Review & Release Histories of Trader Joe’s Foods, Snacks, Treats, Cookies, and Candies

These remind me of a Snickers or, at the very least, a long-distant cousin!

They’re pretty dense from the nougat and thick, solid caramel, making them a smidge difficult to easily bite right through. If I had to compare them directly to Snickers, they lack the robust peanut butter flavor, as the peanuts here are less abundant and smaller, and the candy bar itself has a similar-ish texture to your typical Snickers. Aside from that, they are also less sweet, and the caramel isn’t as strong, either. Overall, they’re tasty; however, at the same time, they’re kind of unimpressive.

I feel like if you had a machine make a generic candy bar, this would be an option. It’s decently sweet, the chocolate is regular chocolate, and the nougat, caramel, and peanuts aren’t too strong. Together, it’s a good combination, but if you want something sweeter or more standoutish, this isn’t the candy bar you should go for (or just go for a Snickers instead). In a way, it’s the long-distant cousin of a Snickers, and frankly, I’d rather just hang out with them instead.

The last thing I want to mention—yes, these are small and cute!

Released January 2025. Found June 2025.

First off, these are relatively small-sized and are annoyingly individually wrapped in thick, difficult-to-open packaging. That aside…

These are Rice Krispie Treats but much, much more premium. For example, have you ever seen those fancy Rice Krispie bars in stores or bakeries that fetch a pretty penny? These are those!

They’re thick, chunky, and yet, soft enough to appreciate as you chew through them. The flavors are there, with mild to moderate and equally balanced chocolate and peanut butter tastes. Comparing them again to a Rice Krispie Treat, they’re less sweet and less artificial in terms of both taste and texture. They are inoffensive and a pleasant treat to eat, even if you aren’t the biggest fan of peanut butter.

Released May 2023. Found June 2025.

“Ooooh, I taste a pleasantly sweet, cool honey flavor… oh… there’s the kick! Wow, it’s quite spicy!”

That more or less describes my experience. The honey is mildly sweet, and then you’re hit with a more overpowering spiciness. It’s an interesting combination, and it actually almost works, albeit, even as someone who appreciates a nice punchy kick, it does overshadow the sweet side too much. It’s tolerable, but honestly, I’d either like them to dial down the spiciness or maybe get rid of it entirely because, after all, that honey flavor is wonderful!

In terms of its texture, it’s your average artificially put-together boxed fudge: soft, just a hint of chew, somewhat on the thinner side for fudge but still adequately dense, and definitely not homemade. The opposite is my criticism, too: it needs a little more chew and density, in my opinion, to bring it up a level.

In summary, I’m glad I tried it, but I wouldn’t buy it again, as I didn’t find them particularly enjoyable.

Released in June 2025. Found June 2025.

These taste and feel more or less like authentic s’mores. A small marshmallow sits on top of a mini graham cracker, and all of that is covered in a moderately sweet, regular milk-tasting chocolate shell.

You might think these should be sweeter than regular S’mores, but despite being in candy form, the sweetness and flavor fall directly in line with S’mores, well, because it is S’mores, literally. Nothing is added or taken away.

Overall, it’s a premade s’more that comes across slightly softer as the graham cracker isn’t as crunchy as one straight from the box. Nothing to write home about, honestly; you’d likely feel more fulfilled making your own s’more.

First released in 2023, they’ve come back around since. Found June 2025.

Yup, yup… not for me. The root beer is very bold and extremely prominent, and personally, I’m just not a fan. Yes, it’s because I’m not a big root beer fan, so if you are, I think you’ll absolutely love these.

This root beer-flavored chocolate(?) shell wraps a small, crunchy mini cookie, but who cares about the cookie because the root beer overpowers any flavor it might have? Really, it tastes like you’re eating a lightly crunchy root beer treat, nothing more, nothing less. The sweetness and flavor match root beer soda identically. At the very least, the small addition of the popping candy was okay.

Released around May 2025. Found June 2025.

Such an absolute, glorious mess. Dark chocolate, thick caramel, and cookie clusters all combine to form an interesting texture and multiple different flavors. The sweetness is tame and just enough, and the flavors from everything are perfectly in sync. Dark chocolate: perfect. Caramel: not too sweet or artificial. Cookie pieces: crunchy and chocolatey.

Released around February 2024. Exclusive to Trader Joe’s. Found March 2024.

One of the cheaper gingerbread house kits I’ve found, and it even looks less fake and more premium! I especially love how it comes with little edible figures, too. HOWEVER! This requires an egg white and lemon juice or white vinegar for the piping icing.

Unlike other gingerbread house kits, these are actually chewy, semi-sweet, and have a subtle ginger flavor. The icing you make is too liquidy of a consistency to decorate or build with, and frankly, it tastes odd. It’s like powdered sugar and water mixed together; it just isn’t good. The candies that come with it look nice but also lack any sweetness or flavor. Overall, this kit looks nice but is bland and impossible to construct.

I’m not sure when this was released, but reviews date back to many years ago. Found December 2023.

Very sweet and noticeable but light maple flavor. The flavor itself is mostly super sweet sugar, which kind of overrides the maple flavor. The texture is crumbly compared to regular fudge, and it isn’t as chewy either. It’s still relatively soft, though; it just falls apart a bit more.

Released September 2023, likely for a limited time. Found September 2023.

The three twists have different hardness, but each one is still fairly soft, thick, and easy to bite through. The mango is the softest, while the raspberry is the hardest, and the green apple is in the middle. The flavors are very light and semi-sweet. Each flavor, while slightly different, isn’t really discernible. If you gave me a mango one, for example, I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint its flavor. Compared to Twizzlers and other licorice, these taste much more premium, are softer, less chewy, and present a more pleasant experience both in terms of eating and taste.

I’m not sure when this was released, although reviews date back to around mid-2023. Found August 2023.

A semi-dark chocolate wraps a fairly sweet, soft peanut butter inside. It’s not as sweet as candies like Reese’s, although it’s still sweeter. Overall, it is a mostly standard-tasting peanut butter cup with chocolate on the darker side.

Likely released sometime in 2021. Found August 2023.