Trader Joe's Speculoos Crunchy Cookie Butter

The pros: Trader Joe's Speculoos Crunchy Cookie Butter is one of two iconic cookie butter varieties currently on shelves.

The cons:  I'm not sure how they think there are 27 servings in this jar. Clearly, they are misinformed or never tasted it.

The verdict:  Some people are emotional eaters. Some people reach for chocolate, others fast food, some ice cream. Some just head straight to the bar and pour themselves a nice strong drink. Me? I cookie butter.

I remember the first time I had cookie butter. I actually thought it was gross. All I was told was that it was divine as my sister put a spoon of it in my mouth. Now, those words are a touch out-of-place especially if you have it in your head what a cookie butter might taste like. For me, it was the taste of cookie dough. That was a big nope from me at that moment. It isn't like cookie dough at all. While I was looking for the taste of brown sugar, butter and some other flavors, this was not at all what I was tasting.

When you expect a flavor and get something on the other end of the flavor scale, it takes away from the experience. I was expecting something far more buttery. But cookie butter spreads like peanut butter. It is thick. It will stick to the roof of your mouth. Those two textures couldn't be further apart. However, revisiting the product and after reading the description of the jar I was able to develop my own fascination with the stuff.

This particular jar benefits from the added texture of cookies that have been crumbled fine and added to the mix. It isn't chunky peanut butter levels of chunk, but it's more subtle. Unlike my original invention of what divine tasted like, I actually looked for what a Speculoos cookie is. It's as far away from my beloved chocolate chip cookie as possible.

Speculoos cookies are spiced. Usually those spices are pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg. Here the ingredients reference some of those spices. Cinnamon is by far the most assertive in this product.

The other day, I tried Trader Joe's Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie. I openly complained about the calorie count. Shame on me. If you were to sit and eat the whole jar of cookie butter, you'll go far past the 2000 calories. Yes, it is completely possible to sit and eat this with a spoon. So while it is hard to resist, it at least has a cover where it can be resealed for a future day.

For $3.69 this is a really delicious product even with the crunchies in it. Worth a try if you haven't tried it yet. I'm sure there can be lots of culinary uses for this little jar. But this jar has been pretty much hollowed out. Experimenting with it will have to wait for another day.

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

The jar of Trader Joe's Speculoos Crunchy Cookie Butter:

The nutritional information and the ingredients:

How to enjoy this product:

My favorite way of consuming this product:

Would I buy this again?  My head and soul say yes, but my thighs and gym routine say no to Trader Joe's Speculoos Crunchy Cookie Butter. It's not a regular purchase, but is oh so comforting.

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!