Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Macarons

A few days ago, I had a pumpkin macaron from a little French place, and it was delicious. I wasn’t sure how frozen macarons would add up, but I think the TJ’s macarons are great. Considering that it is easier to go to Trader Joe’s than to find a bakery with good macarons, I think these cookies are worth a try.

Just let the cookies defrost under a paper towel for about 30 minutes before devouring the fluffy little clouds of goodness.

The texture of the cookie is not what I expect from a macaron because it’s missing the chewy meringue texture. The cookie has an egg-shell crust, but the interior is soft and smooth, not slightly chewy. The filling tastes exactly like pumpkin and spice – delicious pumpkin pie. I would say that the pumpkin flavor is stronger than the spice flavor, which I LOVE.

The flavor more than makes up for the lack of perfect texture. Trader Joe’s pumpkin macarons get 5/5 from me, but if meringue texture is what you want, find a bakery.

Pumpkin Cheesecake cookies

1/5

These cookies were an exciting find: Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Cheesecake Soft Dessert Cookies. The cookies smell wonderful - like a mix of creamy cheesecake and spicy pumpkin pie.

 

They taste like salt mixed with oil. The texture is simultaneously floury and greasy, probably because they are soft cookies so a lot of extra partially hydrogenated whatever is added for the pleasing fresh-baked texture. The faint spice flavor is overwhelmed by caustic saltiness. My husband and I each ate half a cookie before throwing the entire package in the garbage.

I’ve read favorable reviews for this cookie, and others seem to like the flavor and texture. All those people can have my trash cookies.

My next goal is to find these Pumpkin Macarons from TJs. I was just wondering if my kitchen skills could accommodate macarons/macaroons. Now I don’t even have to try.

Review: Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights

This box of Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights caught my eye at the grocery store. There were several Little Debbie treats on the bottom shelf in the seasonal aisle; I chose these because they were the only snacks that contained actual pumpkin puree.

I'll admit to having never had a Little Debbie snack before. These are "filled soft cookies" with a jack-o-lantern face. Each cookie is individually wrapped, 150 calories.


The cookies are cute - especially if you like things that appear cute, but are actually terribly evil. These cookies look evil. The too-wide smile is a sure sign of insanity.


You eat me, I eat your SOUL.

The cookies are quite flat and they smell like apple pie. The bite is soft; I would liken them to a very moist, dense fig newton. They don't have a strong pumpkin flavor, but they are nice enough. After the initial cookie flavor, they're overwhelmingly sweet, and then overwhelmingly salty. I remember caramel and cinnamon being the strongest flavors.

Overall, the Pumpkin Delights were fine for midnight munchies, but if I'm in the mood for this type of cookie again, I'll probably just buy some fig newtons.

3/5