Trader Joe's Cinnamon Bun Pancake & Waffle Mix

"If you're gonna have carbs, have 'em first thing in the morning."

That's what Sonia always says. Makes sense. If you eat them early, you burn through them by the end of the day. It also helps optimize your metabolism and other good stuff.

Of course, it doesn't work if you keep eating carbs all day long and into the night. Not that I would know anything about that...

Anyway, we tried Trader Joe's Cinnamon Bun Inspired Pancake & Waffle Mix for the first time the other day and liked it for the most part. Sonia used the mix along with eggs, milk, and butter to whip up some batter and then poured it on her stovetop griddle to make pancakes. Yum.

There are little caches of cinnamon throughout the product, but both Sonia and I found ourselves pining for more cinnamon. The taste is quite reminiscent of a typical cinnamon bun but not nearly as indulgent. Add butter and maple syrup and you're getting a little more richness and sweetness, but it's still not on the same level as a true cinnamon bun in terms of comfort food status.

And for most folks, that's probably not a problem. It's just kind of a fun breakfast item that's not particularly decadent or fancy other than some cinnamon confectionery bits and brown sugar. But still, it's easy enough to make and the flavor is pleasant enough that we'd consider a repeat purchase.

$3.99 for the 16 oz box. We'll give Trader Joe's Cinnamon Bun Pancake Mix eight out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chocolate Coffee Granola

So numerous readers and viewers mentioned this product when I posted my review of Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond Granola a couple weeks ago. I try not to look at two cereals so close together, let alone two fancy granola cereals, but hey, Trader Joe's has discontinued half of the other products I had on deck for review, so we've got slim pickings if we want to look at something that is currently relevant. I've heard only good things, so I'm excited to try it. Sonia, the coffee connoisseur, is also quite eager to taste test a bowl.

It's a rich, dark flavor—nearly equal parts coffee and dark chocolate. The cereal contains both cocoa powder and dark chocolate in the ingredients. Coffee extract appears further down the list but it's potent enough to shine through all the other elements. It's surprisingly not sweet to my tongue, but still quite pleasant overall.

Predictably, Sonia really enjoys it. She prefers this over the vanilla granola and most other Trader Joe's granola flavors. I like it about the same as the vanilla one, but I'm not hating on this flavor at all. On the contrary, I think most adults who appreciate the flavors of coffee and dark chocolate would gravitate to this option over the vanilla almond granola and most other cereal products at Trader Joe's or anywhere else.

The milk left at the end of the bowl is quite tasty, taking on whispers of both coffee and chocolate. Of course, it's a much lighter, creamier flavor than the cereal, but I find it even more appealing than the granola itself. Sonia is eager to try this product on yogurt or ice cream.

$3.99 for the 12 oz resealable bag. Kosher. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia. Seven and a half out of ten from me for Trader Joe's Chocolate Coffee Flavored Granola.

Bottom line: 7.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Salsa Verde

The base for most salsa verde is made from tomatillo. Meaning "little tomato" in Spanish, the tomatillo plant is not actually a type of tomato but a distant cousin, also a member of the nightshade family. As you can see, the first two ingredients in this product are tomatillo and green chili pepper, both of which are green, giving this salsa its signature earthy green hue.

The flavor? It's a refreshing, bright, lightly sweet yet tangy taste, not very spicy at all. It goes well as a topping for burritos, tacos, chimichangas, etc. It's not my favorite for chip dipping, though some may disagree.

Salsa verde is an integral part of Mexican cuisine, hence Sonia's proclivity for it. She often pairs it with black beans and rice and serves it as a side for just about any Mexican meal. She's even used it as a base for a very tasty white bean chicken chili soup.

There are plenty of seeds and tomatillo bits throughout the salsa, but I don't think anybody would call it "chunky" in any way. I'll admit it's nice to have a tomato-free option on the salsa shelf of our pantry. Also, both Sonia and I have grown more sensitive to spicy foods as we've grown older, so it's nice to have a milder option when we need it. This one shows about a 3/8 on the little chili spice-o-meter on the side of the jar. I might even put it a little lower than that, despite the presence of jalapeños.

$2.29 for the 12 oz jar. We both like Trader Joe's Salsa Verde but Sonia is definitely more into it than I am. She's purchased it many, many times over the past 15 years. Crazy we're just getting around to the review now. Eight and a half stars from the beautiful wifey for Trader Joe's Salsa Verde. I'll throw out seven and a half.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Salsa Autentica

In all our years reviewing Trader Joe's products, I'm fairly certain this salsa has been sitting there on the shelves pretty much the entire time. We finally decided to try it during our big salsa roundup video. At around 12:20 into the discussion, we taste test this Salsa Autentica for the first time.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. It looked and poured a bit watery and thin—like your typical complimentary restaurant salsa. However, I found this one to be significantly tastier than most salsas of its kind. There's a smidge of heat, but I wouldn't say it's truly spicy. The little chili meter on the side shows it's 5/8 full. I think it's more like 3/8 on my chili meter.

It's not as good as the Pepita Salsa in terms of flavor and texture. And I'd generally prefer chunky selections like the Cowboy Caviar or Thick and Chunky Salsa over this one, especially for simple chip dipping, but the yellow chili pepper, onions, and garlic give it enough zesty flavor to make it worth a purchase. I think it works best when paired with beans or meat or poured over a taco so its thinness isn't quite so apparent.

Sonia says she'd like to play around with this salsa in some recipes she's eager to try. $2.29 for 12 oz. Not too pricey. Would buy again. Eight and a half stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Salsa Autentica.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Our FAVORITE Trader Joe's Brand Salsas!

Well, I guess it's "Cinco de Mayo weekend" if there is such a thing. Don't get us wrong, we like the Fourth of July and all that patriotic American stuff, too. But in case you needed an excuse to pig out on some good Mexican food and margaritas, Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. Here's a video where we have a lengthy discussion about our favorite Trader Joe's brand salsas of all time. Maybe I'll circle back and put links to all the reviews of the products mentioned in the video, but for now, you'll just have to click play. Thanks for watching, and happy Cinco de Mayo (a couple days early)! 

Trader Joe's Organic Unfiltered Apple Juice

So...apparently most apple juice has all the cloudy stuff filtered out of it while this selection from Trader Joe's leaves it all in. It's still pasteurized and all that. Obviously, it's made with organic apples and there's no sugar or other juices added, so it sounds pretty healthy if nothing else. Let's see how it tastes.

It's good. I'd say it's slightly richer than your run-of-the-mill apple juice if that makes sense. It almost seems a tad less sweet, too, but not in a bad way at all. It's almost like half way between regular apple juice and apple cider to my tongue.

TJ's website mentions that there was an unfiltered apple juice on their shelves for 20 years that got discontinued in 2022 due to an organic apple shortage. Never heard about the apple shortage and I don't know if I remember that older version of this product. Sonia says she remembers it, but I don't think we ever got around to reviewing it for some reason. If you remember that product, let us know how it compares to this one in the comments.

$5.49 for the 64 oz bottle. Did we mention it's organic? Kosher too. Shelf stable until you open the bottle, it's found with the unrefrigerated juices. Sonia gives Trader Joe's Organic Unfiltered Apple Juice nine out of ten stars. I give it eight out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.