9 Holiday Treats From Trader Joe's, Ranked Worst To Best

The holiday season has arrived in full swing, meaning festive shoppers are stocking up on seasonal favorite treats before they are gone for the year. One must-visit store during the holiday season is Trader Joe's, as they are known for its assortment of new and returning holiday products. From traditional holiday desserts to seasonal variations of popular items, Trader Joe's has dozens of holiday items that fans love. Due to their popularity, it has become common for these items to sell out, making it extra important to stock up while you have the chance. 

To find out which items from this year's lineup of holiday treats are the best, I tried and ranked nine products from the store. Each item was ranked based on a variety of factors, including product originality, taste, quality, and overall value. After reading this article, which ranks these items from worst to best, shoppers may just find their new favorite holiday treat from Trader Joe's.

There are so many incredible seasonal treats offered by Trader Joe's every holiday season, but for the sake of this article, I tried to highlight some of the newer or more unique product options. One brand new product that hit Trader Joe's shelves this season is the Sleigh Ride Cookies, which have a buttery sugar cookie base with broken pieces of candy cane and Candy Cane Joe-Joe's mixed in. Despite Trader Joe's marketing these cookies as having "soft, creamy, and crunchy textures," I was unfortunately met with a rather disappointing product.

The first thing I noticed while I was tasting this product was the texture. These cookies are incredibly dry and crumbly, which makes them messy and rather unsatisfying. In addition, the ratio of Candy Cane Joe-Joe's was far too sparse in my opinion, and I could barely pick out any flavors other than the sugar cookie base. I love the taste of peppermint, but I am not sure that it paired well with the cookie base here, and overall, the result was a cookie that tasted dry, bland, and overly sweet at the same time. 

While I applaud Trader Joe's for reaching towards an inventive product like this one, I think the recipe could use some tweaking if the store decides to brings it back for next season. For $3.99 a box, this product is affordable, but I still would advise customers to spend their money on some of the other holiday treats at Trader Joe's instead.

With the holiday season's arrival, it is common to see grocery stores begin to stock their shelves with chocolate coins. These chocolate coins, which are also referred to as "gelt" and often associated with the Hanukkah season, are a simple but classic product. Trader Joe's makes sure that its coins are multi-denominational, and each Coins of the World bag comes with an assortment of foiled Euros, Francs, Pounds, and U.S. chocolate coins.

I loved the different sized coins included in this chocolate coin satchel, and I was surprised and delighted by the quality of milk chocolate used. The coins were buttery, they melted in my mouth, and they had a great flavor without being overtly sweet. While I wouldn't say that Trader Joe's took a huge swing with this product, this $2.49 bag comes with a handful of great quality gelt that I could see making a perfect stocking stuffer or Hanukkah treat. If chocolate coins are on your shopping list this season, this version from Trader Joe's is a great place to stock up on them.

The Brookie has become somewhat of a staple in the Trader Joe's bakery aisle, and I for one am not complaining. Half cookie and half brownie, each bite-sized piece is moist, flavorful, and decadent. I was excited to see that Trader Joe's had introduced a limited-time Peppermint Brookie, which adds upon the original version by swapping out the traditional chocolate chip cookie topping for a peppermint flavored sugar cookie batter, accentuated with crumbles of peppermint on top.

For me, this Peppermint Brookie was doughy and delicious like I had hoped, but I felt the peppermint sugar cookie batter was too overpowering and made it hard for me to taste the fudge brownie base. With the strong sugar cookie batter, I also felt that the peppermint flavor got lost. For $4.99, it should also be noted that this is a small package, and in order to serve a party you would likely need to buy two or three boxes to make due. While I did enjoy this Brookie, I think I will probably stick to the original version in the future.

Who says that holiday treats have to end at desserts? I was instantly excited to try this Gingerbread Oat Creamer from Trader Joe's as a way to spruce up my morning coffee. This new creamer is dairy-free, lactose-free, and gluten-free, making it a great option for shoppers who often have to miss out on dairy-based flavored holiday creamers.

The first thing I noticed about this creamer was that it has a great consistency that feels smooth and very milk-like. The flavor of the gingerbread is also delectable, with fragrant spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, and cardamom easily present on the nose and on the tongue. This creamer is also less sweet than many creamers are, which lends it to be able to be used in other recipes. One complaint I have with this creamer is that the flavor is not very concentrated, and you will have to pour a decent sized splash in order to allow the gingerbread spices to pull through the flavor of your coffee. Even with this, I highly recommend trying out this $1.99 creamer, and I will be excited to head back to the store to get another carton this holiday season.

I love it when Trader Joe's brings international recipes to its store shelves, so I was thrilled to pick up a package of these Sugar Glazed Lebkuchen Cookies. Lebkuchen is a German desert that is made by baking a gingerbread biscuit on top of a thin wafer cookie. The dough is filled with almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts, and is flavored with spices like aniseed, ginger, coriander, cloves, pimento, mace, cardamom, and cinnamon. After being cooked, the entire cookie is dipped into sugar icing, creating a thin and satisfying exterior.

The result is a delicious and decadent cookie that was truly unlike anything I had ever tasted before. My favorite thing about this cookie is the texture, which is moist, doughy, and satisfyingly crunchy. I do wish that this cookie had a little but more of the sugar icing, as I think it would have balanced out the spice level. Another negative thing about this product is the packaging, which is not resealable and makes it inconvenient to store these cookies in your pantry. Regardless, I still enjoyed this $4.49 package of cookies a lot and could see myself buying them again in the future.

Joe-Joe's are a staple item at Trader Joe's, and in addition to the standard flavors, Trader Joe's has gotten into the habit of releasing seasonal variations of these cookies as well. For the holiday season, Trader Joe's has brought back its Gluten Free Candy Cane Joe-Joe's, which come in a box for $4.99. This year's version has increased the amount of cocoa in the cookie and added more peppermint candy pieces to the cream in hopes of improving this product from last year.

When trying these cookies, I was pleasantly surprised by the flavors here. The peppermint and cocoa is present and well balanced, and the softness of the cream filling was really enjoyable. I do wish that the cookie exterior was a little bit harder; it did feel a little bit too soft and crumbly for my taste. Regardless, I did enjoy this cookie and lot, and I feel that Trader Joe's did a great job on improving this recipe from past years.

Of all the items on this list, the item that I was the most pleasantly surprised by was the Trader Joe's Sparkling Honeycrisp Apple Juice Beverage. The ingredients in this drink are simple, only blending a trio of 100% Honeycrisp apple juice, water, and bubbles. While I was expecting this to taste the same as a typical sparking apple cider, I was delighted with how this drink varies.

After taking my first sips, I was instantly hit with the fresh, bright taste of the Honeycrisp apple. The flavor is really refreshing, and almost leans into tasting like a pear. It is less bubbly and sweet than a usual sparkling apple cider flavor, which makes this easier to sip on and lighter overall. I also appreciate that Trader Joe's sells these $1.69 cans individually as well as in a pack, making it easy to customize how many cans you want to pick up. Trader Joe's really nailed this item, and I will certainly be heading back to the store to grab some more cans before they are gone for the season.

If there is an item at Trader Joe's that screams "holiday season", it is these Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Cremes. This sizable box comes with seven ounces of peppermint creme candies that come dipped in luxurious dark chocolate and topped with a sprinkle of crushed peppermint. The result is a silky smooth candy that has a sophisticated balanced flavor of dark chocolate and mint.

After taking my first bite, I was floored by how incredible the texture is for these cremes; they are soft and almost doughy, unlike anything I have ever had before. For $5.99, the box offers a great portion, and these candies can be easily passed off as being bought from a bakery or dessert shop. If you are looking to impress your guests this holiday season, these cremes are a perfect option. I myself will certainly be going back to pick up some more of these candies as gifts for the holidays.

I really enjoyed nearly all of the products I reviewed for this article, but by far, the star of the show was the Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Dipped Candy Cane Marshmallows. This product, which comes with eight marshmallows per package, is the perfect combination of textures and flavors. The crunchy dark chocolate shell exterior pairs perfectly with the fluffy marshmallow interior, and the whole treat is brought together with the peppermint chunks that are scattered on the top.

After speaking to a Trader Joe's crew member about this product while I was shopping in the store, I was recommended to try putting these marshmallows in the refrigerator before eating. Somehow, I fell more in love with these marshmallows after trying this hack. Overall, this $3.99 product is the clear standout from this lineup, and I look forward to making this item a tradition in my household every holiday season.

As an experienced product critic, I make it my commitment to produce fair and honest reviews for every article I write. For this particular article, all Trader Joe's products were purchased directly from the store and tried within 24 hours of being purchased to ensure optimal freshness. All of the selected products were also served as recommended by the store and tasted well within their expiration window.

In this review, I judged these products based on a variety of factors including product originality, taste, quality, and overall value. The rankings were determined based off a cumulation of these factors. All prices mentioned in this article are based off of the website listing for my local store in Manhattan, New York. Any nutritional information mentioned in this article was also based off of the same local website. Products were selected with discretion as featured items of the 2025 Trader Joe's holiday lineup.