Trader Joe’s holiday foods offer sweet spin on classic products

Aidan Raska '22, Staff Writer


As the holiday season rolls around, Trader Joe’s is beginning to sell limited-time products. These items are excellent substitutes for their ordinary products, as they spice up many products ranging from cereal to desert.

Jingle Jangle is an outstanding food to bring to a party over break. They are also a great study food, but make sure not to eat too many because once you start, you can’t stop. Jingle Jangle comes with many options to snack on the inside. My personal favorite was the milk chocolate covered pretzels, they had the perfect ratio of pretzel to chocolate while neither overwhelmed the other.

Bored of plain Oreos? Well, the candy cane Joe Joes are just what you’re looking for– they’re great when paired with milk. They’re like crunchier thin mints thanks to the tiny shards of candy cane embedded in the cream of the cookie, which provide a subtle pop. The peppermint flavor isn’t overbearing, you can eat a lot of these without being overwhelmed by the mint. The only problem is that the actual cookie is dry.

The chocolate peppermint loaf and baking mix, only take 10 minutes to prep and 40 minutes to bake, but it’s worth the wait. It comes out of the oven a moist, rich chocolate peppermint masterpiece. It has just the right amount of peppermint to make your mouth tingle. With a few additions, you can take this to the next level, crush up some candy canes or drizzle some white chocolate over the top.

Ridiculous? Yes. The Hot Cocoa O’s should belong in the desert aisle instead of the cereal section. The chocolate rings have a lingering flavor of Swiss Miss on a cold winter day. The marshmallows have a pleasant sugar sweetness– as if you needed more sugar– and they hold up well in the milk and don’t quickly disintegrate. On the other hand, the chocolate rings are almost non-existent after two minutes. Now, this may be a bad thing, but when you’re done, the milk is left tasting like hot chocolate.