By Veronica Morris '25, Eve Rieser '25, and Maxine Podgainy '25
Every fall, Trader Joe’s releases their fall specials ranging from pumpkin frosted short-breads, to golden-brown butternut-squash mac n’ cheese bites that look like they came straight off the menu of some delicious BBQ joint. The flavors that Trader Joe’s explores bring you back to chilly fall days full of comfy sweaters and autumn foliage.
We tried and reviewed nine different Trader Joe’s fall specials out of ten on taste and festivity to get ourselves in the fall spirit. Wanna know what to buy and what not to buy? Here, (in no particular order) are our opinions on what’s worth the cheap price!
1) Non-Dairy Pumpkin Oat Beverage
$2.49 / 32 fl oz
Taste: 8/10
Festivity: 7/10
The Non-Dairy Pumpkin Oat Beverage had a very pretty light orangey color, exactly the color of the pumpkins on the packaging. Like the color, the taste was very light and not overpowering. The beverage was very flavorful but tasted more like a horchata with a slight hint of pumpkin. We tried the oat beverage with STōK Cold Brew, and the two paired together well. The oat beverage tasted like a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew from Starbucks, but it was slightly less sweet. The coffee flavor did not overpower the Pumpkin Oat Beverage, so you could still taste the authentic pumpkin and other autumnal spices. A perfect accompaniment to any fall desserts or beverages.
2) Chocolate Mousse Pumpkins
$4/6 pumpkins
Taste: 10/10
Festivity: 10/10
These Chocolate Mousse Pumpkins got an immediate 10/10 from us. Although they weren’t pumpkin flavored, Trader Joe’s mastered the cake to mousse ratio so that this treat was not too rich, but not too bland either. The chocolate cake was moist, and like the packaging says, the mousse was silky and smooth. They had a very similar flavor to Hostess®CupCakes, without the chemical aftertaste. These little treats were coated in a thin layer of a bright orange icing--the icing was not overpowering and added excellent resistance to the bite. The autumnal presentation was also a huge bonus.
3) Pumpkin Tortilla Chips
$3.99/ 12 oz
Taste: 4/10
Festivity: 5/10
These Pumpkin Tortilla Chips instantly caught our attention. The bright lettering on the packaging drew us in. However, the chips themselves were a different story. The Pumpkin Tortilla Chips were basically plain tortilla chips with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. There was not enough spice in the chips to call them “pumpkin” flavored. The chips had no salt on them, and they broke apart very easily. The chips had a slight orange tint to the chips, but other than that, there was nothing special about the way they looked. You’re better off buying regular (and salty) tortilla chips. Although, we will admit that these chips did pair well with the Fall Harvest Salsa (listed below).
4) Fall Harvest Salsa
$2.99/12 oz
Taste: 9/10
Festivity: 8/10
This salsa was absolutely delicious. It was the perfect blend of traditional salsa and fall flavor. It included the typical ingredients of salsa--tomatoes, tomatillos, and onions--but it also included pumpkins, apples, and butternut squash. This is the perfect item for parties and festivities in these fall months. The flavors provide a delicate balance and a little bit of sweetness to your traditional salsa. There is a tiny kick of spice due to the jalapeños (another ingredient), but instead of overwhelming your taste buds and the rest of the flavors, it complements them. The packaging of the salsa was bright and festive, including traditional fall colors and themes. Do not walk, RUN to get this salsa.
5) Pumpkin Spice Cookies
$2.99/10 oz
Taste: 9/10
Festivity: 7/10
These cookies had the cutest packaging, a perfect minimalistic look, while still including fall colors and the pumpkin silhouette. The actual cookies were either white or a light orange color with tiny sprinkles. The orange cookies had pumpkin spice flavoring and the white cookies were yogurt-covered. They tasted very similar, and we could not detect a big difference between the two flavors. That’s not to say they weren’t delicious, they had a good amount of spice, but there wasn’t that much of a pumpkin taste. They weren’t too strong to the point where you didn’t want to eat more than one. Overall, this was a very enjoyable snack, but as a fall treat, nothing stood out. If you are in the mood for a treat, these cookies are a great choice, but I’m sure you could find something with more of a pumpkin flavor in something else.
6) Halloween Joe Joe’s Cookies
$10.87 / 16 oz
Taste: 3/10
Festivity: 10/10
This was by far our favorite packaging/look. Everything from the designs on the box, to the color scheme, screamed “Halloween.” The boxes were orange and spooky, with the cookie as a scarecrow head. Each cookie looked like a carved pumpkin and had orange cream in the middle. The actual taste of the cookie is where things started going downhill. They tasted like charcoal. The cookies were chalky and didn’t have much of a chocolate flavor. We felt very full after eating just one or two of them (if we made it that far!). We do not recommend this snack, you can definitely find a better cookie in Trader Joe’s. If you still want to enjoy Joe Joe’s, we recommend the Golden Joe Joe’s (vanilla cookie and vanilla cream) and the Pumpkin Joe Joe’s (pumpkin cookies and pumpkin cream). These have a much better flavor and they do not taste like charcoal!
7) Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese Bites
$3.99 / 10 oz
Taste: 10/10
Festivity: 5/10
These were heaven in a ball. The packaging was nothing special, they looked like the normal Mac & Cheese bites. However the Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese bites themselves, tasted amazing. This was easily one of the best purchases. There was a subtle squash flavor, but like most other butternut squash mac and cheese foods, it wasn’t very noticeable. There was a slight sweetness that you could taste, which was a refreshing change from the usual salty mac & cheese. The bread crumb coating on the outside was the perfect amount of saltiness and crunch, which contributed extremely well. These were incredibly easy to prepare and nearly impossible to mess up. Our only wish is that they were bigger, but that’s what the regular Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese is for! We have not reviewed the Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese item, but if it is anything like these, it will be out of this world.
8) Pumpkin Spice Batons
1.99 / 5 oz
Taste: 1/10
Festivity: 3/10
We have a lot to say about these Pumpkin Spice Batons. Unfortunately, none of it is good. These were incredibly disappointing, lacking in both taste and festivity. These batons were supposed to contain pumpkin spice flavored cream. Not only did the cream not taste like pumpkin spice, but the amount of cream was sub-par. The crunchy wafer on the outside was flavorless and tasted like cardboard, making the entire experience unpleasant. The packaging wasn’t very festive either, other than the bright orange label (which originally caught our attention). This is not an item we would recommend.
9) Pumpkin Ice Cream
$3.99 / 1 quart
Taste: 3/10
Festivity: 7/10
This Pumpkin Ice Cream (Super Premium), was not very premium. The strong orange packaging led us to believe the pumpkin flavor would be strong as well, but we shouldn’t have believed this. The ice cream was a light orange color matching the shade of the Pumpkin Oat Beverage. Now to get to the flavor: it was weak. The ice cream was nice and creamy, but the creaminess took too much away from the pumpkin spice flavor, which felt muted. The ice cream was immensely sweet which we believe was a factor in overpowering the pumpkin flavor. We think Trader Joe’s should sell this ice cream in a pint because the quart was too big and seemed impossible to finish. All in all, we would not buy this product again, but would like to propose an alternative that is sold at Trader Joe’s: Pumpkin Ginger Hold the Cones. The ice cream’s flavor is stronger (with the addition of ginger) and the cone and vanilla coating cancel out the extreme sweetness of the ice cream.
After trying all these fall Trader Joe’s items, we have definitely narrowed down what is worth your money! We hope we guided you in the right direction and that this will make your next fall-themed Trader Joe’s run easier!
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