The Best Trader Joe's Desserts
Trader Joe's dessert selection is pretty spectacular, with chocolate bars, cookies, baked goods and a freezer aisle stocked with ice cream, popsicles and other frozen treats. If you're buying yourself something sweet at TJ's, you don't want to waste your time on mediocre confections. These are some of the best Trader Joe's desserts of all time.
Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie
If you like chocolate chip cookies, you need this dessert in your life. Trader Joe's Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie is a true innovation. The skillet is big enough to serve 10 people, but once you taste it, you might not want to share.
Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls
If an Oreo and a bowl of mint ice cream had a baby, it would be this. Trader Joe's Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls feature a spoon or two of mint chip ice cream between two chocolate wafer cookies.
Chocolate Brooklyn Babka
Even though it sits on the shelf at this fan-favorite grocery store, Chocolate Brooklyn Babka from Trader Joe's tastes like it's fresh out of the oven. It's soft and doesn't go easy on the chocolate. You're guaranteed cocoa perfection in every bite.
Chocolate Lava Cakes
Sure, you could wait until you're ordering dessert at a chain restaurant, but there's no need — get your fix of chocolate lava cake any time from Trader Joe's freezer aisle. All you have to do is pop one of these babies in the microwave and you'll have an oozing, decadent, single-serve chocolate cake in the comfort of your own home.
Danish Kringle
If you're from the Midwest, the Danish Kringle is one of those dishes you always had on your breakfast table. Although it's seasonal, Trader Joe's take on the buttery, flaky pastry is almond-flavored and has quickly become one of the most beloved items of the store's customers.
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
They're no Reese's, but the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are one of the trader Joe's items customers love the most. Covered in dark chocolate, these are a little more sophisticated than the Hershey candy and taste rich and complex.
Hold the Cone!
Hold the Cone! is one of Trader Joe's top-rated frozen food items year after year, and with good reason. The mini vanilla cones are coated with chocolate on the inside, and their small size is ideal for when you're not craving a full-sized treat.
Key Lime Pie
Key lime pie is iconic to the Florida Keys, but if you aren't in the Sunshine State, this is the next-best thing. Tangy, tart filling in a flaky, golden graham cracker crust — this key lime pie is a simple take on one of the most iconic pies in America because Trader Joe's knows not to mess with a classic.
A Dozen Macarons Variés
These elegant French treats are one of the trendiest desserts around. At bakeries, just one bite-sized macaron could cost $4 or more. An entire box of Trader Joe's A Dozen Macarons Variés, which includes two each of apricot, coconut, fig, salted caramel, lemon and pistachio flavors, is just $4.99.
Scandinavian Swimmers
Scandinavian Swimmers are Trader Joe's not-so-subtle homage to Swedish Fish, but to some TJ's fans, these are even better than the popular mainstream candy. The chewy, colorful confections are shaped like various sea creatures and are made with all-natural colorings.
Joe-Joe’s
Joe-Joe's are Trader Joe's version of a chocolate and creme sandwich cookie. Pair a couple of these with a fresh glass of milk or a bowl of vanilla ice cream and you're guaranteed a tasty time.
Sea Salt and Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds
The Sea Salt and Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds come highly regarded because they're filled with healthy fats from almonds and dark chocolate — and they're delicious. So, what is Turbinado sugar? It's a type of raw sugar that's been refined to a light tan color, and the crystals on the outside of these almonds make them 10 times more of a treat.
Mochi Cake Mix
Mochi is a Japanese treat made with rice dough, typically served in bite-sized plush pillows filled with ice cream. Trader Joe's Mochi Cake Mix is made with the same sweet rice flour, making it delightfully chewy.
Cold Brew Latte Dessert Bars
If you like coffee, you'll love Trader Joe's Cold Brew Latte Dessert Bars. Each bar is just 40 calories and has a nice kick of rich coffee flavor, since real cold brew coffee is actually the first ingredient.
Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels
You could go out of your way to one of America's best chocolate shops — or you could just go to Trader Joe's. The chain's Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels are made with buttery smooth caramel covered in Belgian chocolate and sprinkled with crunchy rock salt.
Thai Tea Mini Mochi
Trader Joe's Thai Tea Mini Mochi has a delicate outer layer of mochi made with rice flour. On the inside is a creamy, ice cream-like coconut milk dessert flavored with strong black tea native to Northern Thailand. To those with a sweet tooth for vegan-friendly eats: This one is completely non-dairy.
Neapolitan Joe-Joe’s Ice Cream
Seeing how much customers love Joe-Joe's cookies, Trader Joe's turned it into ice cream reminiscent of the tricolor childhood dessert. Neapolitan Joe-Joe's Ice Cream has vanilla- and strawberry-flavored ice cream with cookie pieces and fudge throughout.
Jingle Jangle
Jingle Jangle is as iconic to the winter holidays as the most popular Christmas movie from the year you were born. This festive TJ's treat features sweet ice cream peppered with chocolate-covered pretzels, peanut butter cups, red candy gems and Joe-Joe's cookies.
Milk Chocolate Caramel Crunch Medallions
Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Caramel Crunch Medallions are bite-size wafer cookies coated in Belgian milk chocolate, filled with gooey caramel and sprinkled with sugared hazelnut. At $2.99 a box, this is one of the best finds at Trader Joe's for under $5.
Mini Stroopwafel Ice Cream Sandwiches
The stroopwafel is such a beloved caramel cookie that it's even sparked revolts from airline passengers. Trader Joe's brilliantly takes this cookie and sandwiches salted caramel ice cream inside for its Mini Stroopwafel Ice Cream Sandwiches. The whole thing is a drippy, malty mess of caramel bliss.
Apple Cider Donuts
Apple cider doughnuts are a regional dessert everyone should try. In the fall, orchards serve the best cinnamon-dusted cider doughnuts, but if you can't make it to a quality apple orchard, Trader Joe's Apple Cider Donuts are the next-best thing. Pair them with a tall glass of warm apple cider for an autumnal experience that can't be beat.
Chocolatey Coated Chocolate Chip Dunkers
Trader Joe's Dunkers are cookies formed into the perfect shape for dipping. There are a few great flavors of these crispy, crunchy treats, but perhaps the best one is the true classic: chocolate-covered Chocolate Chip Dunkers.
Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches
Sometimes, no-bake desserts are the best desserts, and there's nothing quite like a classic ice cream sandwich an arm's length away in the freezer. Trader Joe's take on them is, as advertised, sublime. The Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches feature soft chocolate chip cookies and a thick slab of rich vanilla ice cream, which is then coated in a layer of mini chocolate chips.
Cookie Butter
Inspired by Belgian speculoos cookies (a thin shortbread cookie), Speculoos Cookie Butter can be used as a spread on the ultimate sandwich, baked with, used as a topping for ice cream or, our personal favorite, eaten with a spoon directly from the jar.
Cookie Butter Ice Cream
Trader Joe's Cookie Butter Ice Cream features chunks of Belgian speculoos cookies blended into a rich vanilla ice cream along with swirls of Speculoos Cookie Butter. Creamy, crunchy, sticky-sweet — this dessert is decadence in a bowl.
Lemon Chess Pie
When life hands you lemons, you don't always need to make lemonade — you can eat Lemon Chess Pie. This summery Trader Joe's creation uses sweet-tart lemon custard in a buttery shortbread crust.
Vanilla Ice Cream Bon Bons
The concept of these Vanilla Ice Cream Bon Bons seems simple, but it's surprisingly genius. Each bite is smooth vanilla ice cream with a layer of chocolate cookie crust, all dipped in chocolate.
Gone Bananas
In each box of Gone Bananas, you'll find individual slices of frozen bananas coated in a generous layer of dark chocolate. Add a few to a bowl of ice cream, or opt for the strawberry variety. Both made our ranking of the best Trader Joe's frozen foods of all time.
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