Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie and Cocoa Swirl

The pros: Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie and Cocoa Swirl is a hypnotic mix of cookie butter and spreadable chocolate.

The cons: I'm still not sure how they figure there are 27 servings in this wee little jar.

The verdict:  

This jar is like a marriage. You have two strong and amazing personalities paired together. For better or worse, one does not stand out from the other. They live their lives blended in a jar, but still appear as two individuals.

Here you have two well done products paired together in a hypnotic swirl.

You have Speculoos Cookie butter paired with what tasted similar to their Cocoa Almond Spread, although there are no almonds in this product.

Both are solid choices to reach for every time.

But here is the bummer: these are two strong personalities which is both a good thing and bad thing.

In order for food to play well together they either really need to compliment each other or one has to play a supporting role.

I don't think that happens here as successfully as it should.

Now, that is not to say that I believe this is a bad product in any way. I just think the original is just fine on its own. And when I say original, I mean the two products are better left in their respective jar. They don't necessarily compliment or highlight each other because they stand out all by themselves.

Pairing aside, you have the classic cookie butter in all its cinnamon cookie goodness as a peanut butter textured spread. Weaved into this is a soft and spreadable cocoa swirl that is Nutella-esque.

I've been experimenting in the kitchen with my extra jars of cookie butter (yes, aside from eating it with a spoon). There are plenty of ways to highlight chocolate and cookie butter. Cookie butter monster cookies has been my favorite application, but I've seen others pull off the chocolate and cookie butter pairing way more successfully than the spread in this jar.

For $3.99 this is slightly more expensive than a regular jar of cookie butter. But I won't say that this is a bad product. It's completely good. But I think it could have been done better. Perhaps a change in textures here could have made the two standout products stand out from one another more.

Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:

The jar of Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie and Cocoa Swirl:

The nutritional information:

The ingredients:

Opening the jar and removing the gold foil you are left with a hypnotic swirl:

Would I buy this again? I thought Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie and Cocoa Spread was a good product overall, but I prefer the plain cookie butter.

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!