Whenever fall comes around, I am always super reluctant. It is no secret to everyone I know that summer is my favorite season. Boating, swimming, laying in the sun, hanging outside by the fire…all of these activities are what make summer the best season ever. Especially in Michigan (even though I am biased).
However, once I finally accept that summer is over, I fully embrace fall. The pumpkin spice, the butternut squash, the warm delicious soups…I am full speed ahead on all things fall. One of my favorite things to do is wander grocery stores and see what seasonal items they have. I think the grocery store most known for this is Trader Joe’s. A fan favorite, this grocery store never disappoints around the holidays. Fall and Halloween time is no different.
On a September afternoon this year, I went to Trader Joe’s and bought almost every single pumpkin item I could find. Keep in mind that I am a household of one. It was a lot of food, but I just had to try a bit of each!
In the below list, I went through and let you know my thoughts on each one- on whether I recommend buying during this fall season or not.
1) Pumpkin Spice Bagels
These Pumpkin Spice Bagels were intriguing. One thing that is notable is that these are Gluten Free. I am certainly not gluten free by any means, but I can appreciate trying gluten alternatives as I do find gluten makes me bloat. That being said, they do not crisp up when put in the toaster.
I love a warm, crispy bagel (some would argue almost burnt) with cream cheese, but with these gluten free bagels, I was not able to achieve the crispiness that I love.
The taste? This was perfect. It was not too much and not too little pumpkin spice. I would definitely recommend the flavor of these bagels!
Rating: 7/10
2) Petite Pumpkin Spice Cookies
I am not going to lie, sweets are not my thing. I love a good brownie or ice cream, but I crave savory food more than I ever crave sweets. Keep that in mind as I rate these items!
To me these cookies tasted just like the frosted animal cookies we all had as kids. You know, the pink ones that are superior to regular animal crackers? Click here for a refresher or a walk down memory lane.
That being said there was a pumpkin spice flair to it that I really enjoyed. I shared these with several friends who were more than happy to help me eat them. They also agreed with the frosted animal cookies reference!
Overall, these are a great little treat that I think everyone would enjoy.
Rating: 8/10
3) Ghosts and Bats Crispy Potato Snacks
I had ulterior motives when I chose these Ghosts and Bats Crispy Potato Snacks. I have gotten many requests to do a Halloween Charcuterie Board and I wanted to use these as a little spooky flair.
They are so cute and each individual chip is made to look like either a ghost or a bat…but they are AWFUL. It honestly was like eating cardboard 🙁 They are fun to look at but not so fun to eat.
Rating: 0/10
4) This Pumpkin Walks into a Bar- Cereal Bars
Pumpkin cereal bars honestly sound like heaven. I am not sure that you could go wrong with these ingredients and they did not disappoint!
I loved these things. I kept one in my car in case I got hungry while running errands, I kept a few at my desk at work…they were the perfect little fall snack.
Overall, I would highly recommend.
Rating: 10/10
5) Pumpkin Waffles
If you have read any of my other blog posts, you may remember how I feel about breakfast foods. They aren’t my jam. Eggs, bacon, hashbrowns…I am literally cringing as I type this.
If I ever do find myself out to breakfast my go-to (if they won’t serve me a burger) is pancakes or waffles. There were a few options on how to cook these pumpkin waffles. They come frozen. I made mine in the toaster. I think they had a good flavor of pumpkin…but again just not my jam. If someone was a waffle connoisseur and loved pumpkin, I think they would really enjoy this.
I ended up putting mine with the pumpkin ice cream (I review that next) and it was better as a dessert!
Rating: 5/10
6) Pumpkin Ice Cream
As a kid I used to eat ice cream every night. Remember the days when you could eat copious amounts of dairy and not mess up your stomach?
I was very excited to try the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Ice Cream and it didn’t disappoint! It had just the right amount of pumpkin flavor. My only complaint is that it was grainy. It was not silky smooth like some ice creams, which I prefer.
Rating: 7/10
7) Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
Okay, so this butternut squash mac and cheese is not pumpkin flavored, but I LOVE mac and cheese so I had to try it and include it here.
Unfortunately, I didn’t taste much of the butternut squash flavor. It was great mac and cheese but I hardly tasted the butternut squash. My cousin tried it too and had the same review.
Overall, it is a great concept but it missed the mark in my eyes!
Rating: 3/10 (due to lack of flavor)
8) Pumpkin Spice Hummus
I was super excited to try this pumpkin spice hummus. I am a hummus betch. I love all the flavors.
I ended up serving this on a charcuterie board at a friend’s party and it was very good. It got mixed reviews because it was more on the sweet end, like surgary sweet. Some people like that from their hummus, some people expect more of the savory flavors.
I am a savory gal, so it wasn’t my favorite? But I will rate it a little higher because a lot of my friends really enjoyed it.
Rating: 6/10
9) Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix
Coming Soon…
These look DELICIOUS to me and I am so excited to try them, but eat ALL of these Trader Joe’s fall treats AND writing a blog about it before fall is over has proved to be hard.
I plan on making these this coming week and adding my review then!
Rating: Your guess is as good as mine
10) Pumpkin Rolls
If you get one thing out of this blog, it would be to GO BUY THESE ROLLS. I am not a huge sweets person (I may have already mentioned that a few times lol), but these all warmed up and gooey are hands down the best thing on this list.
They are everything you would expect them to be- they are like the cinnamon rolls that everyone loves, but pumpkin instead. I repeat. GO BUY THESE ROLLS.
Rating: 10/10
11) Pumpkin Butternut Squash Bisque
Soooo…this one was a fail. It sat in my fridge for a few weeks and because it had milk in it, it expired by the time I went to try it. I only included it in here because I am sad I missed it and wanted to ask any of you who tried it to let me know how it was!! (Tell me it was bad so I am not sad anymore)
Rating: Idk
Price: $
12) Greek Nonfat Yogurt Pumpkin
This greek yogurt was a super fun idea. While I can eat greek yogurt without any flavoring, I love the little flip containers that add different toppings and flavorings. To me, it’s like dessert. This pumpkin flavored yogurt was no different. Would I eat it everyday? No. But it was a nice fall treat.
Rating: 7/10
13) Pumpkin Brioche Twist
I brought this pumpkin brioche bread on a camping trip and some of us ate it for breakfast with cream cheese. It was yummy with the addition of the cream cheese…without it, I am not sure it’s worth eating.
You can certainly taste the pumpkin, but it was a litte dry for me!
Rating: 8/10 with cream cheese
5/10 without cream cheese
14) Pumpkin Tortilla Chips
Chips and salsa are one of my favorite foods, so I was excited to try these. But I was a little confused on how I should eat them? Should they be eaten with salsa? Would that be weird with the pumpkin flavor? Should I eat them alone, but that would be dry?
I ended up trying it both ways and both were good. They have a very subtle pumpkin flavor so dipping them in the salsa was not gross at all. The salsa did cover the pumpkin flavor up thought.
On their own without the salsa, they were good but I need salsa with tortilla chips. It is dry to me otherwise.
Overall, to me I don’t get the point?
Rating: 4/10
15) Pumpkin Cream Cheese
This last item is not from Trader Joe’s, but I included it on the list because I did not see pumpkin cream cheese at my Trader Joe’s. This cream cheese was very flavorful. You better like pumpkin if you try this! I had it with the pumpkin bagels and it was sensory overload, but pumpkin heaven!
Rating: 6/10
This was a really fun blog for me to make. I got to eat so many fall themed foods! If you guys try any of them or if you think I am wrong in the ratings, I would love to discuss in the comments below!
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