We’re well into the month of October, and fall is upon us. You know what that means: it’s Pumpkin Spice season!
Almost every restaurant, store, and coffee shop has hopped onto the Pumpkin Spice bandwagon. Since Trader Joe’s is the most basic (and fantastic) of all grocery store chains, they offer the widest variety of pumpkin spice products for you to choose from!
Because I’m the most basic girl in all the land and Pumpkin Spice is my all-time favorite flavor, I purchased one of every pumpkin product available at my local Trader Joe’s. That way, I can give you guys a thorough review so you know which pumpkin products to buy! (It’s also a fantastic excuse to eat a lot of sweets- not that I need one!).
I’ve listed all the products here in order from least delicious to most delicious. Check out my favorites below!
Disclaimer: I have a severe peanut/tree nut allergy, so I didn’t purchase a few products because they either contained nuts or contained traces of nuts.
2nd Disclaimer: These delicious products may throw off your quarantine weight loss progress. Proceed with caution. (That… cough… didn’t happen with me… cough… cough…)
14. Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix
Out of all the pumpkin products I purchased, I was most excited about the Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal cookies. I was also the most disappointed by them.
I’ve baked oatmeal cookies before, and they’re definitely on the drier side when it comes to batter consistency. However, these were so dry, they proved to be almost impossible to mix. I spent half an hour mixing before the batter fully incorporated. By the time I put them into the oven, I was convinced I’d messed up the recipe and that the cookies would fall apart in the oven.
Luckily, they didn’t fall apart. Surprisingly, the cookies came out of the oven looking like traditional oatmeal cookies. In fact, they were quite pretty!
Unfortunately, like so many things in life they didn’t taste anywhere near as good as they looked. The consistency was mealy and they were very… blah. You couldn’t taste pumpkin, you could barely taste chocolate- in fact, you couldn’t really taste much of anything at all. I’ve never not finished a cookie in my life, but I took a single bite of one of these and proceeded to throw the rest in the trash.
If I were to purchase these again, I’d recommend adding cinnamon sugar to the mix for added flavor and even a bit more butter to give them a more even consistency.
Rating: 0/10
13. Pumpkin Bagels
Of course, Trader Joe’s also had to release pumpkin bagels!
Like the oatmeal cookies above, I was really excited to try these bagels. While they weren’t bad, they weren’t exactly amazing either.
The pumpkin flavor wasn’t very strong. Instead, they tasted almost like a plain bagel with a vaguely pumpkin aftertaste. If you’re as obsessed with pumpkin as I am, you’ll like them. If you don’t like pumpkin, you probably will like them too because you could barely taste it.
Honestly, there are a lot more amazing bagel flavors out there, so I’d probably give these a pass. They did pair pretty well with pumpkin butter, which we’ll go over near the end of the list!
Rating: 4/10
12. Pumpkin O’s
If you haven’t tried Trader Joe’s cereal before, you’re missing out! TJ’s offers tasty, healthy versions of many popular cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa Puffs.
Pumpkin O’s were solidly average. They didn’t have a very strong flavor, which was disappointing- but the flavor they had was pretty yummy!
At the end of the day, I probably wouldn’t buy these again. There are many more delicious cereals available, and many more delicious pumpkin flavored items. These definitely disappear amongst the crowd.
Rating: 5/10
11. Pumpkin Tortilla Chips
Out of all the products on this list, I didn’t know what to expect from pumpkin tortilla chips. Would they be salty? Would they be sweet? Why would someone put pumpkin in a tortilla chip? What were they trying to accomplish? How many people had to be drunk to approve this?
Surprisingly, these were yummy! They weren’t sweet at all. I served them with salsa at a family dinner and they were gone within 10 minutes.
I’d definitely buy these again, if only for the novelty of introducing them to more family members and friends.
Rating: 6.5/10
10. Pumpkin Spice Batons
Ever wondered what the pumpkin equivalent of Pirouette cookies tastes like? Well, now you can find out!
These were pretty yummy! They had a strong pumpkin flavor and struck a nice balance of sweetness without being too sweet. They also tasted pretty wonderful when placed in a bowl of caramel ice cream.
However, these weren’t as good as regular Pirouette cookies. I’d still choose those if I wasn’t allergic to hazelnuts.
I will say, I’m kind of biased when it comes to cookies. A cookie doesn’t have to be that delicious for me to think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, and a cookie has to be absolute demon food for me to think it’s disgusting (cough, pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies, cough). My boyfriend tried one of these batons and said they were somewhat unexciting, so do with that what you will.
Rating: 7/10
9. Pumpkin Rolls
Pumpkin and cinnamon are a fantastic combination- and these pumpkin cinnamon rolls were just as delicious as I expected them to be!
Even better, these were beyond easy to bake. All I had to do was preheat my oven, separate the rolls onto a baking sheet, bake them, and sprinkle them with frosting. Out of all the items on this list that required preparation, these were by far the lowest effort!
The only negative about the pumpkin rolls was that they were very rich. After eating one and a half of these guys, I felt like I needed to take a two hour nap just to digest them. Basically, Trader Joe’s pumpkin rolls turned me into an old lady.
Rating: 7.5/10
8. This Pumpkin Walks Into a Bar…
These breakfast cereal bars don’t just have a punny name- they’re really delicious!
Trader Joe’s pumpkin cereal bars have only 140 calories per bar, making them a great pick-me-up snack in the middle of a busy day. Out of everything on this list, they were my boyfriend’s favorite. He ate them so quickly, I only had the chance to eat one myself!
Only one note here- as yummy as these are, the rest of Trader Joe’s cereal bars are even yummier. That being said, you can’t go wrong picking up a pack of these next time you’re at the store!
Rating: 7.5/10
7. Spicy Pumpkin Curry Simmer Sauce
Like the pumpkin tortilla chips, I didn’t quite know what to expect from Trader Joe’s Spicy Pumpkin Curry Simmer Sauce. I’ve never before thought of combining pumpkin with curry, so I was excited to see what the result would be.
You know what? The combination was delicious! I sauteed some mixed vegetables in this sauce, and the dish was a hit! I didn’t even need to add extra spices or seasoning, which is a first for a store-bought sauce. I’d definitely purchase this again.
Rating: 8/10
6. Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix
Is anyone really surprised that pumpkin pancakes are delicious? Because I wasn’t!
This mix was pretty simple to make, and produced amazing pancakes! Even better, there’s a lot of mix in the box- good for several breakfasts of deliciousness!
Rating: 8.5/10
5. Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix
Pumpkin bread is an old favorite of mine, but I’m very picky when judging it! It’s tough to strike an even balance of flavors with pumpkin bread, and even harder to get a good consistency- but Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread and Muffin Mix was lovely!
Unlike some of the other pre-made mixes in this article, the Pumpkin Bread required a bit more effort. However, the recipe was still simple and easy for a beginner to follow.
Note: I substituted coconut oil for vegetable oil. I definitely recommend doing this as the slightly sweet flavor of the coconut oil paired really well with the flavor of the loaf.
Rating: 8.5/10
4. Organic Frosted Pumpkin Toaster Pastries
I’m not much of a pop-tart person, so I didn’t expect to like these.
Well, consider my mind blown because Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Toaster Pastries are FIRE. They were so mouthwatering, I had to stop myself from eating these for breakfast every day!
The only negative? You definitely have to toast these. Some pop-tart flavors taste all right raw, but these aren’t one of them!
Rating: 9/10
3. Petite Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Oh, my, goodness- these are so amazing! They’re basically pumpkin-flavored Circus Animal Cookies, but so much better.
The only reason that these cookies don’t get a 10/10 rating is because they’re so sweet, it’s hard to eat more than one or two of them at once. In a way, this was good because it prevented me from eating an entire box in one sitting. If you want a full serving of these for dessert though, I’d recommend a less sweet option.
Rating: 9.5/10
2. Pumpkin Butter
I first came across pumpkin butter at a Farmer’s Market in Sedona during a family vacation. The merchant who sold it gave me a sample, and from that moment I was in love (not with her, with pumpkin butter!) I haven’t come across pumpkin butter since, so I was surprised to see that Trader Joe’s sold it this year!
If you haven’t tried pumpkin butter before, I highly, highly recommend doing so. It’s so delicious! It tastes amazing spread on bread, bagels, or even combined with a nut butter in a sandwich.
You could also eat it with a spoon. (I may or may not have done this. Okay, let’s be honest- I definitely have done this).
Rating: 10/10
1. Pumpkin Flavored Joe Joe’s
Wow. WOW.
Before I talk too much about these cookies, let me tell you a little story about Young Shay. Young Shay loved cookies. Young Shay loved cookies so much, she used to steal entire boxes of cookies from the pantry and eat them for a single meal. (Young Shay also found out she was pre-diabetic at 22, but that’s a story for another day).
Adult Shay has much more self control and hasn’t eaten an entire box of cookies in one sitting for years. That was, until she tried her first Pumpkin Joe Joe.
Ya’ll, I ate an entire box of these at once because they were that good. I then bought another box of these so my boyfriend could try some. My boyfriend and I then proceeded to eat the second box in one sitting together.
Basically, these cookies are my Kryptonite. You’d be a fool if you didn’t pick up a box!
Rating: 12/10
Note: This post was originally published on Ciao by Shay on October 16, 2020. It was migrated to Happy Health Stylish upon my blog’s rebranding.