Review of Trader Joe's Macarons

There are times company comes by expectedly or without any warning. Whatever the case is, there are handy items to keep in the freezer if you are just having a cup of tea and want something sweet. Be warned, if you are not familiar with macarons, they are light and somewhat sweet, they are not made with regular flour like most cookies, they are made with almond flour. So if you have a nut allergy, steer clear.

Trader Joe's carries several varieties. Vanilla and Chocolate are sold in packages of 12 containing six of each flavor. Don't look for them in the cookie aisle either. They're in the freezer section (all varieties are kept together). But there have been the following seasonal varieties as well:

• Heart Shaped Macarons
• Watermelon and Peach
• Raspberry, Vanilla, and Blueberry

Here is the quick rundown of what you get in each variety. Let's start with Trader Joe's 6 Chocolate and 6 Vanilla French Macarons.

The nutritional information:

The ingredients:

How Trader Joe's describes these:

Out of the box, they are everything you would hope for and perfect feet too:

Mango are sold in a package of 12 (now discontinued). The pumpkin ones are seasonal but have also been discontinued. As have the very large Salted Butterscotch Macarons and Molten Chocolate Macarons.

But here is the visual rundown of the dozen macaron variety pack:

The other variety that is still sold continuously is the A Dozen Macarons Varies. The assorted variety pack has 6 flavors with 2 of each.

For those of you watching your waistline, this is better than any Chips Ahoy or Nabisco 100 calorie snack pack. Three of these and you feel like you are living on the wild side of life.

The ingredients:

Directions:  Thaw for 30 minutes and serve. They are not Laduree quality, but they are pretty darned good. For $4.99 per dozen, most places that will not even buy you 2 cookies.

Want to "elevate this dish" as Food Network would say? Check out my Deep Fried Macarons recipe. I used Macarons from Trader Joes. If you thought they melted in your mouth, it is elevated carnival food with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on the top.

Want to see more Trader Joe's Reviews? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe's for a searchable list.