Trader Joe’s Simply Amazing SOFT DRIED APRICOTS

02 Sep 2025 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in Dried Fruits and Nuts, fresh, General, New, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, review, seasonal, snacks, Staple, sweets, Trader Joes, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Yes that’s actually their name. “Simply Amazing Soft Dried Apricots” and here’s Trader Joe’s description on their site:

“Large, Dried Apricots—of the juicy, Suphany variety—ripen in the sun to a blush-orange hue, while also developing a rich, honey-like sweetness. Once harvested, they’re carefully dried in the summer sun by our trusted Turkish apricot supplier (and by Mother Nature, of course). What really makes these Dried Apricots Simply Amazing is the final step, which involves a gentle steaming. This unique method yields unbelievably soft apricots with a tender, chewy, almost velvety texture.”

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/simply-amazing-soft-dried-apricots-078443

Here’ my honest review of these dried apricots. They actually live up to the name., these apricots in fact are Simply Amazing. Probably the best dried apricots I’ve ever eaten. These are just so amazingly tasty. And SOFT!!!

If you love dried fruits but sometimes find them way too dried, and feel with some of them like you could just as well be chewing on shoe leather (I’m thinking of you, Trader Joe’s All Natural Dried Mango. Trying to eat those can wear out your jaw…) Then you might try these. These are so soft and moist from the steaming method used to make them. They are soft and squishy. Each one of these is either a whole (or half?) of a Turkish Suphany apricot. They have three ingredients; apricots, water and (yes) sulfur dioxide “to maintain color”. I can live with that if they taste this good. I’ve been eating them mostly cut up into little pieces and added to my morning yogurt/breakfast mix. Also right out of the bag. They do match great with cheeses too.

These are “limited” by growing season, so they will sell them until they run out and get more hopefully next year. They are one pound for $4.79 (they have no pits). It probably takes a basket of fruit to make the bag.

Trader Joe’s dried sweetened GREEN MANGO “a tart and sweet treat”

15 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, Asian, Dried Fruits and Nuts, fresh, General, New, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, review, snacks, sweets, Trader Joes, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , ,


NEW, Dried Fruit Item!

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.”

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/sweetened-green-mango-095105

All I can tell you is once I start eating these, I find it very hard to stop. The bag went pretty quickly. I need another one, pronto.

This is a super snack. I would buy this again.

$2.49

PRODUCT OF THAILAND.

RAVE

Envy Apples

09 Jan 2021 5 Comments

by promacnyc in Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,


I never heard of this apple before I saw them at Trader Joe’s. A hybrid developed in New Zealand, “Envy” apples are a hybrid of Royal Gala and Braeburn varieties. Both of those are excellent apples, and this hybrid, Envy, is well, just a terrific tasting apple. When I first tasted this Envy, my taste buds went pretty wild with “this must be one of the best apples I ever had”. Seriously this is just a great apple. Nice crunch, firm texture, sweet but with a hint of sour underneath? It’s a complex flavor, way more complex than just “sweet” like say a Honey Crisp apple or Red Delicious (yuck). Envy are a favorite pick of the Trader Joe’s crew, who I imagine taste everything they sell. I kind of trust those “crew picks”.

INFO

https://envyapple.com/en/about-envy#tab-1

These apples go great with just about everything. What about Envy with cheese? Yes, please. I knew they would match well with most any cheese, and frankly there is absolutely nothing better than to slice up these apples and put them on a plate with the Unexpected Cheddar. What a combo these make together. Seriously. Try either that or Cabot cheddar with these apples. I would imagine Brie would be great, or let’s face it any cheese you like. I love these just eaten out of hand on their own of course. I like them in the morning, diced up for my breakfast cereal. Your kids will love these paired up with some peanut butter. I know I do. Envy sell for $1.29 each. A bit more than the apples TJ sells for 79 cents but worth the little splurge every now and then. So if you haven’t ever tried these, try one for yourselves. You may get hooked on them. I know I have. I always buy one when I’m at TJ’s.

RAVE

Trader Joe’s DRIED BABY BANANAS

28 Dec 2020 2 Comments

by promacnyc in General, Pantry, Rave, snacks, Trader Joes, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Over in the Dried Fruit section at TJ’s I’ve always liked the dried bananas (the full size ones). Recently this bright yellow package caught my eye for DRIED BABY BANANAS. I’m not quite sure if this replaced the bigger ones the used to see or I just never noticed these before. These stoked my curiosity. Well I really liked these DRIED BABY BANANAS, which are interesting looking. In fact some people might think they look a little scary as they look like little dried monkey fingers! Taste-wise they are just what they are bananas, which I am guessing are sun or air dried, and these are a bit moist, and a bit chewy and have an intense banana taste as the flavors are very concentrated from drying. And yes “baby bananas” are a different variety than your normal banana. So did I like them? Here’s one way to answer. After I tasted one, then another, I basically couldn’t stop eating them. They were quite tasty as-is right out of the bag. But then I had a bright idea, “Hmm, I wonder if they would be good match if I dipped them in peanut butter!?” Needless to say, they are a great combination. If you put some out with a little bit of PB to dip them in on the side I have a feeling kids would love these as a snack, though when they first see them no doubt they will say something like, “ewww gross, these look like dried baby monkey fingers ! The package says they come from Thailand and the INGREDIENTS list one thing: “DRIED BANANAS”. So I call that a pretty “natural” product. A package costs $1.99. The bag I got yesterday seems to have only 4 little bananas left when I just checked them…. so you could say they went down easy and way too fast. Next time I better buy 2 bags. By the way – I found out that Potassium is good for blood pressure and these have a lot of Potassium, a bit more than even regular fresh bananas. In short, another very good dried fruit snack from TJ, well worth trying so check them out.

RAVE

Trader Joe’s New Zealand Sweet Apple Rings

30 Mar 2016 1 Comment

by promacnyc in Dried Fruits and Nuts, General Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,


apple rings

New Zealand Sweet Apple Rings

“Unsulphered and unsweetened”

These may be a new product, or at least I’ve never noticed them till recently. Anyway I bought them to try and really liked these. Its really good new Trader Joe’s product.

My first impression upon opening the package was my nose immediately caught a very nice “apple-ly” scent coming from the bag, and them upon popping one of these dried apple rings in my mouth… next was that “oh yeah so yummy” reaction to something new you’re trying.  This has a really natural taste and delicious flavor, this is neither too sweet, nor too tart. You are thinking yeah “These are what dried apples should taste like” as you chew and chew a few more. In fact you may find as I did, its really hard to stop eating them!. I could probably devour the bag munching on them. Not that I should do that! But I can see a bag will go fast in my house.

The apples have been dehydrated to just the right point, where they are not too hard or rubbery like some dried apple rings can be, but are wonderfully softish, and chewy and kind of taste what I imagine, if I made my own dehydrated apples, what they would taste like. The ingredients are one thing, and one thing only: Apples! “SELECTED FROM BRAEBURN, ROYAL,GALA, FUJI AND PINK LADY APPLES” Unsulphered and unsweetened. I really like ingredients where one thing and one thing only is listed. You know what you bought come with no hidden agendas.

In sum, try these, you are sure to like them. These could be a healthy snack and treat for you or your kids to have around. Try with some peanut butter and you have something heavenly (could even be put into a sandwich?)
An 8 oz. package sells for $3.49. The package I bought got eaten fast. They are slightly addictive. Be forewarned.

So these get a

RAVE

 

Have you tried this product?  Let me know what you think in the comments section!

 

Trader Joe’s FIG BUTTER

22 Mar 2012 4 Comments

by promacnyc in Blog, General, New, Products, Rave, Trader Joes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


RAVE

So I read about this product in a “Fearless Flyer” and then I saw it the next day on the shelf and thought I should buy it and report on it. When I got home I confess I instantly opened it up, and dug a spoon into the jar to taste it. First reaction, was OMG, this is some fantastically good stuff!

Trader Joe’s FIG BUTTER is an extremely tasty figgy jam. Well actually this is a true fruit butter, meaning fruit that has been cooked down till its super concentrated. And no, there’s no “butter” in it all all, its a kind of old-fashioned reference, when canning fruit was common.

TJ Fig Butter contains just five pure all natural ingredients: figs, water, sugar, lemon juice, and pectin.

The taste is like very yummy, very ripe figs, but deeper and more complex than eating a fresh fig. After reading the Fig Butter post in the Fearless Flyer, I learned there are three different kinds of figs used to make it and surely this is one of the reasons the flavor profile is so complex.

CONTAINS : MISSION FIGS, CALIMYRNA FIGS, CONADRIA FIGS

For breakfast I made a piece of TJ Tuscan Pane toast with some TJ crunchy Peanut Butter and put this FIG BUTTER on it. What a heavenly combination! Try it!

In fact the main problem with this fig butter is its too good, I bought it yesterday and between my wife and myself, the jar seems to be half gone already. Next, I will have to sample the other fruit butters TJ sells. Mango, Pumpkin, Lemon, etc… An 11 oz jar of TJ’s fruit butters costs $2.29

CLASSY TIP: Next time you have company over and do a cheese plate, put a small dish of this Fig Butter out with the cheeses (like Brie, Unexpected Cheddar and some hard cheeses.  Your guests will rave over the way this goes with the cheese. A few drops of fresh lemon juice mixed in with the jam and it will be even better.

…Working with Maine-based culinary craftsmen, focused on old-fashioned, farmstand goodness and flavor, we created Trader Joe’s Fig Butter. It starts with a medley of fresh, ripe figs: Mission figs for their extreme sweetness, Calimyrna figs for their distinctive nutty flavor and Conadria figs for their nutty-sweet balance. The whole figs are dried, ground and then crushed before being slow-cooked, in small batches, with sugar, lemon and pectin. It’s a simple recipe using only the finest, freshest ingredients, and no preservatives or artificial colors. The result is full fig flavor concentrated in a smooth, spreadable butter.

In some markets a great deal of butter is reta...

In some markets a great deal of butter is retailed from tubs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

FROM TJ FEARLESS FLYER – BAGEL WITH CREAM CHEESE AND FIG  BUTTER

Overhead view of toasted bagel with cream cheese, topped with fig butter, diced apricot, crushed walnuts, and honey

Fig Butter Cream Cheese Bagel

Trader Joe’s Fig Butter is a favorite ingredient among recipe testers and tasters alike in our test kitchen, and it’s easy to see why: it shines in sweet and savory applications, packs a punch of flavor in a compact jar, and it’s just downright delicious. Elevate the standard bagel & cream cheese with a healthy dollop of said Fig Butter, followed by chopped walnuts, dried apricots and a generous drizzle of honey. 

  • 2 TJ’s Plain Bagels, sliced in half

  • 1 package TJ’s Cream Cheese, quartered and softened

  • TJ’s Fig Butter

  • Handful TJ’s Dried Apricots, diced

  • Handful TJ’s Walnut Baking Pieces

  • Your favorite TJ’s Honey

DIRECTIONS

Remove lid from fig butter. Microwave on half power for 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until warm. Set aside. Toast bagels per your preference. Top each half with cream cheese, spreading to cover bagel. Drizzle with warm fig butter. Top with diced apricot and walnuts, followed by a generous drizzle of honey. Enjoy immediately.