Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Powdered Sugar Mini Donuts are one of those products where I’m not entirely sure what to make of them. Not because they’re bad. Quite the opposite, actually. They’re really decent little donuts. The problem is that they’re almost too normal. These are basically the kind of cinnamon powdered sugar mini donuts you might find at any number of grocery stores, gas stations, or convenience stores. There’s nothing particularly weird, inventive, exotic, or especially Joesian about them. And yet...we kinda like ’em.
For $4.49, you get a 10-ounce bag of Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Powdered Sugar Mini Donuts. They’re tiny—about two or three bites each—and have a pretty good cakey texture. They’re soft without being mushy, with just enough density that they don't feel spongy at all. The cinnamon powdered sugar coating adds a pleasant sweetness and warm cinnamon flavor without going completely over the top.
Honestly, these are probably one step up from the normal grocery store mini donuts. The texture is good. The flavor is good. The cinnamon-to-sugar ratio is good. Dunk a couple into coffee and you’ve got yourself a perfectly respectable little breakfast/snack situation. They’re also small enough that you can eat three and tell yourself, “Well, they’re mini,” which is totally sound nutritional science.
But here's the thing: why now? Trader Joe’s drops these in the middle of the fall food explosion, surrounded by pumpkin this, apple that, maple whatever, and approximately 8,000 other products screaming AUTUMN! at you. And then there’s this bag of perfectly ordinary cinnamon powdered sugar mini donuts. No pumpkin. No apple. No butternut squash. No haunted barnyard spices. Just...donuts. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe we need a little normalcy amidst all the pumpkin spice chaos.
Either way, they’re tasty, they’ve got a really nice texture, and they’re certainly worth picking up if you like this type of donut. They just don’t feel particularly Trader Joe’s-esque. Sonia and I will both go with seven and a half stars on Trader Joe's Cinnamon Powdered Sugar Mini Donuts.
Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.
We used to buy Trader Joe's Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread pretty regularly in the 2010s. We reviewed it 13 years ago on this very blog. Sonia and I took a long break from purchasing the product and now we're back at it trying this one. They've added the word "spice" to the title: Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread.
The Google search AI informed me that it's basically been the exact same product all along...except it totally isn't. It's similar, but if you click that link in the first line of this review, you'll see that the ingredients, while comparable, are not exactly the same. The nutrition information is different, too. This current product has the exact same serving size yet contains more calories and fat per two tablespoons.
Sonia and I both remember the version from 13 years ago being nearly whipped in consistency while this one is much denser, more like traditional cream cheese spread. It's got a nice balance of creamy tanginess and pumpkin spices. I'd say flavor-wise, it's very similar to that spread we reviewed all those years ago.
It doesn't overdo the pumpkin or the pumpkin spice. There's enough of both to know exactly what you're eating, but neither one comes across like it's trying to kick you in the face with a pumpkin spice latte. The cream cheese itself still comes through, which I appreciate. Sometimes these seasonal spreads can get a little too carried away with the flavor-of-the-month thing and forget they're supposed to be cream cheese.
We've mostly been using it on toast and bagels, although I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to put this stuff to work. It's sweet enough to feel a little indulgent but not so sweet that it becomes dessert. And with that creamy, tangy cream cheese underneath all those familiar fall spices, it's a pretty easy thing to keep reaching back into the fridge for. Basically, if you're a pumpkin spice person, this one makes sense. It pairs nicely with the pumpkin sourdough toast in case you were wondering.
$2.79 for the 8 oz tub. Kosher. Would buy again. Sonia will throw out eight out of ten stars on this one. I'll spring for eight and a half.
Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.
