“8 Mini Ice Cream Cones filled with rich vanilla ice cream and a chocolate coating”
Who hasn’t heard of these yet? Well, just in case you haven’t, these little mini ice cream cones dipped in chocolate that Trader Joe’s came out with are Da Bomb. These are SO GOOD! Not to mention so popular. They seem to fly off the shelves. As you can see in the photo I took when I went to buy them there was an almost empty shelf but luckily there still were a few boxes left so I could get one to try out for review. I got the vanilla but I’m sure all are as good.
They are small mini cones, kind of a perfect size when you are in the mood for a little ice cream snack. One is maybe about 5 or 6 bites. You could easily eat two or three! Even if you did eat three, according to the box that would be 260 calories, not too crazy bad.
The chocolate covering is not super thin, nor too thick, it’s just thick enough (ok its not Dove Bar thick) so you do get some very good chocolate with the first few bites, and the chocolate is good. The combo is so tasty matched with the all three elements: ice cream, chocolate coating plus the tasty cone it is in.
One thing I especially liked about these is that you get some ice cream all the way down to the very bottom of the cone which really makes these good till the last bite. Another huge improvement? They now are seeming to pour a little chocolate in the very bottom of the cone. This acts as a “stopper” and helps the ice cream not melt out through the bottom.
These MINI CONES really became popular fast. They may be Trader Joe’s most popular dessert item now. They’ve come out with and added a number of flavors besides the original (Vanilla) one so now you will see a few flavors like Strawberry, Mint and Chocolate…
If you haven’t tried these yet – and you can find them – be sure to check them out. You can not go wrong with these yummy treats.
“BROWN BUTTER ICE CREAM WITH COCOLATEY COVERED TOFFEE PIECES AND ALMONDS”
This ice cream is a “seasonal, holiday” limited edition flavor, which probably means you will only see it around Thanksgiving to New Years)
Here’s what Trader Joe’s says about it:
“When we set out to create this latest addition to our seasonal ice cream lineup, we could have very well started and ended by just adding bits of crunchy English toffee to something plain and simple, like chocolate or vanilla— English toffee is more than delicious enough to work on its own. But that’s not what we did. We decided, instead, to go the extra mile of adding bits of chocolatey-coated toffee and almonds to a rich, remarkably full-flavored base of brown butter ice cream. As a result, Trader Joe’s English Toffee Ice Cream is something even greater than a celebration of Toffee—it’s a symphony of sweet, buttery flavors, a revel of roasty, toasty, nuttiness, and a carnival of all things caramel-y in each and every spoonful.”
My review of this is this new limited edition ice cream that Trader Joe’s is it’s good. Very yummy stuff if however pretty sweet, but let’s face it toffee is pretty sweet.
If you are a fan of toffee you will probably love this. They did a great job recreating that taste. I really like this but as it is so rich and sweet I ate this in smaller amounts than I might usually go for. As opposed to lets say the famed Coffee Bean Blast ice cream where if I didn’t make sure and stop myself, I could probably devour a whole pint a sitting! So maybe this is a good thing with the English Toffee ice cream treat as I might more easily self limit themselves with this stuff!
I especially liked the English Toffee Ice Cream best when I paired it with some fruit especially bananas, kind of banana split, just the ice cream on top of sliced banana. This combo was a great match and cut down some of the richness so if you get this, try that combo. Or with some other fruit.
This ice cream is quite sweet but delicious, just don’t eat a whole pint by yourself.
Wow is this new dried Green Mango from Trader Joe’s good. I found it just delicious. All I know is that bag went fast as I could not stop eating it.
Strips of green mango which have been cut into thin strips, then sweetened and dried. They are not hard or tough, just pleasantly chewy. Now green, or unripe mango is tart. These are sweet with just the tiniest hint of tartness which makes this quite savory and delicious.
TJ’s has this to say: “Just how does our glorious Green Mango get its tangy twist? It’s pretty simple, actually. Our Thai supplier picks their mangoes early, before they’re ripe. The mangoes are peeled, sliced into strips, and sweetened with cane sugar, then dried in a unique process that uses vegetable-based glycerin to keep the Mango soft, but never mushy.”
“Trader Joe’s Wild Boreal Blueberries are little blue gems grown with absolutely no pesticides in Quebec’s Boreal forest region. The Boreal is a collection of protected lands that spreads across Canada…. The fruit grown in the Quebec Boreal thrives on the healthy soil conditions and unique climate of the region. The sweet tart flavor of these wild blueberries is unmatched. Try them for yourself in everything from cereal, muffins, cakes, smoothies and ice cream. They really are wild”
We really liked these blueberries. They are something buy them all the time at Trader Joe’s as they are great to have in the freezer. Not only are these one of my favorite Trader Joe’s products, I hear they are favorites of TJ’s employees as well which is really how you know something is good.
These frozen wild blueberries from Canada are small but full of flavor. These will defrost pretty quickly at room temperature if you just take them out for 10 minutes or so. You could also run them under cold water for maybe 10 seconds in an pinch but I feel like that washes some flavor away. When defrosted you can use these just as you would use fresh berries. We use them in our bowls of cereal and yogurt or kefir, mix them into oatmeal, or put these on top of vanilla ice cream – a super yummy combo! These blueberries are great for making smoothies of course, in which case you can just pour them frozen right into your blender with your other ingredients. I’ve even made excellent blueberry jam from them, and of course they are great to use in baked goods, for example blueberry muffins or even pancakes! Topped with some maple syrup naturally.
Chefs and pro cooks love these as its the purest, most natural form of vanilla. “Bourbon Vanilla” is considered the best vanilla, from Southeast Asia. I did check the label but assume these may be from Madagascar.
Pro cooks scrape out the tiny seeds inside these pods with a knife and use that in recipes that call for vanilla. Don’t throw out the pod after using either as they still have lots of aroma. You can put the pods into a large jar and and cover them with about a pound of sugar. Let that sit for a few days or more as the vanilla beans infuse the sugar so it becomes yummy Vanilla Sugar.
$2.99 for two vanilla beans
In addition to these Trader Joe’s has lots of other vanilla products like BOURBON VANILLA BEAN PASTE and they are all on the shelves now for the FALL/WINTER baking season.
Simply put you might think of Creme Fraiche as the more refined (French cousin) of American Sour Cream. Both are made by culturing cream and are thick and tangy and let’s face it, very tasty! But Creme Fraiche has a higher fat content so its a bit richer plus it can stand heating/cooking without breaking where as sour cream might separate. Naturally it costs more. It can be used in most ways you might use sour cream.
For one idea; you can make a nice topping with it. Mix in some sugar and a touch of vanilla into Creme Fraiche, then use this wonderful topping with most any fruit, baked good, desserts or what have you.
Oh those French! They have such wonderful charcuterie and other pork products. However I wasn’t expecting to see it listed in these sweets which are a PRODUCT OF FRANCE.
A friend gave us these pretty tasty chocolate marshmallows to test out. They are pretty good if a bit sweet for my tastes. However as we were looking at the ingredients listed, we were all a bit surprised when when one of us noticed something we weren’t expecting.
She said “hey did you know this has pork in it?” I wasn’t expecting that! We looked at the label yes its got “pork” (“pork gelatin”). Now gelatin is in lots of food products (as gelatin or collogen) and I believed it was usually made from (cow) bones. However it can be made from other products too.
Just so you know.
Anyway just so you know!
So this could make this problem a bit of a no-no for some people, like Kosher Jews or Muslims. Sure Kosher products are clearly marked “K” for Kosher but but not Halal items have no markings to my knowledge. And there are many people who avoid pork for other reasons…
MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM BETWEEN TWO CHOCOLATE WAFERS
Well, my wife bought these for us to try. All I can say is this… about two days later she told me I had to go buy her another box as she found only one left. I had eaten most of them.
She barely got a chance to eat any of them and she wasn’t too happy about it. OK I confess this was true. I did eat almost all of them. I couldn’t stop myself! These are “Dangerously Good”, as we say in our house.
Basically these are small ice cream sandwiches; with mint chocolate chip ice cream between two chocolate wafers, like an Oreo/Joe Joe’s but these wafers are pretty soft.
The combination of mini and double chocolate inside and out is really good!
Eating just one of these is nigh on impossible, in fact I dare you to try eating just one (you will want another as soon as its finished)
Four of these have 240 calories, so figure one of the mini mouthfuls comes out to 60 calories.
The box goes for $4.49 (15 oz/12 mini ice cream sandwiches)
I would buy these again. (I have to. I ate almost the whole box myself)
“It would be difficult to overstate just how delicious a plate of mango sticky rice can be.”
Trader Joe’s starts off their description of this new snack with that. I have to agree with that as if you ever had that amazing classic Thai dessert of Mango Sticky Rice, you instantly fall in love with it.
The flavors in this new crispy snack reminds one of that classic dessert, now compressed into a a small bite size crunchy snack. These are made with most of the same ingredients one finds in the classic dish, sticky rice, mango and coconut milk. Of course here the stuff has been baked into a very crunchy slightly sticky treat.
“Made for us by an expert supplier Thailand, Trader Joe’s Mango Sticky Rice Crisps are made with a mix of sticky rice, coconut milk, sweetened dried mango, mango syrup, and sesame seeds. Each bite evokes the tropical sweetness, bright fruity flavors, and faint, toasty nuttiness of this classic, Southeast Asian sweet treat, while adding the textural twist of overt crunchiness into the mix.”
All I can tell you the bag went pretty fast in our house.
Here’s the latest Small Lot coffee offering from Trader Joe’s(Summer 2024).
This one is another African coffee, specifically from Kenya called “Kenya AA Karatu”. In Kenya, “AA” indicates the highest grade beans.
First off don’t you just love the very attractive design, related to traditional African textiles. Once again the really creative and terrific graphic designers at Trader Joe’s came up with something that is as usual Spot On and makes you want to buy it! And I did.
OK so the bag looks nice, but is this new Kenyan small lot coffee actually as good as it looks?
In a word, yes. Its good folks. Frankly my personal preference in roasts tends towards darker ones, as I usually make espresso style coffee drinks that have milk. But I appreciate any good coffee. I love coffee. And I found this one to be very good. So if you are like me trust me. You want to try this one too.
“Produced by a small collective of farmers in Central Kenya each sip is marked with notes of black curranty, citrus zest and cacao…” Sounds yummy, no?
These bag is labeled Medium roast. In this case I agree with Trader Joe’s description, which is not always the case. Maybe I would even say its “Light/Medium” roast. In any case the beans are not at all shiny, they are a dull cinnamon color.
Upon grinding up the beans you get a lovely aroma which yes it seems to have those notes the label mentions : “black current, citrus zest and cacao”.
With my freshly ground beans ready I brewed myself a cup of Joe.
Good? Very. Smooth but robust with a hint of acidity. You know how when you finish up a cup of a good coffee you like, you immediately wonder, “should I make another one”? Well I wanted another cup of this.
I think this latest small lot coffee is well worth a try especially if you are interested in African coffees. I so much prefer this one from Kenya over the last small lot coffee from Ethiopia from a few months back, of which I was not a fan. Pretty decent price at ten bucks a bag too (12 oz bag).
So if this review makes this Kenyan coffee sound worth trying – and it is – grab a bag it while you still can. The sign said “LIMITED” so will vanish whenever they sell out. If you try it and like it you might even want go back and get another bag or two for the pantry. That’s what I usually do when I hit on a Small Lot coffee that I fancy. In these foil vacuum packed bags, whole beans can survive a couple of months. Right now I have two bags of that medium dark organic BOLIVIAN coffee I am in love with in my pantry.
Trader Joe’s site says this about this Kenyan coffee:
“Once ground and brewed to your personal preferences, Trader Joe’s Kenya AA Karatu Small Lot Coffee makes a complex, yet balanced cup, with a bold, full body that’s complemented by a pleasantly citric acid structure. While it’s an excellent (albeit elevated) everyday kind of coffee, we find it serves especially well as part of a big breakfast or brunch: its bright notes of black currant and cacao make it a great pairing option with a flaky chocolate croissant, an auspicious eggs Benedict, or a tall stack of pancakes covered in fresh berries.”
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