The pros: Trader Joe’s 8 Mini Croissants are new and replace the frozen ones you have to proof. Don’t worry though, the Chocolate and Almond croissants are still in the frozen aisle.
The cons: If you imagined (like I did) that these would be about the size of say a crescent roll, then you will be surprised by how much they puff up. This bag is not resealable. They are made in Belgium.
The verdict: 
I love a good croissant. So much so that a fellow friend and I decided to take a croissant making class at Sur La Table a day or two before my wedding.
Yup, nothing says I don’t need to fit into my clothes anymore, like learning to make buttery pastries.
So let’s start off with a couple of things that are worth noting. This is a new product. Trader Joe’s previously offered boxed variety with the same name that were just plain croissants. Those required time. Overnight + bake time. While the chocolate and almond croissants are still there, the plain ones have not been there the last few times I stopped into my local TJs.
Now, the chocolate ones are near perfection. The only downside is you can’t just pop them in the oven. You have to wait for them to rise.
The almond ones are a close second, but they frequently leak their filling all over the cookie sheet. Also, they would be prettier if they mentioned the importance of an egg wash. In terms of taste, they are on point too.
These croissants are for those of us who fail to plan. I know I’ll need to eat, but often I fail to plan. If you have about 25 minutes, then you might be pleasantly surprised by how good these are for something coming out of a bag.
Let’s start off with the price. For $3.99 you are getting 8 not so mini but not full sized pastries. Go into any French bakery and that might get you two if you are lucky.
Because of the ridiculously high heat here in NY, these were pretty much fully defrosted for me by the time I brought them home. So while I did not leave them out for 30 minutes, they did endure a shopping trip, a 25 minute car ride in 90 degree heat, plus putting the groceries away.
About 25 minute later I had golden brown pastries. I pushed it to the 30 minutes to ensure that they weren’t quite as light as the ones on the picture on the bag.
You see, when it comes to croissants you want a bit of color. Without the color it means you might be biting into mush. You want flaky layers. If I had let them stay in the oven a few more minutes I probably could have added to the layering.
But the outside was crisp and the inside light and tender.
For something that wasn’t full sized, it was pretty good. For something that does not require an overnight proofing, they are pretty good.
Best of all these are less than half the calories of the chocolate or almond croissants and a touch easier to make. It’s like Trader Joe’s understands just how lazy I am.
Don’t get me wrong, those chocolate and almond ones are worth the time. But if you are looking for an upgrade to your Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, then you should give these a try.
Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:
The bag of Trader Joe’s 8 Mini Croissants:
The nutritional information:
The ingredients:
How to prepare:
How Trader Joe’s describes these:
After being cooked you get:
Would I buy this again? Yes, I would buy Trader Joe’s 8 Mini Croissants again. They were easy, peasy and tasted pretty good. Not French Bakery amazing, but darn good out of the bag.
Want to see more items I’ve reviewed from Trader Joe’s? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
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I agree with previous posters, the new ones are terrible. It is like eating a piece of bread with no taste, very disappointing. I cooked them this morning and they are still sitting on the table. I am french and use to buy my croissants from a small bakery in Paris (winner of best croissants in Paris) and the TJ ones were pretty darn close to that experience… we use to make them the TJ ones every sunday morning and it was a wonderful ritual… PLEASE bring back the old ones!!!
Hey Marie! Like I said earlier, I never had the old ones. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and share your thoughts and again, I left a link in one of the comments, please reach out directly to Trader Joe’s to let them know what you think.
The new ones suck, just glorified crescent rolls and are nothing like the old ones in the box. The world doesn’t need “fast” croissants, just good ones. If people don’t have time to proof then they should buy the already baked ones or get a tube of crescent rolls from Kroger. I dearly miss the box ones as they were perfection.
I agree with many previous commenters…The new ones are barely better than Pillsbury Crescent Rolls! My weekend brunches are suffering from this sad development from TJs. :-((((
Yes totally agree… we will need to start a petition or something…
I was wondering if I was nuts, that these are a whole different product. They have no taste to them at all. They are not flaky. I have tried them twice just to see if maybe it was a bad batch. I would gladly pay more for the quality of the old ones. Trader Joes bring them back.
I LOVE THEM❤️. I always have a bag in my freezer. Just the right size.
Hey Linda! Thanks for sharing, this has been a super controversial item that not everyone loves the changes that were made to the original recipe.
Exactly! Apparently they don’t care.
I went to France with a friend for two weeks last summer and I had fallen in love with butter croissants; and so did my friend! Not long after I came back I started looking for good flaky butter croissants. So far I could found only a few bakeries that come close to what I can remember I had in France. I haven’t tried TJ’s previous frozen croissants but I love these mini croissants for sure. Unlike the Pillsbury pastry these don’t have the bitter yeast taste. TJ’s simply taste light and good plus they are not very oily. My two teenager boys like them. I told my friend about these croissants she said they are good too. I had tried a few other brands of frozen butter croissants which require proofing ahead of time. They taste like bread and bland to me. The TJ mini croissants from Belgium are very convenient and a bag of eight comes at a good price. I have had these since August and found them sold out quickly at my local TJ. When that happens, I won’t find them in other stores and it will take TJ weeks to restock them (I was told there was production delay) That tells me the mini frozen croissants must be pretty popular. I would now often keep a few bags in my freezer to prevent them from running out whenever I want to have a croissant and don’t want to go to the bakery!
Hey CK! I’m glad you shared your thoughts on this. I’ve never been to France, but I’m glad you can share how they compare. Thanks again for stopping by and sharing this!
I went to France with a friend for two weeks last summer and I had fallen in love with butter croissants; and so did my friend! Not long after I came back I started looking for good flaky butter croissants. So far I could found only a few bakeries that come close to what I can remember I had in France. I haven’t tried TJ’s previous frozen croissants but I love these mini croissants for sure. Unlike the Pillsbury pastry these don’t have the bitter yeast taste. TJ’s simply taste light and good plus they are not very oily. My two teenager boys like them. I told my friend about these croissants she said they are good too. I had tried a few other brands of frozen butter croissants which require proofing ahead of time. They taste like bread and bland to me. The TJ mini croissants from Belgium are very convenient and a bag of eight comes at a good price. I have had these since August and found them sold out quickly at my local TJ. When that happens, I won’t find them in other stores and it will take TJ weeks to restock them (I was told there was production delay) That tells me the mini frozen croissants must be pretty popular. I would now often keep a few bags in my freezer to prevent them from running out whenever I want to have a croissant and don’t want to go to the bakery!
The new croissants are like supermarket mass production type. They’re tasteless. The old ones were fluffy and delicious! I will need to buy the croissants from William Sonoma.
Hey Manny! Based on the comments here, you are not alone on your dislike of this product. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to share!