Trader Joe's Everything but the Bartender Cosmopolitan and Lime Margarita

It's a NEW kind of EBTB. This time we've got not one but TWO alcoholic beverages flaunting the delicious flavors of sesame seeds, minced garlic, dried onion, and poppy seeds! Er, wait. It's not that kind of EBTB. This is Everything but the Bartender, not Everything but the Bagel.

Makes sense. I don't think I'd want a cocktail with bagel seasoning in it. What we DO have are pre-mixed drinks that come in little 200mL cans. One is a cosmopolitan—a drink I'm not terribly familiar with, featuring vodka and triple sec. The other? A classic lime margarita—I'm somewhat more familiar with those. Proper margaritas are made with tequila and this selection is no exception.

The taste? Holy cow! They're both SWEET. Like bordering on too sweet, even for me. They have nice fruity flavors and you can taste all the constituent ingredients just fine. There's a bit more complexity and tartness to the cosmopolitan while the margarita is nearly candy-esque. For that reason, Sonia prefers the cosmopolitan. I enjoy them both about the same but I wouldn't seek either of them out for a repurchase.

The cosmo is $11 and the margarita is $12 for four cans each. We're looking at 15% alcohol by volume in both cases. The EBTB Cosmopolitan will get eight out of ten stars from us while Trader Joe's EBTB Margarita will get seven and three quarters.

Bottom line: Trader Joe's Everything but the Bartender Cosmopolitan: 8 out of 10.

Bottom line: Trader Joe's Everything but the Bartender Margarita: 7.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Teensy Candy Bars

These little candy bars are not individually wrapped, in case you were wondering like I was. That's good because it would be an incredible waste of materials since there are so many of the baby candies in the package. But it's also bad because the wrappers kind of slow you down as you're shoveling the chocolate into your mouth. In this case, it's just candy bar after candy bar flowing seamlessly from the plastic bag right into your belly. At least the bag is resealable.

They are indeed "teensy" candy bars. They're even smaller than your typical "fun size" candy bar like the kind you give out to kids at Halloween. These are maybe half that size.

They've got a really nice soft, chewy texture and a nutty, chocolatey flavor. Peanuts are the second ingredient, as a matter of fact, coming in just after sugar on the list. There's a healthy amount of nougat and just a touch of caramel flavor. They're not a far cry from Snickers in terms of overall flavor.

We've got palm oil in the mix, so there's a good chunk of your daily saturated fat. But hey, they're chocolate bars. They're not claiming to be diet food.

$2.99 is a pretty decent price for the amount of candy you're getting. And they're quite tasty. We'd buy 'em again. Product of Germany. We all know those Deutsch folk love their chocolate. We'll both go with eight out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Teensy Candy Bars.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

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 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.

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.

Trader Joe's Chicken Mole

Believe it or not, this is actually the third mole product we've reviewed on this blog. The earliest instance was back in 2012 in the form of a frozen dish that came with its own white rice. The second was a "pumpkin mole burrito" just five years back. The first was quite similar to this product and got a thumbs up from our team, and while the second wasn't a complete disaster, it was simply nothing like the mole that Sonia and I are used to.

For $6.99, you get a pound of mole here. It's similar to what Sonia would call "mole rojo" or red mole. The richness and color comes from a variety of peppers including pasilla and guajillo rather than chocolate or peanut butter. The packaging even states that "most moles don't contain chocolate." That was certainly not my experience in Los Angeles, with numerous co-workers and friends who grew up with the dish introducing me to chocolate or peanut butter-based moles almost universally—including Sonia and her family.

Nevertheless, this mole rojo will get a thumbs up from both Sonia and me despite it proclaiming so boldly that it's made with dark meat chicken. Sonia always grew up with mole that used chicken breast, and I'm a much bigger fan of white meat than dark meat.

The sauce is thick and bold enough that the type of meat doesn't matter much. It's mild to moderate in the spice department—I'd say about a 4 out of 10—and more importantly, it's quite flavorful and delicious. There are plenty of medium-sized chunks of shredded chicken throughout the dish and every bite has more than enough sauce. We served it with nothing but white rice and it worked out great.

Pick up this seven dollar product in the frozen aisle. It's a great introduction to the world of mole and less expensive than most restaurant offerings. We'd buy it again. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Chicken Mole.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Jerky Sticks and Trader Joe's Beef Recipe Jerky Strips Dog Treats

Our dogs really like these treats. They both appear to be repackagings of some doggie snacks that have been around TJ's for years. We did a review of the chicken sticks long ago.

Trader Joe's Chicken Recipe Jerky Sticks for Dogs

I'm really shocked at the number of comments on that review claiming that people's dogs got very sick after eating those treats. There are even reddit threads mentioning the same—that these dog treats make certain dogs very ill, giving them diarrhea for days on end.

Once in a while, our dogs will overeat and will be susceptible to a small amount of vomiting when they do so. We try to control their portions and not let them pig out too much. Obviously, since our dogs are little, we break treats like these into much smaller bites before giving them to our furry friends. For the most part, we've never had trouble with these or any other Trader Joe's brand dog treats throughout the years.

It's $3.49 for the chicken sticks and $2.99 for the beef strips. We pick these up not on every TJ's run but once or twice a year on average. We'll throw out eight and a half paw prints for Trader Joe's Organic Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Jerky Sticks and eight out of ten for Trader Joe's Beef Recipe Jerky Strips. Let us know how your dogs handle these treats in the comments section.

Trader Joe's Chicken Recipe Jerky Sticks: Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10 paw prints.

Trader Joe's Beef Recipe Jerky Strips: Bottom line: 8 out of 10 paw prints.

Trader Joe's Organic Concord Grape Jelly

If I go for a month or two without having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then out of the blue I decide to make one just out of desperation or lack of cold cuts in the fridge or whatever, there's this moment where I'm like "why do I not eat this every day?" Child-like wonder washes over me as I slurp the little dab of jelly trying to escape from the layers of bread, and I contemplate why I even buy meat and cheese in the first place.

A PB&J sandwich is sweet like a dessert, but the peanut butter has protein and it's just as satisfying and filling as a turkey and Swiss sandwich. Anyway, I guess I'm supposed to be reviewing Trader Joe's Organic Concord Grape Jelly and not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But really, in our household at least, that's about all we use grape jelly for: good old PB&J.

Once in a while, Sonia will do cream cheese and jelly on bread or a bagel. The only time I ever do that is immediately after watching Sonia eat it because I always want what she's eating or drinking. It's uncanny. The only exception is coffee. She's constantly drinking coffee and it rarely looks or smells appealing to me. I digress.

I like the ingredients here. I kinda wish "concord grape juice" was higher than "sugar" on the list, but hey, at least they're both organic. The vast majority of other leading brands sweeten their jelly with HFCS, although a few—like Welch's—offer "natural" alternatives with real sugar. At any rate, this jelly is sweet and grape-a-licious. It's not as good as Bonne Maman, but I'd put it at least on par with all the typical name brand jellies you commonly find in grocery stores.

$3.49 for the 20 oz squeeze bottle. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars a piece from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Organic Concord Grape Jelly.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Avocado Mash

My first instinct was like, "Why would anyone ever need mashed avocados unless they're making guacamole?" But then Sonia was quick to point out that you don't put guac on avocado toast. Point taken, wifey. Guess I'm just more into guacamole than I am into avocado toast.

Still, with some sourdough as a base and Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning on top, avocado toast is tastier than I ever thought it would be before I tried it. I mean, this isn't the very first time I've had it, but all the other times either someone else made it or Sonia had to mash or spread the avocados herself.

Trader Joe's Avocado Mash will run you $3.49 for the 8 oz tub. I've heard of Hass avocados but I couldn't tell you much about them. What I can tell you is that the quality of the mash is top notch, tastes great, and is super smooth. It's not stringy at all or slimy or brown at the time of unsealing. As a matter of fact, the package has been unsealed for a couple days now and it still isn't brown. The lemon juice and salt probably helps preserve it as well as adding a bit of extra flavor.

We also used the mash on some soft tacos, and it worked well that way, too. You could always turn it into proper guacamole by throwing in your own onions, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, and jalapeño. What else can you do with it? I'm not exactly a culinary wizard, so let us know if you've got any great ideas or recipes up your sleeve.

Avocados are never cheap, so the value is pretty decent at three and a half bucks. Found in the refrigerated section. Kosher. Yet another product of Mexico. Would buy again. Sonia and I will throw out eight out of ten stars a piece for Trader Joe's Avocado Mash.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chicken Chile Verde Burritos

More Mexican food! How can you go wrong with comida Mexicana? We've seen our share of tasty Mexican dishes...as well as a good number of epic fails. This is a new-ish frozen product, so we had to pick it up and give it the classic WG@TJ's taste test.

Conventional oven, air fryer, and microwave instructions are given on the packaging. If you've been following us for any amount of time, you can probably guess which route we went. Air fryer, ftw! 

And our burritos came out great. The tortilla was nice and crispy and the filling was piping hot after 18 minutes or so at 400°F. I can't imagine the microwave working quite as well.

The chicken was finely shredded but there was still enough to sink your teeth into. It was fairly mushy, but it wasn't just a mush. Though I'd have preferred all white meat chicken, the overall quality was very good. 

The chile verde and seasoning blend made for a tasty flavor—not very spicy, but potent enough to keep us coming back for more. There was onion, tomatillo, garlic, jalapeño, and black pepper in the mix. While salsa or hot sauce wouldn't be out of the question, the flavor was adequate without it.

$3.99 for two good-sized burritos, found in the frozen section. Would buy again. Product of Mexico. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia. Eight and a half out of ten stars from me.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Coconut Smoothie

I wasn't expecting much from this product, but it's surprisingly sweet and chuggable. It's not boring like plain coconut water and it's not quite as thick as your typical coconut milk. It's actually coconut water blended with tiny bits of coconut meat. I was bracing myself for something terribly chalky consistency-wise, but it actually comes off as creamy and smooth despite the pieces of coconut.

At $2.69 for just 8 oz, it's on the pricey side. But as usual, you get what you pay for. This product is imported from Thailand and is made from Nam Hom coconuts—apparently a highly sought after variety—and it shows.

Many specimens I've seen online are pink. Even the ones on TJ's own website show a very pink liquid in the bottle. The description on the packaging says the product "may take on a rosy hue." Ours stayed decidedly white for some reason. I'm fine with that. Sonia is too. Eight out of ten stars a piece for Trader Joe's Organic Coconut Smoothie.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Nocciolini Tiny Hazelnut Meringues

Cuteness is not generally the first thing I look for in a snack. If it's there, I guess it's a bonus. I won't not eat something because it's cute. It's just not very high on my list of priorities in terms of acquiring, preparing, and eating food.

And despite the fact that cuteness might be the first quality of these little nocciolini that jumps out at you, it's certainly not the only thing they've got going on for them. They've got simple ingredients: sugar, hazelnuts, and egg white. They're not super indulgent, containing only 10% of your RDA for fat, 3% for saturated fat, and 6% for carbs, respectively. And at $2.69 for an Italian import, they won't break the bank either.

But most of you are probably wondering how Trader Joe's Nocciolini Tiny Hazelnut Meringues taste. Well, if you like hazelnuts, you're probably not gonna hate these. They're about the same size as hazelnuts, they're crunchy like hazelnuts, and they taste a heck of a lot like hazelnuts.

So why not just eat some hazelnuts instead, you ask? If you've got a sweet tooth, these are a shade sweeter than your typical hazelnut. If you're someone who's gotta have dessert after a meal, these would certainly fit the bill with their crunchy cookie texture and fun round drop shape. And I don't know if I'd say they're more versatile than hazelnuts, but you could do interesting things with them like decorating cakes or cupcakes or even tossing them on top of yogurt, ice cream, or gelato.

I must admit, I was unimpressed at first, but these tiny hazelnut meringues are growing on me pretty quickly. They stick to my teeth a little, but the flavor is quite pleasant and there's virtually no aftertaste. Sonia likes 'em a lot. She'd buy again for sure, but once again, she wishes they were sold in a larger pack. Let's go with seven and a half stars from me on Trader Joe's Nocciolini. The beautiful wifey will throw out nine out of ten.

Nathan's score: 7.5 out of 10.

Sonia's score: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Lemon Mini Sheet Cake

Ah, lemon desserts! Lemon desserts are another one of those categories of food that we're quite passionate about. Lemon, in general, is a magical thing. It's good for the skin, heart, kidneys, and digestive system—not to mention it can be used as a natural household cleaning product—plus, it's absolutely delicious.

We've seen too many lemon-flavored products from Trader Joe's throughout the years to recount every one, so we'll focus on just a few highlights: Trader Joe's When Life Gives You Lemons Make Ice Cream was insanely tart and lemony, and I loved it, personally. Trader Joe's Lemon Zest Madeleine Cookies might have been Sonia's favorite lemon product from TJ's of all time. And we both enjoyed Trader Jacques' Lemon Meringue Tarte, although we haven't seen it around in quite a few years.

How does Trader Joe's Lemon Sheet Cake compare? Sonia's certainly more fond of it than I am, but I can't say too many bad things about it. The cake part is oddly dry to me, and it could use more lemon flavor in my estimation. However, the icing saves the day. The cream cheese-based frosting for all of these Trader Joe's sheet cakes is rich, sweet, and flavorful, and this product is no exception.

There are little bright yellow zest bits on the icing and lemon juice throughout the product, which I did enjoy, although I wouldn't have minded even more of both. The icing seems a tad more lemony than the cake to me, but it's also sweeter, richer, and more flavorful in every way. I do tend to be an icing guy when it comes to cake, though.

Despite my affinity for sweet lemony things, I think I like both the pumpkin and vanilla sheet cakes just a wee bit more than this one, although it's nothing to complain about. I don't know if any product will ever compare to Sonia's love for that pumpkin spice sheet cake, but she definitely enjoyed this one more than the vanilla bean variety. We still have yet to look at the yellow and chocolate ones.

$5.49 for the six serving dessert, found with the baked goods. Sonia will go with eight and a half stars. I'll throw out seven and a half for Trader Joe's Lemon Flavored Mini Sheet Cake.

Bottom line: 8 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 Crispy Potato & Poblano Pepper Tacos

Visually, these remind me of tacos dorados or fried tacos, although it's been many years since I've had them—the size, the crispy and slightly oily outer tortilla, and the way they're folded tightly so you can barely see what's going on in the middle. If you want a fast food reference, the two for a buck Jack in the Box tacos are similar.

Obviously, the filling is significantly different here. Instead of your typical beef and cheese taco with lettuce and what have you, we've got mashed potato and shredded poblano pepper instead of meat. Sonia says it's similar to a Mexican meal called "tacos de papa," the specifics of which vary from region to region in Mexico.

To me, the execution of Trader Joe's Crispy Potato & Poblano Pepper Tacos leaves a little to be desired. The filling in our six tacos was anything but uniform. The first one I tried barely had any pepper. The second one I grabbed actually had more poblanos than potatoes. The one without many peppers was quite bland, as you might expect. The one with a bunch of poblano had a nice peppery kick to it, but it was fairly one-dimensional flavor and texture-wise.

Fried potato chunks would have worked better than mashed potatoes I think. They're "meatier" in texture and they have more flavor, too. A larger variety of veggies would be in order as well. The peppers are a good start, but a taco needs a handful of different textures. Sonia thinks the peppers and potatoes by themselves are fine in this instance. I suppose we could have added our own lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream if we wanted.

Surprisingly, the beautiful wifey also likes the flavor. I think it's okay. It's just lacking something—not necessarily meat. A corn and bean salsa would have gone a long way. Maybe some cheese, too.

In its current format, I would think this product would stand as "vegan," although it isn't labeled as such. $4.99 for six potato tacos. Product of Mexico. Sonia would buy Trader Joe's Crispy Potato & Poblano Pepper Tacos again, while I would not if it were up to me. If they wind up in our freezer again, I'll eat one or two, but I'll dress it up with something for sure.

Sonia's score: 8 out of 10.

Nathan's score: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Salted Caramel Swirl Danish

They say you are what you eat. And you don't get a nice doughy physique like mine by eating a low-carb diet, that's for sure. I'm a certified breadhead. A carbivore. A lover of pastries and baked goods. It's a good thing I'm not skilled at baking or I'd weigh like 400 pounds.

That said, I might go easy on a product just because it's a sweet, bready Danish. But I also might be harsh on it because my standards are unusually high. It's a double-edged sword.

If you're in it for a typical sticky bun Danish pastry type thing, then I think you'll like this product. If you're in it for the salted caramel custard, then you might be a bit disappointed. There's not like a glob of actual custard in the middle of the bread or anything like that. There's just a thin glaze of it in between layers of the pastry. I might not be up-to-date with my Danish bun lingo, but when I see the words "custard style filling" I think there's a giant cache of yummy pudding somewhere in the breading that you could eat with a spoon. That's not the case here.

Trader Joe's Salted Caramel Swirl Danish does indeed have a caramel-esque flavor, which is nice. It's not particularly salty in our opinions, but that's just fine by us. Our specimen was never dry, not even after heating in the air fryer. They give optional heating instructions for the conventional oven only on the packaging. Who pre-heats their oven to 350° to put something in it for two minutes??

At any rate, the air fryer worked pretty well and the product remained soft and fresh-tasting. It's honestly almost as good just straight out of the package. So if you're on your way home from TJ's and you need that pick-me-up, this product is totally fair game at room temperature. It's a little sticky and messy, so have some wet naps nearby.

$3.99 for three big Danishes. Product of Denmark. And look at that: if you eat the entire package, there's actually fewer calories than if you just eat a single Danish. 390 calories for one pastry or 117 for the whole thing. Oh wait. Part of the nutrition info is hidden behind the little flap on the wrapper. Yeah. I guess that's 1170 calories per package. Boo. Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Salted Caramel Swirl Danish. Sonia will go with eight and a half.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.