Friday, February 16, 2018

Trader Joe's Glazed Walnuts with Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup

Congrats, it's been done. It was bound to sooner or later.

After eight years and hundreds of reviews, I've been thoroughly stumped as to how to otherwise start a review of a TJ's product.

Usually I have a slice of life or dumb joke or mini info-burst about something that at least tangentially has to do with something, but not this time with Trader Joe's Glazed Walnuts with Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup. I've been mulling it over for close to a week, but I got nothing.

Nothing new to say about snacky nuts or bourbon or maple syrup or anything that has to do with these nuts. No great stories. No puns or jokes or anything. Just me and a bag of nuts that sound pretty amazing.

I'll grant that these bourbon maple glazed walnuts are good...but odd. There's a definite added buttery taste (it's the second ingredient) that adds an unexpected creamy blast, with all sorts of added sugar too. And not maple syrup-kinda sugar...just sugar.

So these are some pretty sweet walnuts, practically candy. There's some sweet maple taste at the end, for sure, but it's really tough to pick up on any bourbon aspects. The package says something along the lines of "earthiness" which isn't there, either, aside from the inherent nutty taste. It's some pretty good quality walnuts, by the way - nice and chunky, definitely munchy, a little roasty.

They're tasty by the handful, and would probably be good in things like brownies. The package recommends atop salad as well - in the right kind, that could work. Still, I feel as if the buttery coating holds back the product from it could fully be - some more straight up bourbon-y maple would be fantastic. Eh well. Still pretty tasty, and both Sandy and I had to hold ourselves back from chomping down the whole bag - they're pretty snackable for sure, so watch out.

For $3.99 for a half pound bag, it's a fairly respectable value as well. I'd get them again for sure, and maybe by then I'd think of some sort of wittier intro...but right now, it's just driving me nuts.

Bottom line: Trader Joe's Glazed Walnuts with Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup: 8 out of 10 Golden Spoons 

7 comments:

  1. Definitely chocolate-chip cookies. Also pancakes and homemade granola. And atop ice cream. Also pie. Dagnabit gonna have to go buy some

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  2. I feel like these would be good for a salad with arugula or beets and grapefruit with red onion, something that needs a hit of slightly sweet to balance it out... but since i hate the flavor of burbon i’ll just keep buying the plain walnuts to make my own spicy sweet mix.
    Ttrockwood

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  3. Or how about broken up into muffins and then creating a glaze with their maple bourbon syrup. And heck why not go whole hog and throw in the some crumbled bacon into the muffins too.

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  4. Have you tried the Trader Joe jackfruit curry? I want to try it...but would like a non-vegan perspective first.

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    1. I'm a meat eater and had it twice already. Love it.

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  5. Good to know! What's it like?

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  6. I've looked for these every time I go in to TJ's and cannot find them. I think they may have been a seasonal/holiday item, so maybe your local store just had some leftover?

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