The pros: Trader Joe’s Mint Chip Ice Cream is one the best mint chip ice creams that I’ve ever had.
The cons: Don’t look at the nutritional label. Just. Don’t. Do. It.
The verdict: …
Dairy
Trader Joe’s Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Butter Spread
The pros: Trader Joe’s Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Butter Spread is one of two new butter options.
The cons: With some room temperature butter you can easily make this at home for a fraction of the cost.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic and Herb Butter Spread
The pros: Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic and Herb Butter Spread is one of two new butter spreads available at Trader Joe’s.
The cons: While this container isn’t expensive, this works out to over $11 a pound. I think you can do better in terms of price.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Whole Milk
The pros: Trader Joe’s Chocolate Whole Milk fills a gap in the dairy section.
The cons: It is much pricier than buying regular milk and doing it yourself.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Truffle Dip
The pros: Trader Joe’s Truffle Dip is new and setting social media ablaze as Truffle seems to be the flavor of the season this winter.
The cons: This also seems to be seasonal.
The verdict:
…
Trader Joe’s Raclette Sliced Cheese
The pros: Trader Joe’s Raclette Sliced Cheese is not new, but is a divine find in the cheese aisle.
The cons: For me, this item was addicting.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Black Truffle Butter
The pros: Trader Joe’s Black Truffle Butter is new, seasonal, and affordable (for an item that actually has truffles in it)
The cons: Some might look at the size of the container and say this is pricey at almost $16 per pound.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Hold the Cone! Mini Ice Cream Cones
The pros: Trader Joe’s Chocolate Hold the Cone! Mini Ice Cream Cones is the perfect dessert when you only want a bite of ice cream and don’t want to eat the whole pint.
The cons: It’s easy to eat a few of these.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls
The pros: Trader Joe’s Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls are about the size of a Trader Joe’s Joe Joe’s but with ice cream filling in the center.
The cons: Cookies seemed a bit soggy and there wasn’t quite as much mint flavor as I would have liked.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches
The pros: Trader Joe’s Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches is named perfectly.
The cons: Don’t look at the nutritional information. Just don’t do it. It won’t add to the experience.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Ovoline Mozzarella
The pros: Trader Joe’s Ovoline Mozzarella is super fresh mozzarella that cuts easily and sits in enough salt water to add flavor.
The cons: Short shelf life, if you are going to only eat one cheese ball at a time then you’ll want to cut the other in half to ensure that it stays submerged in salt water.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Mango and Cream Ice Cream
The pros: Trader Joe’s Mango and Cream Ice Cream has phenomenal mango flavor which made me wish the dropped the plain part of this ice cream.
The cons: Cream Ice Cream is literally that. For me, that part of the ice cream was missing some vanilla flavor.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Triple Creme Brie
The pros: Trader Joe’s Triple Creme Brie is the most buttery brie I’ve ever tried.
The cons: You might find yourself addicted to this. I don’t usually care for Brie. Then my local Trader Joe’s was handing out samples. It almost has the same caloric content as butter.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Buffalo Milk Butter
The pros: Trader Joe’s Buffalo Milk Butter has less cholesterol than regular butter. It tastes pretty much like regular butter. Trader Joe’s Buffalo Milk Butter is made from grass fed buffaloes in India.
The cons: While on the cholesterol front it’s healthier, it is just as caloric as regular butter. You won’t notice the pink Himalayan salt. Doesn’t melt as quickly as regular butter. Doesn’t spread as well as regular butter either.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Cultured Salted Butter
The pros: Trader Joe’s Cultured Salted Butter competes with the rich European butters like Kerrygold. This is very rich with a slight tang from the lactic acid.
The cons: The packaging is an issue if you plan to bake with this. There are no units of measurement other than telling you it’s 8.8 ounces. As table butter it’s hard to serve in the current wrapper. More expensive per pound than regular butter.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Unsalted Butter Quarters
The pros: Trader Joe’s Unsalted Butter is good quality butter. It’s comparable to what you get in the supermarket, but it’s not European level better.
The cons: The stick size is completely different. I had to reexamine the package a few times to make sure I actually bought a pound of butter (I did). See my pictures as to why the butter dish may not be the best place for this.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Cream Cheese
The pros: Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Cream Cheese has pumpkin spice flavor to a cream cheese spread. Mild flavor of pumpkin without feeling like you are eating a container of puree. Gentle touch of cinnamon here too. A welcome break from just plain cream cheese.
The cons: Would probably be even better if there was a whipped variety. This cream cheese is very dense and heavy.
The verdict: …
