The pros: Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Cartwheel Cookies are the newest cookies to hit Trader Joe's shelves.
The cons: If you like truly crispy cookies, then you might want to pass on these as these are crisp around the edges.
The verdict: 
"Whatcha eating?" asked my husband from the bedroom.
"Peanut butter cookies. Do you want one?" I responded.
"No," he said.
"But they're good. They taste like they have Reese Pieces without the shell in the middle of them." I answered.
My husband took a cookie and like a little kid said, "Mmm...These are good." He's a bigger fan of salty/savory items and I have a profound sweet tooth. In other words, this made both of us happy.
Yes, a quick window into how tastings sometimes go in our household. We are on different time schedules so what was a 5 o'clock EST snack on my end is essentially his midnight snack before he goes to work this evening.
Now, to be fair, my husband does not always love Trader Joe's. It's pretty much the only place I do my grocery shopping. He asks me to mix it up once in a while.
So I keep shopping at Trader Joe's. I'm a great wife. And yes, I do all of the grocery shopping.
And since I do all of the grocery shopping for us, I pick up the stuff I really like. I like peanut butter. I like cookies. This obviously ended up in my cart. It almost was opened in the car on the ride home.
These are substantially different from Trader Joe's Cocoa Pinwheel Cookies. Yes, the names sound close, but the product is vastly different. And this is quite different form every other cookie I've tried on Trader Joe's shelves.
These are sort of soft cookies. These have a crisp edge but with the soft peanut butter in the center also eat like a soft cookie.
The cookies themselves are more buttery than peanut buttery. But when you look at them, you'll see what looks like a four leaf clover (ok, that's what I see).
They look at you as if Lady Luck has smiled upon you and will bestow a delicious sweetened peanut butter in the middle. For me, it reminded me of four dollops of Reese's Pieces filling (just the filling, no candy coating). There is no crunch coming from any of the peanut butter filling.
While the exterior does have a mild crunch indicating doneness, what you are left with are the most different peanut butter cookies I've had. They were light and airy with little pockets of deliciousness.
For $2.69 for 9 cookies, these aren't exactly cheap cookies, but they are a well made product. They don't taste mass market at all. If you enjoy peanut butter cookies, then this is something worthy of a try.
Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:
The box of Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Cartwheel Cookies:
The nutritional information and the ingredients:
Out of the package you get cookies that might make you feel lucky:
And a closer look inside the cookie:
Would I buy this again? If calories did not count, then yes, I would have Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Cartwheel Cookies all the time. They were good and even my husband agreed.
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!
Dag says
You need to tell your husband to hush up LOL period without you frequenting Trader Joe's so much we wouldn't have these awesome reviews. I do love a rich peanut butter cookie and I hadn't seen these yet. I might have to get them especially if they're even remotely reminiscent to Reese's I know I'd love them. Probably best to take out half for myself and give out the other half to people at work lol.
becomebetty says
Lol. I listen to his suggestion and promptly ignore him. I can't wait to hear what you think. I've heard positive things from a lot of people already. Thanks as always for stopping by!
Dag says
Weird -I went there tonight and they were sold out!!!!!! Either they're really good or people are just really interested in trying them. I will try again next week.
becomebetty says
Boo! My store already has them in two places: new items and nicely mixed into the cookies as if it is a permanent item. Hopefully you'll try it soon! Still would love to hear your thoughts when you do get your hands on a box.
Dag says
Oh the inhumanity! I went to Trader Joe's tonight and bought these peanut butter cookies. I was so looking forward to trying one. I've been grappling with something that is a cross between a sinus infection and allergies. When I got home I had a big sneezing fit. Afterwards I went and got the cookies and opened up the box and took a big bite out of one and nada! I couldn't taste anything. It could have been a compressed disc of kitty litter and I wouldn't have known the difference. I apparently lost my sense of smell and taste which will hopefully return sometime tonight. Totally sucks.
Dag says
So I got my sense of taste back. Pretty good however it really as you mentioned lacked a pronounced peanut butter flavor. Way too subtle in my opinion. Maybe if they had put in chunky bits of peanuts with in the center?
becomebetty says
That would have been good too. The peanut butter flavor seemed centered all around the middle. I tried pieces of the cookie separately and the flavor did not come through that much. Glad you are feeling better!
Dag says
Okay I'm not sure if my sense of taste is 100% yet but I'm finding these to be really kind of bland peanut butter taste -wise. I mean really kind of subtle even in the middle opposed to PB straight up. Is it me?
Jennifer Share says
These cookies are delicious!!
I’m a peanut butter addict and I don’t find these bland at all. It’s basically a dollop of peanut butter in a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie.
No, they aren’t hard, crisp cookies (who needs that? you can buy Nutter Butters)—But they also aren’t that fake-chewy type of cookie that you get from major cookie brands attempting to make “soft-baked” cookies.
These could pass for homemade.
They are made in Greece—a nationality, apparently, that knows how to make an excellent peanut butter cookie lol.
There is a Greek-owned cafe in town that makes some of the BEST peanut butter cookies (like these, they melt in your mouth). TJ’s PB Cartwheels are, I think, even better!
My only negative—the cookie is such a tender shortbread, they have a lot of breakage in the box.
becomebetty says
Hey Jennifer! So many great points in your comment. I'd love to know which cafe has cookies like these because none by me seem to sell anything close to them. Bummer that your box was all broken up. Mine was in tact. I'd be curious to see if I have the same problem with the next box. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to stop by and share your thoughts!