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 Just the Clusters Vanilla Almond Granola

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But what if I eat cereal in the afternoon or a Pop-Tart after midnight? Those are breakfast foods, but I often eat them at not-so-breakfasty times. If I eat steak at 6:30 in the morning, is that still my most important meal of the day? Or do I need to consume it as "part of a complete breakfast" with juice, toast, and milk? If I purchase an Egg McMuffin at 11am and eat it at noon, does that count as breakfast or lunch?

The answers to these questions and more...are definitely not in this food review. But what I will tell you is that this cereal tastes good, provided you're a fan of vanilla, granola, and almonds. It's crunchy, clustery, and filling. It's sweet but not too sweet. Sonia likes it with yogurt. Bonus: the bag is resealable.

The nuts are just slivers. I wouldn't have minded bigger almond chunks and more of them. Some of the granola clusters are too big. Also, canola oil is the third ingredient—even higher than rice flour. It's "expeller pressed canola oil" if that makes a difference. I'll let you tell me if it does or not.

$3.79 for the eight serving bag. I could be wrong, but I think this product was only $3.29 a couple years back. Also, Sonia thinks it tasted more like vanilla before this most recent repackaging. Oh well. Seven and a half out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Just the Clusters Vanilla Almond Granola. Seven out of ten from the beautiful wifey.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's European Grains & Seeds Bread

I'm particularly fascinated with the cuisines and cultures of the nationalities that I'm descended from. And while I'm not properly Danish at all, those Viking folks had their way with my English and Scottish ancestors back in the day, so I most likely have some of that Scandinavian blood coursing through my veins. Will that influence my score on this product? Probably not. I think I stay pretty objective regardless of a product's origins.

You'll pay $3.49 for what appears to be a half a loaf of bread, imported from Denmark. I'm hearing that it is indeed very similar to a type of bread that's common in northern Europe and Germany, so it's fairly authentic according to European folks.

Apparently there was a very popular European style bread at Trader Joe's some years back and then it underwent the typical disappearing act. Don't think we ever tried that one, so unfortunately we don't really have anything to compare this to directly.

Trader Joe's European Grains & Seeds Bread has sourdough, rye, and wheat flours in the mix. There are sunflower seeds and flaxseeds, too. The overall effect is nutty and lightly sweet, yet somehow sour and earthy at the same time. Sonia and I are both surprised at the density of the bread. It's quite thinly sliced as it states on the wrapper, so the density and thinness sort of cancel each other out, if that makes sense.

I mainly just enjoyed it toasted with some butter, but we tried it with the avocado mash, cream cheese, and as a base for turkey sandwiches. It's more filling and flavorful than regular white bread, but the unusual taste may be off-putting to some American palates.

Would we buy Trader Joe's European Grains & Seeds Bread again? I wouldn't rule it out, but I think Sonia and I both gravitate toward traditional sourdough more than this multi-grain seed bread. As always, we're grateful to have tried it and to know what it's like since it's quite different from the typical bread you find here in the States. We both agree this is a seven and a half star affair as far as we're concerned. Let us know what you think of this bread.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Soft Pretzel Twists

Everybody in the US is familiar with soft pretzels, but those of us who grew up in Pennsylvania know them just a bit better than the rest. With a high percentage of German-Americans and a huge Pennsylvania Dutch community, PA produces 80% of the nation's pretzels. I even went to college with a guy whose aunt...is actually Auntie Anne, founder of the famous pretzel chain.

All that to say, my standards are pretty high. So how do Trader Joe's Soft Pretzel Twists hold up? Considering they're pre-packaged and shelf stable for a few days at least, they're not terrible. If you're just snacking on them straight out of the bag, you might not be blown away. But if you take great care to moisten them, heat them per the instructions, and apply the big, coarse granules of salt with precision, they're certainly passable.

Once again, we used our air fryer to heat the pretzels instead of the conventional oven. I just can't justify preheating the real oven just to stick a couple of pretzels in it for three minutes. At any rate, it worked. I was fine snacking on the pretzel by itself with maybe a dab or two of mustard. Sonia wasn't into the plain twists by themselves very much. She made pretzel dogs and quite enjoyed them that way, though. I did, too. If we'd had some pub cheddar on hand, they'd have been great dunked in it.

$3.49 for six soft pretzels. Kosher. Put this on the might​ repurchase list. Seven and a half out of ten stars from Sonia, who wishes the pretzels were bigger and came with regular salt rather than the oversized granules. Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Soft Pretzel Twists.

Bottom line: 7.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Sourdough Boules

Apparently "boule" is (one of) the French word(s) for "ball." Some places say it's pronounced "bool" and other say "bool-eh," so I don't even know. I say "bool" in the video. If that's wrong, I'm sure someone will call me out on it.

These are big roundish loaves of crusty sourdough and we turned ours into bread bowls. They were pretty good taste and texture-wise, and they retained the soup quite well. We just wish you could taste that tart sourdough flavor a bit more. We particularly enjoyed the crusty outer portion of this bread.

I've had my share of bread bowls with soup and I'd say this one is better than average. I'm glad Sonia cut the indentations for the soup because I'd have probably mangled the things beyond recognition. And the "lid" makes the perfect dunkable for the soup.

$2.99 for two big bread boules, found with the breads and baked goods. The best by date on our bag was just two days after we purchased it, so we had to eat them fast. Would buy again. We'll both go with seven and a half stars out of ten for Trader Joe's Sourdough Boules.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Cheesy Bagels

Growing up in South Central Pennsylvania, I didn't really eat bagels much. I mean, you could buy them at the grocery store, but my family generally didn't. Furthermore, they weren't an intrinsic part of the food culture out there in cow country.

When I went to college, I was excited to see bagels in the dining commons, where I could eat them every day. I thought they were great. The kids from North Jersey, Connecticut, and New York City were less enthused, frequently proclaiming that "Pennsylvania bagels aren't good." Except the language they used was much more colorful than that and involved words that have no place on a family-friendly blog such as this one.

Subsequent trips to the city would indeed prove that New York knows how to do bagels in the same way that Philly knows how to do cheesesteaks and Chicago knows how to do deep-dish pizza. All that to say, I'm far from an expert, but I love me a good bagel once in a while.

That said, store bought bagels rarely compare with anything fresh from a bakery or deli, but once in a while a decent product comes along. And while these aren't the best bagels I've ever had, they're pretty tasty if you like asiago cheese. That funky asiago essence really starts wafting through the kitchen once you fire up the toaster, and there's no turning back from there.

They are indeed soft and doughy on the inside and chewy on the outside. The asiago flavor is fairly dominant but not overpowering. There's a subtle wheat and barley taste as well. I enjoyed them with cream cheese the most, but they were fine with just butter in my opinion. Sonia liked them quite a bit, too, trying them with cream cheese, butter, and some seasoned chicken cold cuts for protein.

$3.49 for four pre-sliced bagels. Kosher. Would buy again. We'll go with eight out of ten stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Cheesy Bagels.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Couscous

Neither Sonia nor I grew up with couscous at all. I remember they served it in the dining commons at college once in a while. Some of the international students I knew would get moderately excited about it, so I decided to give it a whirl. It's not bad. It's a great substitute for rice or orzo, it has an interesting texture, and it goes great with Mediterranean meals.

Apparently couscous is indigenous to North Africa. It's usually a little buttery and salty, sorta fluffy texture-wise, and is a decent source of protein. The beautiful wifey and I have had pearled couscous several times, including the couscous formerly known as Trader Joe's Israeli Couscous. I prefer pearled, personally. The grains are larger and a tad firmer. We had some recently with one of our Hello Fresh meals that came with the ingredients for a garlic butter sauce. That might have been the best couscous I've ever had.

Sonia prefers the regular kind, and she's particularly enthused that this product is organic. She whipped up a batch in our latest video, posted below. It required only butter, salt, and water. The entire process took less than 10 minutes, and the results were pleasant but mostly unmemorable by my reckoning. Sonia ate some plain while I tried it with a Mediterranean style chicken and garbanzo salad.

$1.79 for 12 oz. Sonia would buy Trader Joe's Organic Couscous again, while I'd seek out the pearled kind before repurchasing this particular item. Six out of ten stars from me. Eight out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Garlic Gondolas

I've said it many times: I'm a carbivore. Not necessarily proud of that. It's just a fact I love breads, pastries, cereals, and all manner of grains. I'm also oddly fond of garlic. I wasn't particularly enamored with it as a kid, but as I've grown old, I've come to appreciate its essence not only baked into Italian style dishes but also raw garlic for its potent medicinal properties and pungency.

Garlic bread? Of course I love garlic bread. We've seen our share of it from Trader Joe's. We've reviewed garlic bread with shrimp, bake at home garlic bread, garlic monkey bread, garlic cheese bread, and even garlic bread cheese. Can't say TJ's garlic bread track record has been particularly stellar. In fact, I think we're still on the hunt for a real winner.

If anybody knows how to make garlic bread, it's the Italians. And not only do we have a uniquely Italian product title with this item, but it is, in fact, an Italian import. So far, so good.

Bake at 425°F for 12 minutes on parchment. Done. The verdict? It's garlicky. It might even be too garlicky for some. Obviously, it's not raw garlic since it's been baking in the oven for the past dozen minutes or so. It's a decent roasted garlic flavor that I can appreciate. No, the garlic flavor isn't the problem here.

The cheese flavor is so subtle I wasn't even sure it had cheese until I looked at the ingredients. It's more like a thin layer of an oily garlic paste on a stiff slab of wheat bread. It's not crispy like Texas toast, but nor is it super soft. It's almost like the slightly chewy dough from a slice of New York style pizza but without any tomato sauce and practically no cheese.

It's not a terrible product, but it seems like it's missing an ingredient or two. Paired with a pasta dish, some marinara sauce, or a bowl of cherry tomatoes, it would be passable. The presentation is unique and interesting, but if you're playing the odds, you'll get better garlic bread from the local mom and pop's Italian restaurant.

Probably would not repurchase. Four bucks for two of Trader Joe's Garlic Gondolas, found in the frozen section. Six out of ten stars from me. Six and a half from the beautiful wifey.

Bottom line: 6.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Challah Braided Egg Bread

This was my first time trying challah bread. I've heard about it many times but never had occasion to actually taste it. First impressions? Very good!

It's a soft egg-based bread. In this case, it comes in a pull-apart style loaf all braided and twisted around itself. Each little lump can be separated from the main section and treated as a dinner roll. I'm not sure if that's how it's done traditionally, but that's how the beautiful wifey and I had it, and it worked out beautifully.

It's not a far cry from the delicious milk breads we've sampled from Trader Joe's in recent memory, although there's no milk or cream in this product. The texture of the bread is velvety and smooth, and there's also a decent amount of sweetness thanks to both sugar and honey in the ingredients.

The loaf was about four bucks in the baked goods section. Certified kosher. Would buy again. Trader Joe's Challah Braided Egg Bread will get a solid eight out of ten stars from both Sonia and me.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Iced Oatmeal Baked Whole Grain Bar

Organic whole grain oats are super duper healthy. And they taste okay. Nothing to complain about, right? But hey, let's face it: whole grain oats are kinda boring, bland, and plain.

That's where that icing comes in. There's a lot riding on that icing. That icing is tasked with taking something dull and turning it into something you'll actually choose to eat over a Snickers or a Twinkie from the vending machine when you get that mid-day munchies feeling at work.

And it does a pretty decent job in this particular case. There's a sweet, almost milky, taste to these bars. They're nice and soft, too. Very easy and pleasant to chew. 

A lot of the ingredients are pretty obvious: oats, rice, sugar. But there are some surprises as well: fig paste, vanilla chips, and cinnamon. They all come together for a unique flavor that can curb a sweet tooth or a mid-day snack attack without too much indulgence. I was impressed.

$4.69 for six single serving bars is a bit steep in my opinion. But hey, they're organic, kosher, gluten free, and have three grams of fiber in every bar. 

Another product of Canada. You'd think we could produce oatmeal bars here in the states, but Trader Joe has always been international like that. 

Sonia and I will throw out seven and a half stars for Trader Joe's Organic Iced Oatmeal Baked Whole Grain Bar.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Stollen Crisps

Since I haven't spotted any other beloved German holiday treats such as Lebkuchen or Pfeffernüsse at my local Trader Joe's lately, today we're looking at the Stollen Crisps, which were available last year but eluded our sights in terms of a review.

Always busy this time of year trying to get around to all the seasonal products TJ's has to offer and we never manage to cover everything. But isn't that how life in general goes around the holidays? So much to do and a few things inevitably slip through the cracks. I don't know how you folks with big families do it. Anyhoo, let's get started with the review before we're staring down the barrel of 500 words for a simple looksee at what is essentially a box of fancy crackers.

My biggest problem with this line of "crisps" from TJ's is never the taste.

See: Trader Joe's Strawberry Jalapeño Crisps

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Cranberry Crisps

and Trader Joe's Fig & Olive Crisps.

They've always been unique and interesting flavors. My problem is the texture—they tend to be overly hard, to the point that they hurt my teeth after just a few bites. This problem can be mitigated by soft spreads, cheeses, and/or dips. Let's see if the stollen are any different.

Honestly, this product seems slightly less rigid than the previous selections mentioned above. Is it just my imagination? Have my teeth been strengthened by that enamel repair toothpaste I've been using? Your guess is as good as mine. They're still crunchy and crispy to a fault, but not quite as extreme by my reckoning.

There's a lovely grape and citrus smell that wafts from the bag after opening. They taste like fruitcake dusted with powdered sugar—like orange and lemon zest underneath raisins and sweet buttermilk bread. It's a very nice flavor indeed. There's a surprising amount of fruit in the crackers. Each piece contains at least four or five cross sections of raisin. That might be one of the reasons this offering seems a tad softer than its predecessors.

They recommend eating these with Brie or Gouda but I'm not really a highbrow cheese guy. If we had some kind of chevre on hand, I'd grab that, but unfortunately it's going to be Philadelphia to the rescue once again. But hey, it works. It's a delicious combination in my humble opinion.

The citrus element really makes this product memorable. Some might say it's too sweet with visible amounts of sugar on the crisps, but hey, it's the holiday season and it's time to celebrate.

$4.29 for the box. Product of Canada. There's something delightfully festive and Christmassy about this item, and I'd definitely buy it again. Sonia and I will go with 8 out of 10 stars for Trader Joe's Stollen Crisps.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Overnight Oats

Pumpkin Overnight Oats, hereinafter referred to as POO, was never going to be a contender for the hallowed halls of the Pantheon on this blog. I'll give anything the old college try, but I'm starting to see a pattern here. Super indulgent desserts that go the pumpkin pie route can totally work. I'm thinking Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Sheet Cake. Savory stuff that sticks to a squashy, herby essence is also a safe bet. Just one example would be Trader Joe's Fall Harvest Salsa. Products that get slathered in pumpkin pie spices and pumpkin puree while still trying to maintain an air of wholesomeness and healthiness like this one? Ehhhh. Those usually miss the mark in my opinion.

On one hand, the POO is thick and full of whole grain oats, much like TJ's other overnight oat offerings. It's $1.99 for the single serving cup. It's not a terrible value. It's filling. It's unique.

But on the other hand, I don't think the pumpkin spices and pumpkin puree really work in this application. You can get away with throwing things like apples and peanut butter into oatmeal, but would you really ever want to throw a piece of pumpkin pie into your oatmeal? I doubt it. I wouldn't.

Sonia isn't as turned off as I am. And honestly, I thought there was a good chance this would be so bad that I'd gag and spit it out of my mouth. It's truly not that awful. I could finish it by myself if I had to. I just don't think either of us would ever buy it again.

Kosher. Gluten free. Keep refrigerated. Sonia will go with seven out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Pumpkin Overnight Oats. I'll throw out five stars for the POO.

Sonia's score: 7 out of 10.

Nathan's score: 5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chile Crackers

Aside from some aesthetically-pleasing packaging and the fact that I generally enjoy spicy foods, these crackers don't seem particularly alluring to me. They're being prominently displayed at TJ's stores and on traderjoes.com right now, but I'm still a bit skeptical. Can a cracker flaunt a nice crunchy texture while simultaneously delivering wheaty goodness and peppery heat?

Meh. Sorta. They're oddly dense. They're not like super light wafery crackers. They remind me a bit of the recently-reviewed Savory Squares in terms of density and overall texture, but those were made with tapioca and almond flour primarily and these are wheat-based.

Upon first bite, they don't seem very spicy. I must admit the pepper builds up on the tongue after munching on a full cracker or two but I wouldn't have minded a good bit more chile pepper flavor. 

There's also tomato powder listed in the ingredients, but I wouldn't say they taste tomatoey either. It's just a dull, dry, salty wheat flavor with a modest amount of heat.

My favorite Trader Joe's brand crackers in recent memory are definitely the Green Olive Flats, which provided us with a pleasant surprise. Despite both Sonia and I loving spicy, peppery foods, I don't know if we'd pick these up again. 

I love the concept here but I don't love the execution. I guess you could say I have a love-hate relationship with these crackers.

$2.99 for the 5 ounce box. Product of the United Kingdom. Sonia gives Trader Joe's Chile Crackers seven out of ten stars. I guess that's about right.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Spanish Style Rice

I'm down with white rice. It's the primary staple for over half the world's population. Brown rice? Check. Fried rice? Sure. Basmati rice? You know it. And this here Spanish rice? It's tasty.

But isn't it more like Mexican rice than Spanish rice? If you do a quick search, the internet machine will tell you Spanish rice is yellow and Mexican rice is orange. This looks orange-ish to me.

Sonia says it's pretty close to the rice her aunt would make when she was young, and it's certainly a dead ringer for the rice they serve in all the mom and pop's Mexican restaurants around here. At any rate, Spanish rice and Mexican rice are pretty similar, and this particular Trader Joe's offering is quite delicious. The seasoning blend is on point, featuring garlic, onion, paprika, and tomato powder.

Microwave and stove top heating methods are given. We nuked ours and it came out just fine.

Vegan. $3.69 for the four serving box, which comes with two separate plastic pouches of two servings each. Would buy again. Sonia and I will both throw out eight out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Spanish Style Rice.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Taiwanese Green Onion Pancakes

Below, you'll find another video review featuring both the beautiful wifey and me.

I'm not sure if I put the nutrition info anywhere in the video, so I'll drop it right here.

$2.49 for 5 green onion pancakes actually imported from Taiwan. Vegan. We would definitely buy Trader Joe's Taiwanese Green Onion Pancakes again.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Brown Sugar Cardamom Buns

Fun fact: cardamom is the third-most expensive spice in existence after, presumably, saffron and that stuff they get from the sandworms on Arrakis. It's apparently used widely as a baking ingredient in Scandinavian countries. Those zany Vikings and their cardamom...

But seriously though, I don't think I've had many, if any, pastries with cardamom as a prominently featured flavor/ingredient ever in my life...until now. And if I'm honest, I didn't like it that much, however, the beautiful wifey enjoyed it quite a bit. We haven't disagreed on a product this strongly in quite a while.

We both agreed that there was something fall-ish about this item. Cardamom isn't a far cry from allspice or clove in terms of flavor and intensity. It might not be a pumpkin spice, per se, but it's "pumpkin spice adjacent" in my opinion.

The brown sugar element was nice, providing a sweet, nutty essence to the bun. But the relative bitterness and spiciness of the cardamom was a turn-off for me, while Sonia thought it made the product unique and memorable. The bready part of the pastry was fairly standard, highly reminiscent of last fall's Apple Cinnamon Buns, neither stale nor unusually fresh—passable but not praise-worthy if you ask me.

$4.49 for two big sweet spiced buns, found with the other baked goods. This one will get a thumbs up from the beautiful wifey and a thumbs down from me. We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Nathan's score: 5.5 out of 10.

Sonia's score: 8 out of 10.