Trader Joe’s Newest Groceries Are Perfectly Fall, Without Any of that Pumpkin Spice Nonsense

I spent my week popping into every Trader Joe’s in New York City in attempts to find their new Cinnamon Bun Spread. (I WILL get my hands on a jar and I WILL review it for you guys, so stay tuned!) I haven’t been able to find it just yet, but I have been finding all sorts of other new items. Most of them are fall-themed and NONE of them are pumpkin spice (react to that as you will).

I picked up a bunch of new Trader Joe’s groceries and held a mini taste test with some friends. Here’s what we thought of everything.

These reminded us of Entenmann’s doughnuts — but a little bigger. The glaze is only on the top and sides (and that’s a good thing, because things would get WAY too sweet if it went all the way around). We loved that it’s a cruller instead of just a regular doughnut (more surface area for the glaze!). While the rest of the world seems to be all about apple cider doughnuts, we welcome this chocolatey option.

Just from looking at these, we predicted that they’d taste like Pringles. Upon eating them, we decided they’re more like flat veggie sticks. The shapes couldn’t be cuter (and shockingly, most the chips came out of the bag still intact!) and we’re sure they’d hold up well against a dip. Even a spinach and artichoke one.

Speaking of fun shapes! These chips are gorgeous and can totally double as a table decoration (okay, maybe not, but they’d look great in a bowl!). They taste like regular tortilla chips but are oh-so-festive.

These tortilla chips do NOT taste like regular tortilla chips. Texture-wise, they’re the same. But they smell like sweet pancakes and taste very pumpkin-y. Makes sense, considering they’re made with pumpkin purée — and pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, and nutmeg. We tried dipping them in the Fall Harvest Salsa (see below) only to learn it’s not a good match. These really need to be in some sort of cream cheese dip to balance the flavors.

We were pleasantly surprised to learn that this salsa isn’t too fall-y. Despite its pumpkin purée-like consistency, it really is more like regular salsa. It’s got pumpkin, apples, and butternut squash — and the flavor of a regular red salsa. Pair a jar of this with the leaf-shaped tortilla chips.

If you like coconut, you’ll love this whipped topping! Made with real coconut cream, it looks just like regular whipped cream and then has a coconut-y kick at the end. It’d be great with a big bowl of strawberries or on a thick piece of angel food cake.

A good back-to-school lunch box treat, these fruit snacks are organic and contain real fruit juice concentrate. And they come in six fun animal shapes. They’re not as gummy as the fruit snacks we had as kids, but they’re super juicy.

These are, indeed, super sour. And this is coming from a crew who loves Sour Patch Kids. Tough it out through the sour-ness, though, and you get that sweet gummy center. There’s nothing that screams “fall” about these ocean-inspired gummies, but we feel like these are classics and can be enjoyed year-round.

Our first concern, when we opened this package, was that it would last way beyond fall and it’d be weird to use pumpkin bath products in, say, January. But honestly, it doesn’t smell like pumpkin at all. It smells more like … wait for it … ambrosia salad! Like marshmallow and berries. And we loved it. It’s super thick, goes on cleanly (read: not oily), and the scent fades relatively quickly, so you’re not smelling like a tween all day.

How many of these have you tried? What’d you think?