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.
This is about the tenth style of hummus we've reviewed from Trader Joe's throughout the years. I won't bore you with a recap of each one. Just head to our blog and type "hummus" into the search bar if you're interested.
I'd say this variety falls squarely in the middle of the pack for me, personally. I like the hummus element. Pretty standard. Whirled chickpeas and tahini for the win.
The tapenade portion of the product is very briny. I mean, yeah, many olives come packed in salt water, so a bit of brininess is to be expected, but this seemed a tad excessive to me. Not a dealbreaker. I like a good bit of sodium in my diet, and if you mix equal parts hummus with tapenade in every bite, you can effectively mitigate the brine factor.
Sonia is a fan of the combo. The saltiness didn't bother her much. She's very much into anything Mediterranean these days. I think it would be ideal with fresh bruschetta, but we enjoyed it with the random types of bread products we had lying around the house—pita, naan, and even just water crackers.
$3.49 in the refrigerated section. Kosher. Sonia would buy it again and I wouldn't stop her unless there were some newfangled hummus that looked more interesting on our next Trader Joe's run. Sonia will throw out seven and a half out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Olive Tapenade Hummus. I'll go with seven out of ten.
Let's kick the new year off right...by reviewing a seasonal product that's already done for the year! But seriously, this product was one of the highlights of our holiday goodies at the end of 2024, so let's cross our fingers this one comes back again for the fall/holiday season of 2025.
We've got built-in portion control with the tiny pies. While it's within the realm of possibility that you'd eat the whole box in one sitting, at least you're given a few chances to reconsider before you've polished off the entire package and left none for your friends and family and made yourself public enemy number one at those big holiday gatherings.
The brown sugar sweetness and nuttiness blend well with the wheat flour. There's just enough cinnamon and spices to keep it interesting. We really don't have much to say other than the fact that these are much more scrumptious than we expected them to be.
They tasted fresh and flavorful, especially after a few seconds in the microwave. A dollop of whipped cream didn't hurt, either. But consuming them at room temperature without fixings of any kind is perfectly viable as well.
We would absolutely buy again next year. You might get lucky and find a straggler at your local TJ's, but I'm pretty sure they're done for the season. $4.99 for four little pies. Nine out of ten stars from Sonia for Trader Joe's Teeny Tiny Pecan Pies. I'll go with eight and a half.
