(UPDATED) This brand “Wholesome” organic coconut palm sugar has has now been replaced by Trader Joe’s own brand, “Trader Joe’s Organic Coconut Sugar”.
FAIR TRADE. CERTIFIED ORGANIC. ALL NATURAL. LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX
“Made from the nectar of the coconut palm tree flower”
I really like this organic coconut palm sugar sold at TJ’s under the original brand name, “Wholesome”. For one thing it tastes amazing in my morning coffee, specifically my Moka pot, Cafe con Leche that I make every morning (#mokapotlover).
This coconut palm sugar is a brownish, granulated sugar which has its own distinctive but subtle taste. The taste of coconut palm sugar is a bit different from brown cane sugar or Turbinado sugar, and I’ve switched to this palm sugar especially for coffee, as it just adds a little something, a very nice subtle flavor. It’s delicious with just a hint of caramel and vanilla notes. I am also using it on yogurt too, just a little sprinkling is excellent. This palm sugar is excellent in any Chinese or Asian recipe which calls for sugar, which most do.
I see people on the net saying how this is “low glycemic” compared to cane sugar, but frankly I don’t know much about that, but I figure it’s important to those watching their blood sugar levels as it may relate to diabetes. So in that sense, this must be a better sugar if you are concerned with your blood sugar level.
TJ sells this palm sugar for $3.99 a one pound bag (which is cheaper than Wholesome sells it for directly) LINK BELOW TO “WHOLESOME” WEBSITE WITH MORE INFO
“Wholesome Organic Coconut Palm Sugar is a rich, unrefined brown sugar that makes an ideal substitute for conventional brown and white sugar. Beyond baking, it’s an excellent choice for sweetening your preferred coffee, preparing sauces and perfecting your favorite Asian dishes, all thanks to its rich molasses taste and caramel overtones.
Made with Care Contrary to its name, this sugar doesn’t actually come from a coconut, nor does it remotely taste like coconut. The brown sugar’s rich caramel flavor is produced by tapping the sweet nectar from the tropical coconut palm tree flower (a process that’s similar to how maple trees are tapped for maple syrup production). The nutrient-rich juice is dried in a large open kettle drum and condensed into a delicious whole brown sugar. A natural sugar substitute for baking, this organic product will add depths of flavor to all your favorite recipes.”
(fall seasonal item) OK, So I’m not really one of those people who goes nuts every Fall for Trader Joe’s “everything pumpkin” thing which frankly I find can be a bit much. Seriously… Pumpkin Dog Treats?! Pumpkin Hummus?! Come on.
However, that doesn’t mean Trader Joe’s doesn’t have a few pumpkin related items which are actually quite good and worth checking out. Here’s one of them: the Pumpkin Brioche Twist bread. It’s really good!
Now I’m absolutely in love with TJ’s FRENCH BRIOCHE. So when I just saw this new seasonal variation, PUMPKIN BRIOCHE TWIST, I had to get one of these to try. Not only does it look really good, it is in fact excellent. It isn’t heavy in the pumpkin spices department, there is just a subtle hint of spice going on and if I didn’t see pumpkin listed in the ingredients I may have not even known there was any pumpkin in it. So personally for this very reason, that they have done the pumpkin thing as subtle, I find this quite good.
This brioche is terrific toasted, either spread with butter or cream cheese and possibly some jam. I haven’t tried it yet to make French Toast but I am sure that this would make fantastic French Toast*, so I would give that a try that for sure. You might try this broche toasted up gently and spread with grass fed butter, a sprinkle of brown or coconut sugar and a light dusting of TJ’s Pumpkin Spice (or cinnamon) it you want something yummy around Halloween time. If you are into the whole TJ pumpkin season thing I think their Pumpkin Butter (pumpkin spread?) would be good on this.
The PUMPKIN BRIOCHE TWIST is $3.99 (same as regular sliced Brioche)
* UPDATE – I finally made French Toast with this pumpkin brioche twist today. It was SO GOOD. Wow, this bread is super as French Toast! A Must Try.
UPDATE (2024) Unfortunately this may have been Discontinued!!!!
I have feeling this is probably the healthiest cereal you can buy at Trader Joe’s. Their MUESLI is a blend of whole grain oats, seeds, fruit and nuts and has no added sugars. The recipe was invented by a doctor in Switzerland over a hundred years ago, and is a Swiss classic breakfast cereal. I would bet Roger Federer grew up eating Muesli. Look how far it got him!
This is obviously healthy stuff that even a horse would love. Trader Joe’s version of Muesli is good. One caveat though. If you just pour it into a bowl, add milk, and eat it immediately you may not like it. Unless you are a horse or you don’t mind giving your jaws a work out. So want to let this soften up a bit, meaning let the rolled oats soften up sitting in milk for at least 5, 10 or 20 minutes. Milk meaning of course your choice of real milk or other milk and/or yogurt or kefir). The longer it sits, the softer the oats get. Actually I really enjoy Muesli when I mix some up the night before for “overnight oats” . That way in the morning it’s nice and thick and soft. Making “Overnight oats” is easy. Just put some muesli (or rolled oats) in a container, add liquid and let it sit in the fridge. I do Kefir and almond or soy milk and yogurt. If you find “overnight oats” too mushy for your tastes, just fix up your Muesli and give it a 10 minute soak. I typically add some fresh fruit (banana, apple, dried fruit, berries…) and a bit of something crunchy on top like TJ’s Grainless Granola .
This is a good healthy breakfast, that will keep you (or your horse) going all day.
The can says Wild Little Thing is a “slightly sour ale”. I think that is a brewing method more than a description of it’s taste. I didn’t find it terribly sour at all but perfectly balanced. I was a little surprised I liked it so much as I found it way better than the package design (& crazy font) lead me to believe. Tasting it, I thought this is really good, even delicious, a bit fruity, neither too bitter nor too sweet, but with a nice balanced taste. It has a lovely rosé color, with a small pale head and tiny bubbles. A highly refreshing and “easy drinking” ale. It was delicious with food, it went very well with our tacos that night.
“This slightly sour Wild Little Thing has just the right smack of tartness for serious refreshment, while guava, hibiscus and strawberry lend fruity-sweet depth and a bright pop of color.”
If you’ve been in a Trader Joe’s you’ve probably seen the word – ELOTE – a few times. One might even say TJ’s has a bit of an obsession with Elote. Just in case you don’t know what Elote means, “elote corn” is a typical Mexican street food consisting of corn on the cob sprinkled with cheese and lots of spices served carts by street vendors. In Mexico City there are probably as many Elote carts as in NYC we have hot dog carts.
Elote corn is delicious, slathered with mayo, lime juice, dusted with chile powder and sprinkled with Mexican Cotija cheese. MEXICAN STREET CORN is not hard to make yourself, and conveniently, you can get everything you need at TJ’s. I just made some a few days ago with some really fresh corn and it was so yummy I thought I would share how to make it easily. You will need: Fresh corn on the cob, Everything but the ELOTE SEASONING, CHILE LIME seasoning, some mayonnaise, fresh lime, and Cotija cheese (like a Mexican parmesan). As far as mayo, TJ’s Chile Lime Mayo might work great or Suzi’s Organic Mayo.
If you can grill the corn, great, but steamed corn is fine. Cook corn. When done, hold it with tongs (or spear on a chopstick) or just put it on some foil. Slather some mayo all over with a spatula (mayo is authentic but if mayo turns you off, just use butter). Next sprinkle on a generous amount of Everything But The ELOTE Seasoning. Next sprinkle a good amount of grated COTIJA cheese (or Parm or Asiago). Squeeze some fresh lime juice on it. OPTIONALLY; if you want even more spice add TJ’s CHILE LIME Seasoning blend and/or a little hot sauce of your choosing. Now enjoy!
Now just in case you are a lazy bones and this sounds too complicated for you here’s a simpler version I do when I’m in a rush. Make your regular fresh buttered corn and just sprinkle a good amount of the EVERYTHING BUT ELOTE seasoning all over it. Easy enough?
Trader Joe’s sells SO many varieties of hummus. I have gone back and forth with about three kinds there. I think this hummus is among their better ones, one reason being that this “Mediterranean Style” hummus has tahini among in the ingredients. Incredibly, at least to me, is that some versions of hummus on offer at Trader Joe’s do not have any Tahini in the ingredients. For allergy reasons perhaps for some customers?
Tahini (ground sesame paste) is an integral part of a hummus recipe and it is partly why hummus tastes good, at least to yours truly. I love hummus made with a good amount of it. I can only imagine some people don’t like tahini or its calories? Or nut allergy? That must be why TJ sells hummus both ways, with or without it? Anyway their “Mediterranean Style” hummus is tasty. It is a little fancier as on top they have a few pine nuts and spices. This is one way hummus is normally presented in most countries. A squeeze of 1/4 fresh lemon juice would be good to add IMO . To serve hummus: Put in shallow bowl and flatten out as much as possible. Run your spoon to make a circular groove all around the hummus and add a pour of your best EVOO. Sprinkle a bit of spice (Ajika for example, or ground cumin or zaatar) all around the perimeter attractively. Voila!
Serve with warm pita or naan or other flatbread.
The Mediterranean Style hummus costs about $4 for a 16 oz tub (it’s 50 cents more then the regular one with no tahini). (Update: This went up a bit but is still their most reasonable hummus and one of the only ones to come in a 16 oz container.)
BTW, you can easily make hummus (which I occasionally do) Here’s are good recipes (best results will come from cooking dried chickpeas yourself not canned ones!)
“But what makes our traditional hummus different? First, consistency. Mediterranean Hummus is super smooth and creamy, a bit more “whipped” than many of our other hummus choices. The texture of hummus tends to be different depending on where in the world it originates, so it makes sense for us to offer some of that variety in our stores. We’ve also taken the liberty of topping Trader Joe’s Mediterranean Hummus with crunchy pine nuts, and a bright blend of parsley, red bell pepper, and olive oil which creates a distinctive flavor and texture profile we think you’ll really enjoy.” – Trader Joe
UPDATE SUMMER 2025: Trader Joe’s changed this product. It’s in a new package for one thing and for another thing it seems to have changed the ingredients in that new label has tahini as third ingredient listed after canola oil. It was previously listed as second ingredient. So there is less tahini now. I have been getting the ORGANIC HUMMUS (it does cost a bit more)
We know Trader Joe’s carries a ton of all kinds of chips. These are one of my favorites out of all of them. So why are these corn chips are so good? I think a big reason is they only have 3 ingredients! They list : organic yellow corn, organic sunflower oil, sea salt. That’s it. They must be using the best organic corn they can find, these chips have a super tasty corn flavor. These chips are both thick and a bit curved. They’re thick enough to stand up to any dip you put them in, such as guacamole, salsa or what have you. Even on their own with nothing on them, they still taste fantastic. They have been $1.99 (forever) but I bought them last week and I got yet another case of TJ inflation sticker shock to see TJ raised the price of these. They’re now $2.29.
Beside this plain version, TJ has a spicy variation, the delicious “Organic Elote Corn Chip Dippers” (Elote aka Mexican street corn flavor) which is an amazing chip, those are loaded and I do mean loaded, with spices; these cost a little more than the plain version, Elote chips are now $2.69 (also up 20 cents). The Elote chips are excellent and pretty spicy. Personally I love them with, among other things, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt, in other words something plain as they bring plenty of spices on their own.
Have you tried Trader Joe’s “British Style Crumpets”? If you do, I think you will love them as much as we do.
First, you can not get more British than crumpets. Check these out which you will find near Trader Joe’s English Muffins.
Just in case you’ve never tried crumpets, well they are really good. Trader Joe’s version is actually quite decent. After they are toasted up, crumpets are nicely chewy yet a little crispy on the outside. The main thing about crumpets is that they are chock full of little holes and those hold onto butter and jam, etc.
Try these yummy baked treats too next time you’re reaching for English Muffins so you can really get your full Brit on while watching THE CROWN or BRIDGERTON.
Crumpets are soft and as you can see in the picture, loaded with tiny holes. They get those holes, the way pancakes get them while cooking, and this unique texture and the holes makes them fantastic at absorbing butter and jam. Which helps makes them scrumptious. Toast these up gently, until slightly golden brown. Top with good butter and your favorite jam (or marmalade). They are both a bit soft and a bit crunchy, a fantastic combo. TJ’s crumpets are about $3.29 for a pack of six that come in two sealed plastic compartments. Personally I cut the package in two and freeze some for later.
Crumpets happen to be quite delicious and obviously these will go really well with some tea.
TIP: I recommend you really get them toasted, just to the point where they stop being soft and get a little bit of hard texture on top and bottom. Spread immediately with butter, getting it into all the holes. Top with Marmalade.
“A zesty dip with hearty black beans and the smokey kick of chipotle peppers”
UPDATE Spring 2022 : ITS BEEN DISCONTINUED!!
(For the archive…..)
Trader Joe’s CHIPOTLE BLACK BEAN DIP is delicious. I think this could even be one of their best products. It’s one of my favorites in any case and I try to always have a jar in the panty… It’s that good. It matches especially well with tortillas, or any of TJ’s excellent chips especially corn. It matches perfectly with TJ’s Organic Corn Chip Dippers. The Chipotle Bean Dip gets a spicy back beat from two kinds of chiles, chipotle and ancho chiles, which give this a slightly spicy heat level plus a tomato-y undercurrent. This dip is terrific as-is on its own but it’s also good as an ingredient. When I make quesadillas or tacos, I sometimes spread a little of this on the tortilla before cooking them or just serve some on top or on the side when I plate them. Naturally this is way healthier dip to put out for people compared to dips which have loads of calories / fat like a sour cream or cheese based dip. You can even mix a jar of this with a half can of the refried black beans which will make a nice side dish or a less spicy but still tasty dip, depending on the ratio. If you find this dip too thick, just mix in a teaspoon or so of lime juice, vinegar or water and thin it out to your liking. A jar of the BLACK BEAN DIP is $1.99 for 12 oz.
You have to try this dip with TJ’s terrific Organic CORN CHIP DIPPERS (or the Elote cousins) as the thick corn chips with this is a super combination. And AVOCADO of course! TIP – Gussy this up with cheese? Sure. Heat this up and top with grated cheese so it melts. Yum!
“We start with vine ripened tomatoes, then we fire roast them to a subtle smokiness before adding organic green chiles… They’re ready to use in salsas, sauces, soups and stews….”
Ingredients: Organic fire roasted tomatoes, organic tomato juice, organic green chili peppers, organic vinegar, sea salt, citric acid, calcium chloride”
These excellent organic diced tomatoes are a great pantry item, and in fact I always keep a few cans in mine as they are such a useful ingredient. They are indeed “fire roasted”, you can even see little bits of char and smell a little smokiness. You can use this as-is on tacos and quesadillas as a simple salsa, or make a slightly improved one quickly in seconds just by just adding a few things (ie, chopped onions, garlic, cilantro). Use this as an ingredient in sauces, stews or soup as you would any canned tomatoes, but these will be tastier than plain ones. These make the base of terrific rices dishes, say cooking some Mexican rice or what have you, mixed in for some of the stock or water. And its great for lots of other cuisines too… I made a delicious Italian Ariabiatta / Puttanesca style pasta with a can of this, olive oil, a spoon of tomato paste, lots of garlic, capers, olives, a spoon of Bomba and some grated Pecorino over the finished pasta (or try this with Gnocchi). It only took about 5 minutes to come together and the finished pasta dish with Gnocchi was delicious. We devoured it.
$1.69 for a 14.5 oz can. There is a plain only tomato version too for $1.49 if you don’t want any green chiles.
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