As fall has turned the corner, our favorite local bazaar Trader Joe’s has introduced their new fall lineup. From pumpkin spice to apple cinnamon, they’ve curated a collection of classic flavors mixed with modern bites. I took a trip to the cult grocery store to try all of the new fall items they have dropped over the last few weeks. Perfect for a festive gathering or an end of the year, burnt-out pick me up, these are the top fall products to look out for this year.
5. Sliced Pumpkin Sourdough Bread
The Sliced Pumpkin Sourdough Bread is a surprising one. Sourdough bread is traditionally a savory base for meals, so combining it with sweet pumpkin is bold. However, it was actually very good. It tastes exactly as advertised, a wholesome sourdough with subtle notes of pumpkin and other spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. It has a balance of sourdough’s chewiness and savory flavor with pumpkin emanating through each bite.
The bread is also high-quality, with pumpkin being the third ingredient after flour and water without any additives or fillers. Enjoy it alone, toasted with the new Pumpkin Butter on top, or as an accessory with a fall cheese board.
4. Glazed Pumpkin Pie Spice Donut Holes
It’s hard to put down the Glazed Pumpkin Pie Spice Donut Holes once you start. The inside has cakey give with a wonderfully soft mouthfeel, while the outside glaze is perfectly moist. They’re super easy to pop into your mouth one after another, with the exuberant pumpkiny sweetness ending with the more nuanced pumpkin spice at the end.
These bites are inclusive for many snackers, being gluten and dairy free, with Trader Joe’s noting that the unique blend of tapioca starch, rice flour, and corn starch making up its base is what contributes to the cakiness of these donut holes. They are a perfect on-the-go snack or can be used to adorn other desserts, such as ice cream.
3. Apple Pie a la Mode Ice Cream
Speaking of ice cream, the Apple Pie a la Mode Ice Cream is up next. It takes the base of Trader Joe’s vanilla bean ice cream, then adds pieces of sweetened and cooked apples, pie crust, and cinnamon apple swirl to top it off. Before even tasting it, the glorious aria of vanilla bean and spices will scintillate your olfactory system, as the delectable flavors then serenade your tongue in a sweet symphony of vanilla and apple.
Trader Joe’s is always reliable with quality, as the first ingredients listed are cream and milk — as they should be — a scarily rare first ingredient listed on the nutrition label of many so-called “ice creams” on the shelves these days. If you’re unaware, the first ingredient on the label takes up the highest percentage of the item, meaning that you want the most real and wholesome ones first. This ice cream is excellent alone or in combination with the warmed up Pumpkin & Spice Caramel Sauce.
2. Pumpkin & Spice Caramel Sauce
The Pumpkin & Spice Caramel Sauce is an unexpected victor here. It’s incredibly versatile, being applicable on any of your favorite desserts, pastries, or others. You can heat it to make it ooze over ice cream, chill it to make it thicker, infuse it into coffee, or eat straight out of the jar on the go (no judgement).
It has a very pronounced profile of fall spices inside of it, making you viscerally utter “ooooh” the first time you try it. It’s the perfect way to “spice” up a dessert or snack with something more than just caramel.
Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mentions go to the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Croissants, Apple Crisp Milk Chocolate Caramels, and the Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini Wine Cocktail.
The Pumpkin Cream Cheese Croissants are irresistibly decadent, with a sinfully buttery crust accented by the wonderful pumpkin cream cheese. The cashier recommended I warm these up to enjoy them at their best, and I can only reciprocate that recommendation tenfold — it elevates this pastry to another level.
The Apple Crisp Milk Chocolate Caramels are so exciting because they strongly encapsulate a strongly underrated fall dessert in the apple crisp. The combination of staggeringly sweet apple cinnamon caramel inlaid with crunchy bits really does the real apple crisp justice, all packed into the form of a little chocolate morsel.
The Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini Wine Cocktail is a wine infused with espresso and the classic fall combination of pumpkin, clove, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The wine is light and crisp, with a pronounced body of spices and that punch of espresso you’d expect. It provides a suave feeling of bliss when tasted in combination with the other items here, giving you the relaxing fall night you need.
1. Apple Cider Donuts
The Apple Cider Donuts are Trader Joe’s magnum opus for the fall season. Trader Joe’s acquires them from a “a family-owned bakery based in Western Massachusetts” that uses real apple cider in the process, which results in the moist yet fluffy and cakey texture of the donuts.
They’re the perfect donuts, with a good bite and subtle flavors of both bitter and creamy tanginess coming after the sweet barrage of apple cider on your tastebuds. Each bite leads with the cinnamon outside’s crunch before yielding to the richness of the pillowy interior. Have them with your morning coffee, after lunch, or for dessert after a long day — you don’t need an excuse to have these at any moment.