Review: What to get — and avoid — from Trader Joe's fall line

Fall has always been my favorite season. I love the weather, the changing colors of the trees, the horror movies and Halloween costumes. But greater than all of those things combined is the food — so when Trader Joe’s released their line of limited edition fall items this year, I knew I had to get my hands on them. 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t try every fall item that Trader Joe’s has to offer, so I set my focus on their pumpkin-flavored bakery items. Over the past few days I have tried ten limited edition products. Here is a definitive ranking of the six that stood out to me — for better or for worse — from my least favorite to favorite. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Taste: 2/5   Time Commitment: None   Price: $7.99

I love cheesecake, so it really pains me to say that I was disappointed by this one. For starters, it was entirely too sweet and lacked that classic cream cheese tartness that makes cheesecake so unique. The pumpkin flavor was lackluster, the texture was off and it ultimately just wasn’t what I expected. If you like really sweet desserts, this might work for you, but I’ll be handing the rest over to my roommates. 

Pumpkin Bagels 

Taste: 3/5   Time Commitment: 5 minutes   Price: $2.99

These bagels were solid, but nothing special — but it’s honestly hard to make a bagel special. Bagels are consistent and reliable and these were no exception. Paired with cream cheese, these were the perfect start to my mornings and easy to take on the go. When you get six bagels for $2.99, you really can’t go wrong. 

Pumpkin Pancake Mix 

Taste: 4/5   Time Commitment: 25 minutes   Price: $3.99

I loved everything about these pancakes. The pumpkin flavor was perfect, they were fluffy and they were something I could see myself eating pretty often. The issue I have with them is that the smallest amount you could make at once was 6-8 pancakes (the recipe calls for 1 egg per about 6 pancakes). These would be great to make for family or friends on a weekend, but it’s not really practical to make an entire batch of pancakes before class or work. If there were a way to make just one or two of these at a time, they’d absolutely be higher on this list. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Croissants

Taste: 5/5   Time Commitment: 1 hour   Price: $4.49 

These croissants gave me everything that I had hoped for and expected from the Pumpkin Cheesecake. The filling was the perfect balance of pumpkin to cream cheese, giving it sweetness with a bit of tartness that kept me coming back for more. The crust was flaky and sweet, but not overpowering to the filling. I only wish that these didn’t take an hour to make from start to finish. They’re great to have on weekends, but hard to fit into a tight morning schedule. Though, I would say that they could be a dessert just as easily as a breakfast food so they could be made in the evening when there’s more time to prepare them. 

Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix 

Taste: 4/5   Time Commitment: 35 minutes   Price: $3.49

It’s really hard to find a boxed bread/muffin mix that has the texture of a homemade bread or muffin — Trader Joe’s got it spot on. I used this mix to make muffins, which turned out delicious. These definitely have a strong pumpkin flavor, but it isn’t artificial. They also made my entire house smell like pumpkin, which was an added bonus. The box, which cost $3.49, made about 16 muffins which would easily cost $4 a piece at any cafe or bakery. Skip the fancy pumpkin muffins and buy these. 

Pumpkin & Spice Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix 

Taste: 5/5   Time Commitment: 1 hour    Price: $3.99

The best item that I tried by far was the Pumpkin & Spice Snickerdoodle Cookies. These were definitely the most time consuming to make, but they were truly one of the best cookies I’ve ever had. The pumpkin flavor was prominent, but not overpowering, and the cinnamon sugar mixture had a hint of salt that balanced out the flavor. The batch also made enough to share with my three roommates and my coworkers, who all loved them just as much as I did. 

Trader Joe's had some hits and misses with these limited edition products, but overall their fall items are worth trying. 

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com