Why does Trader Joe's hate soft cookies? We've reviewed obscene amounts of cookies on this blog and very few have been truly soft and chewy. I mean, it is possible to make non-crispy pre-packaged cookies. Just ask Keebler and Nabisco.
That said, we keep buying their crispy cookies because once in a while there's a product that breaks the norm and impresses us. The most recent example of that would probably be the seasonal Italian Amaretti Cookies. They kinda need to be dunked to be amazing, but they're really freaking unique and tasty when served with java.
I think dunking improves any crunchy cookies, honestly. Whether it's coffee, hot cocoa, or just plain milk, dunking makes crispy cookies softer and often wakes up their flavors a bit, too. These oatmeal rounds are no exception.
Sonia and I both thought the sea salt concept was a little weird, but I mean "salty and sweet" is a thing, and if you like that combo...well, that's what we have here. You can taste the salt for sure, but it's not totally overbearing. If you dunk the cookie in coffee, the flavor of the beverage tends to overpower the saltiness.
All in all, this isn't a terrible product to nibble on here and there, but it doesn't do anything super special in our opinions. I would eat these again if they magically appeared in our pantry, but I wouldn't go out of my way to pick them up a second time.
$3.99 for the 7 oz box. Sonia will throw out seven and a half stars. I'll go with six and a half for Trader Joe's Crispy Oatmeal Cookies with Sea Salt.
Believe it or not, this is actually the third mole product we've reviewed on this blog. The earliest instance was back in 2012 in the form of a frozen dish that came with its own white rice. The second was a "pumpkin mole burrito" just five years back. The first was quite similar to this product and got a thumbs up from our team, and while the second wasn't a complete disaster, it was simply nothing like the mole that Sonia and I are used to.
For $6.99, you get a pound of mole here. It's similar to what Sonia would call "mole rojo" or red mole. The richness and color comes from a variety of peppers including pasilla and guajillo rather than chocolate or peanut butter. The packaging even states that "most moles don't contain chocolate." That was certainly not my experience in Los Angeles, with numerous co-workers and friends who grew up with the dish introducing me to chocolate or peanut butter-based moles almost universally—including Sonia and her family.
Nevertheless, this mole rojo will get a thumbs up from both Sonia and me despite it proclaiming so boldly that it's made with dark meat chicken. Sonia always grew up with mole that used chicken breast, and I'm a much bigger fan of white meat than dark meat.
The sauce is thick and bold enough that the type of meat doesn't matter much. It's mild to moderate in the spice department—I'd say about a 4 out of 10—and more importantly, it's quite flavorful and delicious. There are plenty of medium-sized chunks of shredded chicken throughout the dish and every bite has more than enough sauce. We served it with nothing but white rice and it worked out great.
Pick up this seven dollar product in the frozen aisle. It's a great introduction to the world of mole and less expensive than most restaurant offerings. We'd buy it again. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Chicken Mole.
