3 Not-to-Be-Missed Trader Joe’s Groceries That Just Hit Stores, According to a Former Employee

Seemingly overnight, I’ve grown a serious sweet tooth. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not mad about it. My snack selection has never been more legendary, and it’s really not so bad to be this prepared for a midnight snack or movie-watching night with friends, knowing you have a sweet nosh to suit everyone’s own particular sweet tooth.

Of course, I blame Trader Joe’s for basically turning me into one of those people that has a sassy throw pillow with something like “a balanced diet is a cookie in both hands” embroidered on it. When the selection — cookies, ice cream, and wildly good sweet-salty inventions — is this good, life gets sweeter in more ways than one. And this week’s shop was beyond sweet. So what new items ended up in my basket this week? Let’s take a look.

I don’t have the science to back this up, but adorably tiny food always manages to be even more delicious than their full-sized counterparts. These seasonal mini cones are a perfect example of this rule. No matter how you take your morning coffee, these coffee ice cream-filled cones pack a robust coffee flavor that’s nicely balanced by a chocolate-laced chocolate cone and then topped with (wait for it) more chocolate coating. 

Admittedly, these cones basically sell themselves. Just do yourself a huge favor and get these before they’re gone for the season. I truly believe we were given two hands for a reason: to easily hold two (minimum) of these delectable cones. 

If I was a magician, these salty-sweet pretzel slims would 100% be a part of my disappearing act. Perhaps I am, because my bag of Cookies & Cream Pretzel Slims seemingly poofed into thin air over the weekend. It’s easy to see why. 

Each crunchy pretzel slim is enrobed in a creamy Joe-Joe’s cookie crumble-studded coating and then drizzled with dark chocolate. The space you had in your heart for those holiday-time Peppermint Pretzel Slims can be filled once more with this spring upgrade. Dip them in chocolate hummus, toss them in a trail mix, or crumble them into a Cowboy cookie, you’ll find you really can’t go wrong with keeping a bag of these around. 

It’s such a relief that one doesn’t have to wait until winter for that legendary box of Astounding Multi-Flavored Joe-Joe’s to get a literal mouthful of those upgraded Joe-Joe’s. And thankfully, these individual roll-outs of Joe-Joe’s have gone beyond the classic flavors — most notably, these Coffee & Dark Chocolate Joe-Joe’s. If you’ve ever fantasized what it would be like to have Trader Joe’s Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans crossed with an Oreo, well, your dream has come true. 

Be warned: These babies are strong. That coffee flavor is not holding back, as each chocolate cookie is sandwiched around a thick layer of coffee cream, and then dipped in a chocolate-coffee coating. It really, truly tastes like a shot of espresso and these would be beyond ideal for layering into an icebox cake, folding into vanilla ice cream, and yes, maybe even deep-frying (or air-frying) State Fair-style.

Have you spotted these newbies at your Trader Joe’s? Tell us about it in the comments.