Trader Joe's Maple and Sweet Potato Flavored Sandwich Cookies for Dogs

For those of you who are dog people, you totally get it. If people have sandwich cookies, then our furry friends should, too. It's pretty simple. We want to share everything in our lives with our four-legged family members.

And for the past 13 and a half years, that's what Sonia and I have done. We woke up with Alfred and Sadie and ate breakfast together. We'd take them outside to play in the yard, weather permitting. We played with them in the living room. We tossed their squeaky toys while we watched TV. We all slept in the same room. Sonia and I both even work from home, so the four of us have been together pretty much all day, every day for such a long time.

Sadly, that all changed last week. Our little boy Alfred crossed the Rainbow Bridge. And again, for those of you who are dog people, you totally get it. It's devastating. It's just as hard and in some ways harder than losing a person that's close to you. Here's our Instagram post about it. He was 14 years and 2 months old, and we'll never forget him.

So unfortunately, he never got to try Trader Joe's Maple and Sweet Potato Flavored Sandwich Cookies for Dogs. Sadie will be scoring this one solo. Both he and Sadie did, however, get to try the Three Dog Bakery brand sandwich cookies: Lick 'N Crunch. They had the Birthday Confetti variety. That product retails around $4.50 - $5 depending on where you pick it up while Trader Joe's fall-themed offering will run you $2.99.

TJ's product contains fewer cookies of course, but that makes perfect sense to me. Unless you have tons of dogs or really enormous dogs that eat a lot of cookies, the Three Dog Bakery product seems impractically large. Neither of the dogs went nuts for the Three Dog Bakery sandwich cookies. Sometimes they'd eat them happily, other times they'd outright reject them.

With both brands, we had to break the sandwich cookies up for our very small dogs. We'd twist them open just like an Oreo and then snap the cookie in half, if not in quarters. In both cases, things got a bit messy with the creamy filling smearing on our hands and sometimes the floor. They both seemed to like the Three Dog Bakery cookies less and less as time went on. I mean...maybe they were getting stale near the end..?

Upon Sadie's first taste of Trader Joe's Maple and Sweet Potato Flavored Sandwich Cookies for Dogs, she promptly spit it out. She rubbed her tongue on the roof of her mouth several times and gave me a confused look. Sonia encouraged her to try it again, so she did. It may be an acquired taste, but it only took two tries to acquire it. After that second attempt, Sadie came running back to me for another bite of delicious sweet potato sandwich cookie.

She ate about one full cookie and kept asking for more. We cut her off at that point until later. Subsequent rewards were again met with skepticism from Sadie. She'd play with the cookie a bit and look at it as if to say, "I don't know if I really like this." But then eventually she'd eat it and come over to ask for another bite.

It's a cute product and we might buy it again for Sadie next fall. $2.99 for 12 sandwich cookie dog treats. Available for a limited time. Sadie gives this product seven and a half out of ten paw prints.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

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Scroll through our pet treats search label here on the blog to read about some of Alfie's favorite treats. Or check out our Trader Joe's Brand Dog Treat Reviews Playlist on YouTube to see our adorable pups eating pumpkin cookies, Christmas treats, Better Than Leftovers, and dozens of other TJ products.

In Loving Memory of Alfred S. Rodgers, the little boy in a dog suit
September 2012 - November 2026

10 out of 10 stars for Alfie, my best friend

Trader Joe's Sparkling Cranberry Ginger Brew

Here's a fun-looking little holiday-ish beverage, seasonally appropriate from now until New Year's or so. It's somewhat similar to Trader Joe's Sparkling Cranberry & Ginger Beverage from a few years back, but there are a few noticeable differences.

I think there's less ginger flavor in this one. The last cran-ginger drink had a little more of that throat tickling property that ginger lovers crave. This one's got like a hint of ginger but not much more than that. The cranberry is slightly tart but I wanted quite a bit more sweetness. There are only 9g of added sugar in each serving, so you wouldn't expect it to be soda sweet or anything like that but it almost tastes sugar free. It's not a terrible beverage, but it's also not particularly memorable or festive by my estimation. Sonia likes the lack of sweetness just fine and enjoys the beverage okay, but even she admits it needs more punch from the ginger.

Trader Joe's Sparkling Cranberry Ginger Brew Beverage comes in a four pack for five bucks. We purchased just two individual cans for a buck and a quarter each. Each can is 8.45 fl oz. It makes a decent mixer with vodka and lime juice for a festive holiday mule type libation.

While it’s convenient to grab a couple of individual cans if your local store sells them loose, we’d suggest trying just one before committing to a full four-pack—especially if you're expecting that classic fiery ginger kick or a sweeter, dessert-like holiday sip. But if you do want to track down a pack for your next festive cocktail mix, here’s a tip from Google Gemini for finding it on the shelves:

Because seasonal holiday beverages are limited-run, stock can fluctuate locally by region. If you don't see it in the beverage or end cap displays right away, check with a Crew Member using item SKU #181782 to see when their next truck shipment is scheduled.

$1.25 per can or $4.99 for the four pack. Kosher. Probably wouldn't buy again. We gave the old cranberry ginger beverage seven and a half stars. We'll go a bit lower on this one. Sonia gives Trader Joe's Sparkling Cranberry Ginger Brew Beverage seven out of ten stars. I'll go with five and a half out of ten.

Sonia's score: 7 out of 10.

Nathan's score: 5.5 out of 10.