I just love Trader Joe’s, but Trader Joe’s during the holiday season is just next level. There’s something about the atmosphere that they set up that puts me into the holiday spirit. With finals week in full swing I needed a holiday pick-me-up so I headed to Trader Joe’s to review some of the best and maybe worst holiday items to get me out of the finals spirit and into the holiday one.

Peppermint Joe-Joe’s -10/10
These are just fabulous. It’s like an Oreo but because it’s Trader Joe’s it’s just better. They take this sandwich cookie and dip it into dark chocolate and then cover it with crushed candy canes. There’s something about the cookie combined with the smooth frosting then dipped in chocolate and smothered in peppermint pieces that really gets me into the holiday spirit. There are cookies that I reach for day after day. I just love them. This delightful treat gets a whooping 10/10.

Sparkling Pomegranate Punch Water – 7/10
This is delightful. The perfect blend of tang and sweetest making this a can’t miss sparkling water. The can is the perfect size making it worth the price for four cans. The water is red which makes sense but threw me off at first since most sparkling water is normally clear. The water itself has the perfect amount of carbonation that isn’t overpowering the flavor of the sparkling water. There’s a distant pomegranate taste that is balanced by the pineapple juice and orange juice that’s in the water. There’s a little spicy taste coming from the ginger juice which isn’t the most enjoyable aftertaste, however, it’s manageable. I think these are a holiday success making it a 7/10.

Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies – 8/10
A pretty solid gingerbread cookie. It has a nice balance of sweet and that spicy snap that you look for in good gingerbread. While the icing doesn’t add much flavor it adds some much needed sweetness to the very savory cookie. The size of the box is perfect and I felt that I wasn’t getting skimped on the amount of cookies. On top of that, these cookies are the perfect size, not too large but not too mini. Something to note, these cookies are very soft, they are not a crunchy cookie, which threw me off at first because I missed the nice snap of a traditional gingerbread cookie, the icing definitely softened them up significantly. These cookies definitely belong on Santa’s plate giving them a 8/10.

Peppermint Marshmallows – 10/10
I knew these would be good when the employee started raving about them when I was checking out. These marshmallows are peppermint flavored which are dipped in chocolate and then covered in crash candy cane pieces. These sweet airy bites offered an enjoyable chocolate favor with a hint of peppermint. It’s too overpowering which is very nice. On top of that, these marshmallows are the perfect size, a little smaller than your average marshmallow making them the perfect winter sweet treat. The peppermint marshmallows are perfect balls of joy, they get a 10/10

French Onion Popcorn – 0/10
While this isn’t a classic winter treat, french onion soup is a superior winer soup, but this popcorn is a holiday don’t. It’s awful, while it smells good the popcorn tastes stale and has a very weird salty aftertaste that made me want to stop eating it immediately. If you’re looking for a treat to enjoy that tastes like your favorite oniony soup this isn’t the treat, while the bag shows french onion soup it’s far from it tasting like an odd blend of seasonings making me think that whoever created it has never had french onion soup before, making this popcorn get a 0/10.

Jingle Jangle – 9/10
This is a wonderful snack mix with a wide variety of chocolate covered sweet treats. With popcorn, cookie bark, mini peanut butter cups, and tiny chocolate covered candies, this snack mix is the perfect chocolatey snack to munch on while decorating for the holidays. With both big tins and tiny bags Trader Joe’s offers a wide variety of ways to enjoy these treats. Overall I loved this delightful treat, so it gets a 9/10.

Unexpected Cheddar Holiday Blend – 6/10
If you’ve had the unexpected cheddar before, it’s a wonderful creamy cheese spread with a mild cheddar taste. While this holiday blend version threw me off with the massive hunks of cranberries; the taste is actually delightful. The mix of the sweet cranberries and savory cheese adds a wonderful contrast that tastes amazing on some Trader Joe’s crackers. The only downside to this spread is how thick it is. Due to the coldness of the cheese it can be hard to spread on a cracker, I would recommend letting it sit out for a few minutes before serving it to your guests. I would rate this unexpectedly good spread a 6/10.

Non-dairy Oat Creamer Gingerbread Flavored – 9/10
This is amazing. It’s the perfect thickness which can sometimes be hard with a non-dairy creamer, and the gingerbread flavor pairs perfectly with a dark roast coffee. This creamer has hints of ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove allowing it to embody your favorite gingerbread cookie perfectly. This definitely has made it into my coffee creamer rotation, so with that this creamer gets a 9/10.