Trader Joe's blog and cooking.
The average Trader Joe's store stocks 4,000+ products, but some are limited time offerings. They may come back from year to year but quality can vary, fortunately, that's why you have this site!
From Pumpkin Pancake Mix to the popular Riced Cauliflower Stuffing find hundreds of reviews of Trader Joe's seasonal products and see which ones are worth your time and which ones you may want to consider leaving on the shelf!
As soon as the holidays were over, it seemed we had a week of normalcy and then the next holiday is upon us: Valentine’s Day. While not a huge holiday for some folk, there is a growing number of seasonal items related to this day that are making their way back on to shelves.
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So if your Trader Joe’s is like my local store, then gift ideas are running out as the calendar heads toward the holidays. In fact, I can’t even find some gift sets that I’ve written about in the last two weeks.
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Part of seasonal shopping at Trader Joe’s is finding all the fun gifts that are affordable. However, for yours truly, some of these gifts turn into gifts for myself. That I test out to see if they are worth giving to others. This is one of those items.
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Trader Joe’s seems to be on a cheesecake kick lately. They’ve added not one, but two new cheesecakes for this winter season. If you are looking for something that is literally bite-sized, then the sell the Cheesecake in a Bite. However, if you want to eat your cheesecake out of a cone, then there are Trader Joe’s Mini Cheesecake Cones.
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Back in the holiday season of 2017, Trader Joe’s hit us with a sleeper hit: Pitted Amarena Cherries. It didn’t make waves, but you can bet it made everything from Manhattans to ice cream sundaes better. Now Trader Joe’s as snuck another little treat on to shelves: Trader Joe’s Italian Strawberries in Syrup.
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There is more than meets the eye if you buy Trader Joe’s Hot Cocoa Snowman. There is the initial “what a cute idea.” But in reality, this is actually a pretty nice copy of an item that made Oprah’s Favorite Things list in 2018.
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‘Twas a day or two before Thanksgiving and all through my house, was a lady scrambling to make a lot of stuff. Maybe you felt the same way too. Tuesday night was filled with making goodies for potlucks at work. Wednesday night was filled with making things for Thanksgiving.
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Last year, Trader Joe’s had a surprise runaway hit on their hands: Trader Joe’s Advent Calendar for Dogs. I can’t tell you how many people I walked past saying, “wow that’s adorable” and then placed it in their cart. This clearly made Fido happy, but kitty sad. As the cats were left out in 2018, in 2019 Trader Joe’s debuted their Advent Calendar for Cats
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Trader Joe’s used to have winter seasonal Macarons. They were in the freezer case and they were delicious. Now, the seasonal macarons I look forward to are now Trader Joe’s Macaron Soap.
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Don’t adjust your monitors. I nearly walked past this item on the new items display. Every now and again they put items that are currently on shelves on that display. I noticed the bag was a bit faded out and took a closer look, only to realize this is different, this is Trader Joe’s Oven-Baked Cheese Bites with Black Truffle.
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So let’s say you are looking for a last-minute gift item. Perhaps that person doesn’t like fragrances found in Trader Joe’s Body Butter Trio. Perhaps they want something more neutral. Or something with pretty packaging. Then consider the 2019 Trader Joe’s Ultra Moisturizing Hand Cream Trio a good gift idea.
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If there are any flavors I’m totally obsessed with is the combination of Chocolate and Peppermint. I’m that person adding a few pumps of peppermint syrup to their mocha frappuccino in the middle of July. So I got excited when I saw Trader Joe’s Chocolate Peppermint Loaf and Baking Mix hit the rest of the baking mixes.
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Back on shelves again this year is Trader Joe’s Taste Test of Caramels. It’s by no means new, but a perennial favorite. And for good reason. Whether you are looking to gift this to someone or have fun with friends here is a good item to consider adding to your shopping list.
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If it isn’t the dessert items that get you this time of year, then it will be the appetizers. And Trader Joe’s has no shortage of good appetizers. In fact, Trader Joe’s Pimento Cheese Puffs might remind you of an appetizer that did not make a return to shelves: Trader Joe’s Vegetable Puffs.
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In tonight’s review of something you didn’t think you need in your life is Trader Joe’s Chocolate Lava Gnocchi. Now, I can honestly say I’ve never thought about pairing chocolate and potato before. Heck, I’ve seen a lot of hype via the internet. But would it be as strange as the Chocolate Hummus? Or would it need to be made crisp like the Outside in Gnocchi?
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If New Yorkers do three food items well it is bagels, pizza, and cheesecake. Most people know Junior’s cheesecake. I personally prefer a complete hole in the wall in the middle of nowhere called Cascon Cheesecake. Others in the neighborhood always raved about La Cheesecake. In either case, good cheesecake was never far away.
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Today, I am bringing on a special guest reviewer. He’s almost 4 years old and was very happy to help out with this review. He was so elated to get this set last year, he took one big sniff of the bag I brought over and immediately began running around in circles. He must have known it was time for Trader Joe’s Advent Calendar for Dogs.
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I am a sample junkie. And when Trader Joe’s 12 Days of Beauty hit shelves I was strangely excited. Finally a sample set of items on shelves, seasonal items, and some items unique only to this set. But be warned, if you want to be surprised then this review contains spoilers as to what is behind each door (not that you couldn’t flip the box over and see what was in it.
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I love a good crumb cake. Or is it a coffee cake? Regardless, people tend to use both phrases interchangeably. Regardless, we are still talking about the same thing here. And for the naysayers out there, sometimes an item that disappears from the shelves of Trader Joe’s doesn’t always mean it is gone forever. In fact, Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake Mix was introduced in 2010 and hasn’t been seen in about 5 years….
The weather is finally getting cooler and I’m excited to be able to turn on the oven in the house. While I don’t necessarily love the whole getting cold and maybe snow thing we have going on here in the northeast, I can tell you that nothing beats a baked good fresh from the oven. So the first chill we had and I made sure to try Trader Joe’s Maple Pecan Cookie and Baking Mix.
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So, when I picked up a bunch of seasonal offerings, Trader Joe’s Herbes de Provence Extra Virgin Olive Oil made its way into my basket. To be fair, Herbes de Provence is a regular seasonal offering. But for those of us who enjoy a flavored olive oil then this a nice option.
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I have to be honest for a second, this is the first year I’m not all that excited about a lot of the Fall products hitting Trader Joe’s shelves other than the returning items. And yes, there are some gems, but Trader Joe’s Apple Cider Cookies just aren’t one of them.
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Ah, the holiday season has hit Trader Joe’s. And there are so many sweets hitting shelves. So many maple things to try, a few pumpkin things to try, some apple things to try. And then in the frozen section are Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Rugelach.
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I remember making cookies with my mom as a kid. It was like magic how butter, sugar, and flour came together to make cookie dough. If that isn’t magical enough, she always put a nice dose of vanilla extract into the dough.
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