Trader Joe’s fall snacks are long-awaited treats for many, capturing the season’s classic flavors. This selection features a mix of fall and failed snacks that are must-tries and never-buys.
Autumn Harvest Sweet and Salty Snack Mix ($4.99): 3/10
The Autumn Harvest Sweet and Salty Snack Mix disappoints the taste buds. The mix should be delicious. It features many of Trader Joe’s favorite snacks in one bag: chocolate-drizzled popcorn, yogurt-covered pretzels, and salty pumpkin treats. However, when combined, they create strange, overwhelming flavor combinations. Between the peanut butter cups and Pink Lady apple chips, the chocolate-peanut butter flavor covers the otherwise sweet apple chips.
Petite Pumpkin Spice Cookies ($4.49): 9/10
These cookies are perfect as a small, sweet snack. As simple as they look, the yogurt coating’s sweetness and the shortbread cookie’s crunch make it almost impossible to eat just a few. The Trader Joe’s cookies come with a mix of vanilla and pumpkin spice-coated treats. The assortment of white and orange cookies is an additional perk. If you see these cookies in the store, make sure to snag one before they’re gone.
Autumn Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce ($4.49) & Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli ($3.99): 9/10
This pasta sauce is the embodiment of a much-needed fall meal. It is a mouth-watering, creamy, cozy, delightful masterpiece. The sauce highlights sweet and savory spices with classic fall vegetables like squash, pumpkin, and zucchini. It’s best served with the crimped-edged, colorful pumpkin ravioli, which lends a divine, sweet pumpkin flavor. With the perfect filling combination of pureed pumpkin, ricotta, mozzarella, and a touch of brown sugar, each bite tastes like heaven. The pasta’s savory shell and rich filling make it an impeccable choice for an easy but delicious dinner. Although the pasta is quite flavorful on its own, the Autumn Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce, garnished with a sprig of basil, is a seamless addition. Together, they’re a perfect fall meal.
Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread ($2.79): 3/10
The Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread is a complete flavor overload. The first bite is already more than enough, with the dense cream cheese and the overpowering pumpkin spice flavor. In fact, it’s hard to imagine anything that it would taste even mediocre on. The idea of the spread has potential, but the execution is just too confusing to deliver.
Juicy Apple Gummy Candy ($2.49): 10/10
These apple gummies are literal bursts of flavor. They are everything a gusher wishes to be. They taste delicious, are a fun time to eat, and don’t stick to your teeth or taste artificial. These special sweet-and-sour apple flavors are not to be missed. It’s easy to find yourself eating the whole bag.
Pumpkin Spiced Mini Sheet Cake ($5.99): 9/10
This new sheet cake is filled with fan-favorite fall spices and flavors. The cake is perfectly light, fluffy, and not too rich, pairing seamlessly with the classic cream cheese frosting. The pumpkin flavor enhances the original Trader Joe’s sheet cake recipe, leaving you wanting another bite.
Pumpkin Spiced Joe-Joe’s Sandwich Cookies ($4.49): 8/10
Trader Joe’s iconic fall classic, their pumpkin-flavored Joe-Joes, have leveled up this year with a yogurt-flavored coating. The coating turns the rather simple Joe-Joe’s into a more fulfilling experience by introducing cinnamon spice, another welcome, flavorful addition.
Pumpkin Tortilla Chips ($2.49): 1/10
These are absolutely an awful representation of what fall tastes like. The simple tortilla chips are coated in a disgusting pumpkin-spice powder. This should not be what a chip tastes like. The combination of the spices and corn tortilla chips makes a plasticy taste in your mouth.
Trader Joe’s Spiced Cider ($4.99): 9/10
Spiced cider is a renowned fall drink, and Trader Joe’s does not disappoint. Their classic cider balances fresh apple flavor with warm, rich spice, evoking fall nostalgia and memories. The cider is perfect, both warmed up and right out of the fridge.
