Trader Joe's S'mores Ice Cream

I'm no expert when it comes to this classic camping favorite, but it seems pretty obvious to me that the key to a good s'more is a balance of flavors. You need two squares of graham cracker for the "bread," one large toasted marshmallow, and one square slab of chocolate centered above the lower graham cracker, preferably just a bit gooey and slightly melted from the warmth of the marshmallow. The equation should be very close to equal parts chocolate : marshmallow : graham cracker.

And that's precisely why this s'mores ice cream flavor was never going to be stellar. Two thirds of the pint would need to be chocolate and marshmallow for it to have the authentic taste of s'mores. You and I both know these gimmicky ice cream flavors seldom if ever have enough mix-ins.

Before I actually read the label on the container, I assumed the base would be chocolate. I think it was a step in the right direction to decide on graham cracker instead. It's a unique ice cream flavor, and it works, just in and of itself. There are thin swaths of white marshmallow here and there, but there's just not enough of it. The chocolate "swirls" are even fewer and farther between. "Swirls" might be too generous a word. "Flecks" or "splotches" might be more accurate.

The few bites that had equal parts graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate were fairly tasty, but even then they lacked the complex texture of a real smore. Obviously, they could have remedied that by including real graham cracker bits, chocolate chips, or marshmallow creme rather than just ice cream and flavored "swirls."

If you're simply craving something sweet and creamy and don't overanalyze the product as I'm clearly doing here, you probably won't be let down too badly. We'll have no problems finishing this pint by any means. Would we buy it again? No. There are lots of other delicious ice cream flavors at Trader Joe's that we'd reach for again before this one. The Horchata Ice Cream, in particular, comes to mind.

But hey, each to his own. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below. $3.79 for the pint. Seven out of ten stars from Sonia and me on Trader Joe's S'mores Ice Cream.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Spooky Bats & Cats Sour Gummy Candies

Let's get this Halloween month kicked off right with a seasonally-appropriate set of spooky gummy candies. Not to be confused with Trader Joe's Halloween Gummies, these felines and flittermice are sour snacks. We've got green, purple, and orange bat and cat shapes here, as opposed to skeletons, skulls, and pumpkins.

Ever since the departure of Trader Joe's delicious sour T's and J's, we've been pining for a replacement. There's been a contender or two for sure, but nothing has taken the title from those discontinued sour citrus legends. These gummies have their work cut out for them.

And once again, they're okay. Not stellar. But not bad. What I like here: these gluten-free and kosher gummy candies are all natural, colored with fruit and vegetable juices—as are many of Trader Joe's candies—and they contain no animal gelatin. They come in a resealable plastic bag for freshness. They're soft and chewy and covered in a generous amount of sour sugar.

They are indeed somewhat tart, but they're not super sour. I think each of the three colors in the bag represents a different flavor. Only the orange flavor really appealed to me. The other two are okay. I guess I might find them more interesting if I knew what they were supposed to be. The orange flavor might be, you know, orange. The purple ones don't taste much like grape to me but that might have been what they were going for. The green ones? I'm thinking sour apple...but they're definitely not the best sour apple candy I've tasted.

In the end, they're a fun treat with decent ingredients. Kids would probably love 'em. I don't think we'll have any problems finishing the bag, but Sonia and I probably wouldn't pick this particular product up again unless we had children coming around for some reason. $3.49 for the 14 oz bag. We'll go with seven out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Spooky Bats & Cats Sour Gummy Candies.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Peach Raspberry Crisp

Peach crisp? With raspberry, you say? I thought we were doing fall stuff this week. Ah, well, there are still a few stragglers from summer slipping through for review. This product is undoubtedly on its way out for the season, but it was still available this past weekend, so...here goes.

At first, I started poking around at the cobbler with my fork wondering where all the fruit was. It seemed mostly just bready crumble and whatnot. But once you get down to the bottom, there's not only some fruit, there are entire peach slices. Yes, there's a raspberry jelly—like a purplish glaze throughout, but I thought the entire thing was fairly peach forward. I mean, there must be an entire can of peaches in light syrup poured into this pan. Of course I don't know if they used canned peaches here. The ingredients just say "peaches," but since they're drowned in all manner of sugar and stuff, they remind me of slices that come canned in that sweet thin sauce.

Sonia thought the overall flavor was more raspberry-ish, despite the raspberries not being as obviously represented in terms of whole fruits floating around in the mixture. I guess raspberries can have a fairly pungent taste that could theoretically overpower peach in a cobbler like this. At any rate, you can taste both fruits and the whole mess is sweet, fruity, and there's plenty of crunch from the wheat and oat based crumble.

It's even better served hot. And it's better still when served hot with vanilla ice cream on top. Or so we assume. We really didn't try it a la mode because we didn't have any ice cream on hand when we tried it. Oh well, there's always next year.

It's an enjoyable dessert that hits that sweet tooth sweet spot nicely and doesn't feel too over-the-top sugary. I mean oats, berries, and peaches are downright healthy, right? It's practically diet food...as long as you don't glance at the added sugars.

$5.49 for the four serving box, found with the baked goods. We might buy Trader Joe's Peach Raspberry Crisp again. We'll both go with eight out of ten stars on this one.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Mini Sheet Cake

And NOW it's time for the pumpkin spice parade to proceed. Sheet cake with cream cheese icing and some pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger doesn't sound too outlandish to me. Sounds like a downright delicious fall flavor, in fact.

And it is. Remember that vanilla bean sheet cake? Of course you do. There's also a lemon one we haven't tried yet. Anyway, it was pretty tasty thanks to the generous amounts of sweet vanilla icing on top. We've got just about that same amount of cream cheese-based frosting here and a very similar soft, moist texture.

The pumpkin spices are nicely blended, not too strong and not too subtle. The pumpkin puree gives the cake a distinctly squash-ish vibe underneath the indulgent dessert flavors. It works the same way pumpkin pie works, but you know, more bready than that, like a classic pumpkin roll except flat instead of cylindrical and swirly. The cream cheese frosting is sweet and tangy, buttery and velvety. There's a generous amount of it on the cake. I thought Sonia would say there's too much, but she raved about it. She and I agree that the overall effect is satisfying, scrumptious, and distinctly autumnal.

$5.49 for the six serving dessert, found with the other baked goods. We would buy Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Mini Sheet Cake again. Eight out of ten stars from me. Perfect ten from Sonia?? I didn't see that coming. Wow.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's All Butter Apple Shortbread Cookies

I'm not sure if it's always been this way since I've only lived in this region for five years or so, but seasons here in the Upper Midwest seem to change from summer to winter in fairly short order, practically skipping over the fall season. Things go from too hot to too cold virtually overnight some time in mid-October. Leaves start changing on some of the trees while it's still warm enough for swimming. Others wait until there's snow on the ground.

For this Pennsylvania boy, it's a bit disorienting. I'm used to autumns that creep up on you week over week, month over month. Usually by this time in mid-September, there's a crispness to the air that signals that it's time for warm cinnamony apple flavors and pumpkin spice desserts. Don't get me wrong, I like it here. The climate is just a little different than what I'm used to. And don't even get me started on the weather in Los Angeles. If there are only three seasons here in the Midwest, there's only one and a half in Southern California.

Even though my sleeveless tank top tells me that it's way too early for this apple shortbread treat, it is indeed that time again—time for the first new fall food review of 2024. If you're new here, please note that most of the "new" autumn products at Trader Joe's are actually seasonal items returning from previous years and the vast majority of them have already been reviewed on this blog. You can find them by thumbing through the Blog Archive in the right side bar or by using the Search This Blog bar near the top of the page.

First thoughts? The box is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It was $3.49 for less than five ounces. These better be some darn good cookies...

...and they're just okay. In our humble opinions, these cookies don't hold a candle to last year's all butter shortbread cookies with raspberry filling. These cookies are harder, crunchier by comparison—not nearly as buttery. Instead of a gelatinous, syrupy fruit filling, they have actual pieces of dried apple baked into them. While I like the idea of flavoring these morsels with real apple bits, there's just not enough apple flavor to make these cookies super memorable.

I can't imagine anybody disliking these cookies to the point of not being able to finish the box, but there have been many more interesting shortbread confections at Trader Joe's throughout the years. We probably would not buy Trader Joe's All Butter Apple Shortbread Cookies again. Seven out of ten stars from Sonia. Six out of ten stars from me.

Bottom line: 6.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Celebration Cake & Baking Mix

It's time to watch my lovely wife bake stuff again! Join us as we mix, heat, eat, and review Trader Joe's Celebration Cake Baking Mix. What are we celebrating, you ask? Another day of life and living...or something like that. And our 15th anniversary isn't too far off, so we'll just go with that.

Sonia doesn't have a big upright mixer so she had to beat the butter for the frosting mix by hand. It took a while. Don't worry, I edited it so there's not like one ten minute long shot of poor Sonia pressing butter down in her bowl over and over and over.

This baking mix requires milk, oil, a couple sticks of butter, and two eggs. The whole process takes about a half hour and the finished product is nice to look at and pretty yummy, too, although we wish there were more sprinkles in the batter.

If you're into birthday cake flavored stuff, also check out: Trader Joe's Celebration Cake Gelato.

We'd buy Trader Joe's Celebration Cake Baking Mix again for a special occasion. $4.99 for the ten serving box.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Oven Dried Red & Yellow Bell Pepper Crisps

In the tradition of other crispy, crunchy veggie snacks that Trader Joe's has offered throughout the years, bell peppers are getting their day in the sun...er, their day in the oven, as it were. If you don't know what I'm talking about, see:

Trader Joe's Contemplates Inner Peas

Trader Joe's Kale Chips

Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Broccoli Florets

Trader Joe's Beet Chips

Trader Joe's Parsnip Chips

Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Okra

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether any of those snacktastic veggies are still available at TJ's or not...

As a standalone snack, these oven dried dealies are definitely not my favorite, despite a general fondness for bell peppers of all colors. They're oddly bitter, crusty, and papery.

Crumbled on top of stuff, however, they're pretty neat. $1.99 for the resealable bag. Product of Turkey. Sonia and I will go with six out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Green Olive Flats

When I first found out Latinos eat "lengua," I was like, "Oh, is it a beef patty shaped like a tongue or something..?" Then I found out it's, you know, like actual cow tongue. So when I saw that these were "lingue crackers," I was like, "Oh no! Please tell me the Italians don't eat crackers made of dried cow tongue!" And sure enough, they don't. These crackers are named after the Italian word for "tongue" simply because of their shape. Phew.

And they're pretty good, you know? They're nothing to write home about in and of themselves, but by that same token, these are the first crackers I've ever tried with olives baked into them. No, wait. Scratch that. These are the second crackers I've tried with olives baked into them. But these are significantly better in my honest opinion.

They're salty and savory with just enough briny olive flavor to keep it interesting. Fancy folks might pair them with expensive creamy cheeses like Brie and exotic charcuterie stuff, but I can confirm they pair well with lowbrow toppings like cheddar or cream cheese. 

We also experimented with Swiss, havarti, and feta, and there's really no wrong answer when it comes to what cheese you should pair these crispy crackers with. They also go great with olives, surprise, surprise—Trader Joe's Garlic & Jalapeño Stuffed Olives worked pretty well.

There's a pleasant crunchiness to these crackers. They might be slightly brittle, but I'd say they're neither too soft nor too hard. They don't shatter the way some other crackers do, and they're thinner than other comparable wheat flats.

$2.99 for 5 servings, which come in a resealable plastic box. Imported from Italy. We would buy Trader Joe's Green Olive Flats Italian Lingue Crackers again. Sonia gives them nine out of ten stars, stating "These are some of the best crackers TJ's has ever put out." I don't disagree. I'll go with eight out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Bacon & Eggs Sweet Gummy Candies

Today, we're looking at a traditional German treat: bacon and egg gummies, bursting with real pork fat and chicken egg flavor! Okay, I'm just kidding. They're fruit flavored. But they really are from Deutschland. Why we're importing gummy candy from Central Europe, I'm not quite sure, but traderjoes.com says the bacon pieces are cherry and the egg pieces are mango. That's just weird, but you know what? It works...kinda.

And not only is there no pork or eggs in the product, there's no gelatin either. We've seen dessert products from Trader Joe's in the past that proudly declared "pork gelatin" in the ingredients, which caused me a significant amount of distress. There's a bit of milk powder in them, so we can't call them vegan, but I'll take a touch of dairy over pig bones any day of the week.

There's a stretchy, squishy, almost sponginess to these gummy candies that makes them fun to chew. They're very smooth and slippery, and they taste unique. Both are bright, sweet-tart, almost citrusy flavors. There's a mild aftertaste, but it's not too overbearing.

I wish these were a single buck instead of two bucks, but somebody's gotta pay for all that marine diesel that ferried these puppies across the Atlantic. Would we buy Trader Joe's Bacon & Eggs Gummies again? I don't think either Sonia or I would really seek them out, but if we found ourselves in the checkout line at TJ's with a hankering for something sweet, I wouldn't completely dismiss the possibility. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia, who would really like to try a super sour version of these candies. Seven out of ten from Nathan, who says "Hey at least they're better than the Peas & Carrots Gummy Candy."

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Rainbow's End Trail Mix Bars

We've really had excellent luck with Trader Joe's products this month. We've only had one or two products that weren't very good or great. After a while, I feel weird giving positive scores to everything and I start to look for a product I can write a negative review about just to break things up a bit. I thought, "Rainbow themed granola trail mix bars? How good could they possibly be?" and I yoinked this product out of the pantry hoping to shaft it and prove to everyone once and for all that we don't work for Trader Joe's and are super duper objective and have all kinds of nasty things to say, at least once in a while.

But dangit if these aren't freaking delicious snack bars. They're kinda like KIND bars but way better tasting and they have little generic M&M things all through them. They're probably not as healthy as KIND bars, but hey, you only live once.

As evidenced by our picture of the product, some of the M&M dealies are smashed up on the outside of the bars. I like them that way. It's like the chocolate is more evenly distributed and they're somehow easier to chew. 

There's plenty of nut flavor from the peanuts and almonds, and the whole conglomeration is held together by agave syrup and a thin layer of dark chocolate. Daddy likey...though milk chocolate would have done just fine if not better.

Looks like you can buy these individually for 99¢ or you can pick up a box of 5 for $4.99. You'd think they could throw you a bone and knock a nickel or a dime off the price if you buy the whole box, but whatevs. Still a decent product. 

Kosher. Would buy again. Apparently TJ's sells a non-bar form of the mix in a bag, and the rainbow reference is a nod to the pathway that connects the human world to Asgard, home of the Norse gods. Buckle up for Ragnarök, kids.

Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Rainbow's End Trail Mix Bars.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Pistachios

Four bucks for a bag of pistachios is a great price. Those things have always been expensive. Throw in the facts that these are already shelled, covered in dark chocolate, and come in a resealable bag and you've got yourself a pretty good deal, value-wise.

And the product tastes great, too. If anything, there's a little too much candy and not enough nut in the equation. As you can see in the photo, there's more dark chocolate than pistachio. The ingredients list testifies the same. Hmmm. Maybe they should have called these Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bites with Pistachio Nut Centers.

Still, there's enough pistachio in there that it's detectable. It almost balances out the chocolate. Both Sonia and I were wanting more nut flavor, but we both agree the dark chocolate works here. Milk chocolate or white chocolate wouldn't have blended quite as well with the pistachios, which were, admittedly, very high quality.

Would we buy Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Pistachios again? Yeah, probably. We could always mix in some plain pistachios to help balance out the nut to chocolate ratio. Let's go with seven out of ten stars from me and eight out of ten from the beautiful wifey.

Bottom line: 7.5 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.

Trader Joe's Coconut Macaroons

As a kid growing up with allergies to wheat and milk, my diet was pretty limited especially when it came to baked goods and cookies. Coconut macaroons were one of the first types of confections I was allowed to have that I actually liked since they consisted of not much more than coconut, egg, and sugar.

My parents would routinely get a brand of individually-wrapped macaroons—the name of which escapes me now—for me to have as a snack or dessert since most other treats were off limits. I ate so many coconut macaroons in those early years that I got quite sick of them. Eventually, I grew out of said allergies and once wheat-based cookies were fair game, I seldom looked back to the macaroon.

$3.79 for about ten fresh-made coconut cookies seemed like a fair deal, and they looked tasty enough, so I decided to take a trip down memory lane and sample this Trader Joe's offering. 

Maybe it's nostalgia talking, but if anything, I'd say these exceeded my expectations. Sonia agrees. She's had some decent coconut macaroons in her day, and she was surprised how fresh and sweet these cookies tasted.

They were very soft and supple. The coconut shavings were the perfect size, too. There was nothing stiff or hard about them. I'm not in the mood for coconut macaroons very often, but if I were, I'd buy this product again.

Found in the baked goods section. Kosher. Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Coconut Macaroons. Sonia will follow suit.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Bubble Waffles

Oh I get it now. They're just pancakes with mochi rice cakes baked into them. That's what the big lumps are. They come from Thailand.

At first, I didn't get it. Why would anybody want waffles with egg-shaped bubbles baked into them? I assumed it was just air or something, or maybe like wads of waffle batter. Mochi makes sense. Did I mention this is a product of Thailand? They apparently love mochi over there.

I've seen social media posts with people rolling these bubble waffles up into cones and putting ice cream in them. That's fun. I also saw an Instagram post where they just plopped a scoop of that amazing horchata ice cream right in the middle of the waffle on a plate in lieu of syrup or whatever. I've actually heard they go great with condensed milk, too.

Anyway, the horchata ice cream and bubble waffle combo is excellent. Butter and syrup works just fine. The regular flat part of these treats is crispy and soft and the mochi part is even softer and slightly chewy, just like a mochi rice cake you'd get at one of those frozen yogurt places as a topping, except here, they're baked right into the batter.

I think the mochi makes these waffles even more filling than regular waffles or pancakes. There's a nice coconut and vanilla sweetness about them that's not over-the-top but lends a moderate comfort food vibe to these breakfast treats that could also serve as a snack or dessert. The smell and taste of the batter is reminiscent of funnel cake in a way.

$4.49 for four bubble waffles. Vegan. Would buy again. Put Sonia down for 9/10 stars on Trader Joe's Bubble Waffles. I'll go with 8/10.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Horchata Ice Cream

I was in college when I'd first heard of horchata. We were at the local burrito place and one of my housemates asked if I wanted to try some.

"What is it?" I asked.
"Mexican rice water," he replied.
"Oh goodness no!" I said with revulsion.

Whoever first described horchata as "Mexican rice water" clearly flunked out of marketing school. It should be described as "a creamy Latin cinnamon sugar beverage," because that's what it is, and it's freaking delicious. Eventually I managed to get over the image of shady cartel members reusing water they'd used to boil filthy grains of rice to resell as a drink, and by the time I married Sonia, I was already enjoying horchata fairly regularly and it became a frequent purchase in our household as well as a fun drink to try at restaurants, parks, and other outings.

And this horchata ice cream is like a top-quality horchata beverage, but frozen. There are little chunks of "horchata flavored cookie pieces" ...!? I don't think horchata cookies are a thing...but I guess they are now. Holy cow. Has Trader Joe's been reading about how I like "stuff" in my ice cream? If any ice cream flavor would have done fine as a smooth, chunkless product, it's this one, but I gotta say the cookie bits only make it that much better.

They're like little pieces of crunchy churros almost. There's lots of 'em, and they're delicious. I might not have minded if they'd thrown in soft churros or soft "horchata cookies," but the crunchy kind works just fine here. They're a little hard to see because they're a similar color as the ice cream base.

The ice cream itself is even better—with the perfect amount of sweetness, creaminess, and cinnamon flavor. It tastes like real horchata and the texture is just about perfect, as well. There's not much in the way of rice flavor, but honestly, even Mexican rice water doesn't taste a whole lot like rice if you ask me.

One of the best desserts I've had in a long time. Even my Latina Trader Joe's cashier raved about it. Put this one in the hallowed halls of the Pantheon. $3.79 well spent. Will purchase again. And again....and again. Kosher. Perfect 10/10 from me. Sonia is down for 10/10 as well on Trader Joe's Horchata Ice Cream.

Bottom line: 10 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Lemon Ginger Cheesecake

While slicing my first piece of this cheesecake, I accidentally cut a bit too shallow in the middle of the dessert, leaving a bite-sized triangle of graham crackery crust all by itself with no lemony cream cheese on top still sitting there near the center of the confection. I made another incision to free the little section of grahamy goodness and popped it into my mouth. There was the expected graham cracker flavor, typical of traditional cheesecake, but there was also an unexpected blast of raw ginger.

Dang, I thought. This has too much ginger flavor. There's no way the lemon can shine through all this ginger. It was like a gingersnap cookie with, if anything, a bit too much raw ginger in the mix. Then I dug my fork into the slice, getting plenty of the creamy lemon layers, and tasted it...

Not only did the sweet-tart lemon outshine the ginger, it nearly eclipsed it completely. Each bite got more and more lemony, with real bits of lemon peel and rich, creamy cheese flavors. By the end of that slice, I'd nearly forgotten the gingery zing of that first bite of crust. I actually found myself wishing for a little more ginger flavor. It was nice to have it in the crust, but I feel like the body of the cheesecake could have used some ginger in order to balance out the lemon...and I'm a big fan of lemon flavored desserts.

The texture was just a tad spongier than I would have preferred, but you tend to get that with frozen cheesecakes. It's difficult to replicate that perfect dense creaminess you get with something fresh from a bakery. And the day-old slices tasted and felt tangibly less fresh than those that we tried immediately after thawing. Still, the cheesecake was thick and smooth and had a pleasant mouthfeel even if it wasn't a flawless representation of true fresh cheesecake.

The real draw here is the sweet and sour lemon zing. It's a nice summer dessert, and even just a small slice is quite satisfying. There are supposedly six servings in the box, but I think you could easily stretch it to eight or more.

$7.99 for the whole cheesecake. I don't think Sonia and I will buy this again just for ourselves, but I'd consider taking this to a group picnic or large gathering in the future. I give Trader Joe's Lemon Ginger Cheesecake 7/10 stars. Sonia will go with 8/10.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Savory Squares

Ah, nice. New crackers. Might as well try 'em. Kosher. Vegan. Gluten free, too, eh? Must be rice-based or something like that. Wait. Nut and seed flour? Tapioca, almond, sunflower seed, flaxseed, and potato-based?? Now this I gotta taste. To be honest, I'm a bit skeptical, but there's no way we're not trying these immediately.

From the moment you open the bag, there's an interesting smell. It's nutty, I'd say...not very cheesy to be honest...and definitely not like your ordinary wheat-based cracker. And the taste? I'm glad I went in with zero expectations, because I think I would have been disappointed if I had been craving a traditional Cheez-It type cracker. I mean, sure, it's an obvious comparison, but I don't find these fascinating alternative crackers to be a substitution for the classic wheat and cheese-based snack. 

I wouldn't say they're better than Cheez-Its. I wouldn't really say they're worse, either. They're just...different. I'm quite puzzled by these other reactions online that say these are "100% a dupe for a Cheez-It." I strongly disagree with that assertion.

These are like wannabe Cheez-Its from a health food store. I grew up with a wheat allergy when I was young. This tastes like the weird, expensive stuff my parents would give me to make me think I wasn't missing out on anything. When my friends would sneak me a taste of the real deal, I knew I was missing out on something.

As I got older, however, items with that health food store kinda vibe really grew on me. As a young adult without access to a Trader Joe's, I found myself craving that alternative stuff but actually buying the name brand wheat-based products simply because they were cheaper and easier to find in regular grocery stores. Now I'm middle-aged and I can buy original Cheez-Its or their alternative flour counterparts whenever I want to.

I'm not usually in the mood for cheesy crackers, but if I got a craving, I'd probably just get traditional Cheez-Its three quarters of the time and something like Trader Joe's Savory Squares the other quarter. Sonia doesn't like the aftertaste of these crackers. She thinks they're a little too bitter. She also thinks the texture is too hard and dense as compared to Cheez-Its and other wheat-based crackers.

$3.99 for the five serving box. I appreciate these crackers for their unique ingredients and pleasant crunchy texture but I don't think they're really my thing in the end. Six out of ten stars from me. Sonia will go with six out of ten as well for Trader Joe's Savory Squares. Let us know what you think of this product down in the comments, particularly if you're on a vegan or gluten-free diet.

Bottom line: 6 out of 10.