nut mix/snack mix in existence. They add crunch and saltiness, but again, do they really have a place in a chocolate and peanut butter mix?

Mini Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. Okay, now we're talking. With plenty of milk chocolate and peanut butter in every little cup, these things are great. They make up for the humdrum cookies and pretzel sticks. In fact, if there were too many of these guys in the mix, it might be a bit too much chocolate and peanut butter.

Almonds. Whole almonds, roasted, covered in sea salt. Very nice. I guess you have to love almonds in addition to chocolate and peanut butter. Fortunately, both the beautiful wifey and I do.

Cocoa dusted dark chocolate almonds. More almonds, but with a twist this time. They have a layer of dark chocolate on them. A bit of dark chocolate in the mix is interesting. It provides a slightly richer flavor and a bit more complexity to the overall taste of the snack.

Cashews. It's getting pretty nutty in here now. Gotta love cashew halves. They just bring even more rich, nut-tacular flavor.

Finally, peanuts. Wait. There are no peanuts in a peanut butter lover's mix? Version 2.0 should totally have peanuts. If I were the mix master, I would lose the little cookies and throw in peanuts, for sure.

$5.49 for the 12 oz resealable bag. Kosher. In the end, the lack of peanuts and inclusion of a couple of superfluous elements will put me in the "not bad" territory. I'll spring for seven and a half stars out of ten on Trader Joe's Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover's Nut Mix. Sonia will go with a full star more than me: eight and a half out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Strawberry Mochi

It seemed like for a long time, Trader Joe's mainly just carried Mikawaya brand mochi. In fact, Mikawaya mochi was the first ever non-Trader Joe's brand product that we reviewed on this blog. It was also the first ever dessert item we reviewed on this blog, a full 15 years ago this month.

Slowly, TJ's rolled out their own line of mochi with specialty flavors like mango and pumpkin pie. Mikawaya brand suffered from a few recalls of their products throughout the years and eventually, Trader Joe's just started offering their own classic flavors like vanilla and, of course, strawberry. 

This is the fist time we've tried Trader Joe's own strawberry, but we've had Mikawaya's version from TJ's many times throughout the years. Internet rumors suggest Bubbie's Ice Cream is Joe's supplier for their own line of mochi.

Well, shoot, these strawberry mochi are delicious...but maybe not quite as delicious as the Mikawaya strawberry..? The rice shell seems much stiffer on these for some reason. I guess we did experience something similar with the vanilla flavor we reviewed in 2019.

Odd that these and a few other flavors would be so stiff and starchy while products like Trader Joe's Blood Orange Mochi have both stellar taste and texture. It seems to bother Sonia a bit more than it bothers me. Pro tip: let the mochi thaw more than the five minutes suggested on the box.

$4.99 for six mochi. Kosher. Gluten free. Found in the frozen dessert section. Would probably opt for one of the newfangled gimmicky flavors or Mikawaya brand before purchasing this exact product again. Seven stars out of ten from me. Five out of ten from Sonia.

Nathan's score: 7 out of 10.

Sonia's score: 5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Tom Yum Seasoned Snack Mix

I've had Tom Yum soup from a legit Thai restaurant exactly once in my life. It was a vegetarian version, while traditional Tom Yum is usually served with shrimp. I remember it being somewhat spicy. There were lots of veggies and tofu swimming around in a thick, flavorful Thai soup. It was delicious. I've tried plenty of other Thai curry dishes, too, and in general, I'm a big fan.

If you'd have told me that there was a dry snack mix that flaunts all the complexity and richness of real Thai soup, I'd have told you that it wasn't possible. And if you'd have told me that said snack mix was even spicier than your typical restaurant Thai curry, I'd have said "I gotta try this snack mix!"

And in my opinion, this mix comes dangerously close to capturing the sweet, spicy taste of Thai Tom Yum. Of course, the format is totally different than a bowl of soup, but the flavors are all there: lemongrass, chili powder, lime juice, garlic, coconut, paprika, soy sauce, and shallots. 

The main chunks in the mix are cashews, fava beans, sticky rice, and peas. Of course, they're all dried and crunchy, in the manner of your typical snack mix or trail mix.

Please note: there are dried red peppers in the mix that are VERY spicy. I got one in my very first handful. Fortunately, I recognized the little bugger as something extremely hot and took the tiniest nibble of it. I may have falsely attributed a higher level of spice to the rest of the mix since my mouth was on fire after sampling the red pepper. 

I will admit, this mix would be terrible for taking on an actual hike since it makes you so thirsty and the risk of throwing one of those peppers in your mouth whole would stand to ruin your entire day. Perhaps it's for the best that there are only a few of them scattered throughout the bag.

All things considered, Sonia enjoys the mix too and thinks it's a good approximation of Tom Yum soup. She thinks it's something she wouldn't be in the mood for very often, however. Me? I think I found my new favorite snack mix of all time. I might not eat it every day, but I'd definitely like to have some on hand in the pantry on a full-time basis.

$3.49 for the 5.29 oz resealable bag. Product of Thailand. Would buy again. Nine out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Tom Yum Seasoned Snack Mix. Sonia will go with eight out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's S'mores Bars

Truth be told, I didn't do a lot of overnight camping as a kid. I went to day camps for various sports and crafts. I went out to friends' places—people that lived on farms or acreages—and we'd occasionally have a bonfire or a campfire of sorts. And of course there were church camps and family camps, but I was usually just a daytime guest.

Even still, someone would inevitably break out the s'mores. At block party barbecues and school field days, at least one person had to throw marshmallows on a smoldering charcoal grill even if there wasn't an open flame. Once they had browned just enough, you'd tuck them in between two Honey Maid graham crackers right next to a little square of Hershey's chocolate. The heat from the marshmallow would melt the chocolate just enough to make it gooey. I always managed to get some on my clothing. But other than dark brown chocolate stains on khaki shorts, it was pure bliss downing a fresh-made s'more on a hot summer evening.

Since then, we've seen a few offerings from Trader Joe's with the moniker "s'mores" slapped on them. Not a single one has done the name justice. And this product is no different, unfortunately.

Trader Joe's Campfire S'mores Bar

Trader Joe's S'mores Frozen Sandwiches

Trader Joe's S'mashing S'mores

Trader Joe's S'mores Ice Cream

We've got a run-of-the-mill, store-bought, pre-packaged brownie as the base for these "s'mores." There's a very thin layer of marshmallow creme at the top and an equally thin layer of honey graham on the bottom. Had they beefed up the top and bottom layers, we might have been looking at a decent score on this product, but as it is, too much rides on the brownie portion of the dessert, and it's just not special enough to warrant all the calories and sugar here.

We tried them at room temperature, simply removed from the freezer and thawed for three hours. We also threw them in the air fryer as per the instructions. I liked the room temperature version just as well as the air fried one, but Sonia preferred them warmed up. Alas, in the end, we both had the same overall sentiment towards the product.

$4.99 for six bars. Kosher. Found in the frozen section. Neither Sonia nor I would buy Trader Joe's S'mores Bars again. Six out of ten stars from me. Six out of ten from the beautiful wifey as well.

Bottom line: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Strawberry Fields Gummy Candy

Well, the title of this product is clearly a reference to the famous Beatles song. Strawberry fields forever, indeed. Do these gummy candies taste like a field of strawberries? Sorta.

You get a nice whiff of sweet strawberry upon tearing open the plastic bag. It's not overwhelming, but it is distinctly strawberry-ish. You'll note that the ingredients list makes no mention of "strawberries" or "strawberry puree" or anything like that. The closest we'll get is "natural flavors." Shoot. That could be just about anything. I think they need to pass a law that forces companies to list said "natural flavors." I mean bugs could be considered "natural flavors," right? I'm not saying that's what they used here, but I mean...who really knows?

Flavor-wise, they're similar to the way they smell. They taste like a sugary strawberry candy. Both Sonia and I want them to taste more like actual strawberry. I guess we wanted something that was made with strawberry puree or something like that. I mean, the Strawberry Doodle Cookies had strawberry puree in them, and we loved those...

There are two distinct shapes/sizes of the candy. They both taste more or less the same, but I feel like the larger pieces are a tad softer and squishier than their tiny counterparts. The texture on these candies is well above par, particularly those big strawberries.

Sonia is always pining for good sour candy. She wishes there were a truly sour version of these gummies. I mean, there is a faint tartness in them in the same way real strawberries can be somewhat tart, but by and large, these are simply sweet and sugary.

$2.29 for the non-resealable 7.05 oz bag. Product of France. Summer seasonal product. They're not bad, but we probably wouldn't buy again if they come back next year. Seven out of ten stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Strawberry Fields Gummy Candy.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Brioche Style Liège Waffles

These waffles are individually wrapped in cellophane. I didn't see that coming. I figured they'd all be sitting in a plastic tray. They're fairly soft and moist and I guess the individual wrapping is meant to keep them that way.

You can eat them straight from the wrapper in the manner of a cookie, or you can remove them from their packaging, toss them into the toaster, add a bit of syrup or what have you, and eat them like miniature waffles. We've tried them both ways and both are pretty tasty. 

Of course the convenience factor is a little higher when you're just snacking on them out of the little baggie, but the indulgence factor is higher when you heat them and add some fixins. We're eager to try them with some vanilla ice cream on top.

They're a tad sticky. I guess it's the "pearl sugar" on them. They're also a bit oily and buttery, too, even before adding any toppings—they do indeed contain both egg and butter. They're nice and sweet, dense and slightly chewy.

The waffles are shelf stable for a couple months. They do come with a "best by" sticker despite being individually wrapped. They'd probably just get a little stale if you let them hang around too long, but for most of you, that won't be a problem.

$3.99 for six waffles, imported from Belgium. Pretty good value. Would probably buy again. Sonia will go with eight out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Brioche Style Liège Waffles with Pearl Sugar. I'll throw out seven and a half stars.

Bottom line: 7.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Strawberry Doodle Cookies

I didn't know if this would work when I first heard about it: strawberry snickerdoodle cookies. They have the same dimensions, ingredients, and texture of original snickerdoodles for the most part except they substitute the cinnamon elements with strawberries.

Although looking at the ingredients list right now, I notice that the fruit pieces are actually both apple and strawberry puree mixed with sugar and pectin and a few other things. There's really no discernible apple flavor. It all just tastes like strawberry flavored sugar cookie. The strawberry flavor comes through for sure, but it's not overwhelming. I think they nailed the balance of berry to baked good brilliance.

The texture of these cookies is superb. They're some of the softest cookies we've tried from TJ's in quite a while. They're crumbly and slightly fluffy, but they're rigid enough to make the perfect "bread" for an ice cream sandwich.

We tried strawdoodleberry sandwich cookies with both vanilla and strawberry ice creams. I preferred vanilla, for sure. Strawberry ice cream yielded a decent dessert, but it was a bit of strawberry overload. I'm sure any flavor of ice cream would work just fine.

There are two individually wrapped cellophane packages within the box. Each one contains three cookies. The product did get markedly more stiff and stale after being opened for a couple days. Since it's just the two of us, we usually can't finish products like this in a single day. The flavor was still just fine, but the soft cookies became a bit more crispity crunchity.

$5.49 found with the baked goods. Would buy again. Sonia and I will throw out eight and a half out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Strawberry Doodle Cookies.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Tres Leches Cake

Tres leches is without a doubt my favorite style of cake, so we actually picked up this specimen from Trader Joe's for my birthday last week. It comes frozen, but it's quite simple to prepare: thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for three hours.

Predictably, I was ready for cake before the beautiful wifey, so I simply started eating the product straight out of the cardboard container that it comes in. It was still a bit frosty on the inside, so I had to wait a bit longer to finish my piece. Like the recently reviewed macarons, this is another one you actually want to thaw fully before consuming.

Sonia skipped the part where she scolds me for eating straight out of the product packaging since it was my birthday and all, and she managed to salvage an only slightly mangled piece from the cardboard container. She's been eating tres leches pretty much her whole life, while I only came to know and love the spongy Latin milk cake as a young adult.

We both agree this selection from TJ's is great. It's not the number one best tres leches we've ever had, but it's definitely up there. 

Considering the convenience and price: $8 for four servings, it's definitely something to check out if you're not familiar with tres leches or if you need an easy dessert for a small gathering or family meal.

Kosher. Found in the frozen section. Would buy again. Sonia and I will go with eight and a half out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Tres Leches Cake.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Teeny Tiny Strawberry Rhubarb Pies

Does rhubarb actually exist outside of berry pies? I don't think I've ever even seen a rhubarb plant. I've never laid eyes on rhubarb in a culinary context either except for little red bits inside already-made baked goods. I mean, I've gathered that rhubarb is red, so it's hard to tell where the strawberries end and the rhubarb begins.

I guess it's more sour than a strawberry. Strawberry rhubarb is always nice and tangy. This product is no exception. It's sweet, tart, and like all of TJ's mini pies, there's a soft, flaky, buttery crust around the outside of the pastry.

I found my pies to be oddly lacking in filling. Other Trader Joe's mini pies seemed to absolutely burst with fruit filling. These? They had enough fruit juicy sweetness to still be delicious, but I wanted more berries and 'barb.

We air fried ours and they came out great. Three minutes at 350° seemed to do the trick. We added vanilla bean ice cream to our sweet little treats and as you might have expected, they were even better a la mode.

$5.49 for four small pies. Kosher. Found with the baked goods. Supposedly they'll be in and out of stores until the onslaught of fall stuff later in the year. We'd buy 'em again. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Teeny Tiny Strawberry Rhubarb Pies.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Raspberry, Vanilla & Blueberry Macarons

Not to be confused with macaroons, the macaron is a French sandwich cookie made with egg white, almond flour, sugar, and some creamy or fruity filling. We've seen a bunch of different macaron offerings from Trader Joe's steadily over the course of this blog's tenure. One highlight: the pumpkin macarons. Those are probably still our favorite (although we haven't had them in many years. Let's hope they didn't change suppliers or recipes or anything like that) but these would have to be a close second.

Preparation: you simply thaw the entire pack at room temperature for an hour or in the fridge for four hours. Pro tip: actually let them thaw the whole hour. As much as I love cold desserts and iced treats, the flavors of these macarons hit just a little nicer when they're fully unfrozen.

The blueberry flavor was our favorite by a pretty solid margin, the raspberry our second favorite, and vanilla—though not bad by any means—fell in third. The fruity flavors actually tasted like their namesake berries thanks to the inclusion of actual raspberry and blueberry puree. There's apple in there, too, since apple tends to just lend sweetness and rarely overshadows the tart intensity of something like blueberry or raspberry.

The vanilla cookies tasted nuttier and creamier than their fruit-based counterparts but perhaps not quite as sweet or indulgent somehow. Again, nothing to complain about, but if I had the opportunity to buy a dozen blueberry macarons all by themselves, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Texture-wise, like most good macarons, these were meringue-esque but also soft and slightly chewy. You could feel the almond meal, too, but they never came across as gritty or unpleasant in any way. Very pleasant mouthfeel.

$5.99 for 12 macarons. Product of France. We'd give the blueberry flavor nine out of ten stars. The raspberry and vanilla flavors would get eight and a halfs and eights, respectively. So, in the end, averaging all three scores, both Sonia and I would give Trader Jacques' <ahem> Trader Joe's Raspberry, Vanilla & Blueberry Macarons eight and a half out of ten stars. Would buy again.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Crispy Jalapeño Pieces

Crispy jalapeños? Are they a topping? Or are they a snack? Trader Joe's is quick to let us know that they're whatever you want them to be. I mean, Sonia and I like spicy foods, but I don't think we or a whole lot of other people would be content simply noshing on these crispy critters straight from the bag.

Yeah, they're jalapeños, so they're hot. I mean, they're not Carolina Reaper hot, but that spice builds up on the tongue if you gobble down more than just a handful of these babies. You might be tempted to, however, because they're pretty tasty. They're lightly battered and slightly oily but there's plenty of jalapeño flavor. There's a nice crunch in each bite, too.

Certain pieces are much bigger than others. Some specimens look and feel like they might be a whole dehydrated jalapeño pepper and others seem to be little more than crumbs. They're quite versatile and add a bit of flavor and texture to everything from soup to sandwiches, salads to pizza.

Plus, they're imported from the land of jalapeños, Mexi...wait. What? Thailand? Who ever heard of a Thai jalapeño? Anyway, Sonia and I both agree Thai jalapeños aren't bad.

$2.99 for the resealable bag. Imported from Thailand. Would buy again. We'll go with eight out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Crispy Jalapeño Pieces.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.