Trader Joe's Crustless Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Sandwiches

Trader Joe's Uncrustables. That's clearly what we've got here. Not the first time TJ's latched on to a popular food concept and developed their own store brand variety of it. Probably won't be the last. Let's see how they stack up to the leading brand.

Let the duel begin. Big Joe's offering comes out swinging with the certified "vegan" label right on the box. Not sure what might be in the Smuckers product that would deny its vegan status, but it is not considered officially vegan. I think it's because their sandwiches are processed on the same equipment as the Chocolate Uncrustables which contain some dairy.

Price: Smuckers Uncrustables are showing $4.39 for the four pack at all retailers in my area as of the time of composing this review, while TJ's product is $3.79. You might get a coupon deal or a BOGO once in a while with the name brand, but on a day to day basis, Trader Joe's wins again.

Variety: There's only one flavor of Trader Joe's Crustless Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Sandwiches. Smuckers offers not only strawberry, but also grape, raspberry, honey, and the previously-mentioned chocolate hazelnut variety. I think they might have a couple new flavors, too. Round 3 goes to Mr. Smucker.

Peanut Butteriness: I like TJ's product on this count. It's a very rich, wholesome peanutty flavor. It feels and tastes more natural than the leading brand. There's also an extra gram of protein in Joe's Crustless PB&Js. I'll give this round to Trader Joe.

Jam/Jelly: There's not enough strawberry jam in this sandwich. I'm okay with a PB&J that heavily favors the PB element, but folks who want a sweeter jelly situation might lean towards classic Uncrustables. The judges favor Smuckers on this go around.

Bread: Both products offer similar white bread made with unbleached enriched wheat flour. Neither Sonia nor I think either product has a significant advantage over the other in this instance. This round is a draw.

The net weight of Trader Joe's product is 8.89 oz as compared to only 8 oz in the case of the Uncrustables four pack. So not only are TJ's crustless sandwiches cheaper, but they're actually slightly larger than their competition.

No knockouts. No disqualifications. Just a good, clean fight. And with that, we'll turn to the judges. By a narrow but unanimous decision, Trader Joe's product wins the bout.

Sonia and I would both buy this product again, found in the frozen section. Thaw for 2 hours in fridge or 1 hour at room temperature to prepare. We'll probably buy Smuckers Uncrustables again, too, since they're available pretty much everywhere and we appreciate the different flavors. We both give Trader Joe's Crustless Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Sandwiches eight and a half out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.