Trader Joe’s has to be my favorite store. I have to say the atmosphere of Trader Joe’s in the springtime is unmatched. From the beautiful tulips right at the front, to all the end caps covered in floral art, I feel like I’ve been transported to the spring even though the weather says otherwise. On my most recent trip, I looked for their new springtime and items with the “new item” label to try and see if some of them lived up to the cute packaging that they have.

Springle Jangle – 9/10
This item is immaculate. When I tell you my jaw dropped when I saw this on the shelf. I think this take on the holiday Jingle Jangle is so much better. The yogurt pretzels are the perfect amount of sweet, the mini dark and milk peanut butter cups are the perfect size and the little chocolate candies and bark is amazing. The one downside to this mix is the toffee peanuts; they’re very crunchy and I felt that I might break a tooth, so they wouldn’t be missed in this mix. However, besides the tooth-breaking nuts, this spring mix is a 9/10.

Easter Joe-Joe’s – 6/10
The packaging for this is absolutely adorable. When I tell you I walked into my Trader Joes and saw these on the end cap I just knew I needed them because of the packaging. These Joe-Joe’s are just like the normal Joe-Joe’s but they are covered in chocolate with spring and Easter sprinkles. If you don’t know what a Joe-Joe is or haven’t tried them before I wouldn’t start with these, the sprinkles are very, and I mean very crunchy, which does take away from the first-time Joe-Joe experience. Overall these cookies might be cute to bring to a spring event, they weren’t the best in the taste department, so they get a 6/10.

Piquant Popcorn – 7/10
While this isn’t completely a spring item, it’s new on the shelves. I do think popcorn shouldn’t be changed with onion and garlic, it was surprisingly good. The nutritional yeast made this popcorn very, and I mean very cheesy, which was a nice taste making me want to keep snacking. While I did taste the garlic slightly, I didn’t taste the onion and didn’t get the saltiness of popcorn that I love and was promised on the packaging. The aftertaste after sometime did taste of burnt popcorn which wasn’t too pleasant, however, that didn’t stop me from eating a sizable amount of it. So with that this fun cheesy popcorn gets a 7/10.

Italian Chocolate Eggs – 5/10
What a cute little box these eggs are in. But honestly that’s where the praise ends. While all the eggs were so cute and the colors were so pretty. The four flavors: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, hazelnut and coffee all tasted the same. The hazelnut tasted like milk chocolate trying to be a nut but it unfortunately gave up and the coffee egg tasted like coffee with way too much milk. That being said, the coffee one was the only egg that had a slightly different taste than just milk chocolate. But that taste was awful. Honestly if they were all milk chocolate then my rating would be a seven because milk chocolate isn’t bad but as a group of four different chocolates they get a 5/10.

Bunny Bar – 5/10
This packaging was so cute, all the flowers and the blue color was just darling. The bunny shape is cute and the idea of being able to break apart the bunny and share is a good concept but I would end up eating it all. As a chocolate bunny goes this is better than your run of the milk chocolate hare, however, it’s nothing more than a chocolate bar covered in sprinkles which doesn’t add anything in terms of flavor it just adds sweetness. I couldn’t really taste the caramel bits and the white chocolate drizzle on top was very aesthetically pleasing but didn’t add much in the flavor department. This very sweet chocolate bar gets a 5/10.

Sparkling Pink Lemonade – 3/10
The color of this lemonade is gorgeous and it has a great smell as well as a good amount of carbonation. However, that’s where the praise comes to an unfortunate end. I was expecting a fizzy light pink lemonade, however, I was met with a drink that tasted heavily processed and didn’t taste like pink lemonade at all but instead tasted how I imagined battery acid would taste mixed with a poorly done sparkling water. While the bottle is very cute and would look very nice on a picnic spread, I wouldn’t open it and drink it. Because of that I give it a 3/10.

Thick, Bold, and Spicy Red Sauce – 9/10
This sauce was pretty good. It smelled and tasted like a richer version of vodka sauce which has been all the rave recently. It has a nice spice that isn’t overpowering. However, if you don’t like spicy food then this isn’t for you because it’s not mild per say, but not blow your mouth off. The thicker pieces of tomato are lovely and add a nice texture to the sauce. Overall this sauce lived up to its name perfectly. It was a nice balance of spicy up front and then on the back end a nice taste of tomato and cream making it not unbearable. This spicy tomato sauce gets an 9/10.

Seville Orange Marmalade – 10/10
As someone who doesn’t like orange flavor things and marmalade this blew my socks off. Like seriously Trader Joe’s really I mean really out did themselves with this spread. The orange taste is amazing and isn’t hidden at all which can happen sometimes with sub-par marmalade, but this is well above sub-par. The pieces of orange taste real and don’t carry a processed taste in the slightest. This fruit spread has made my daily rotation of spreads and I’m so happy about it. Honestly this has to be the best food I tried on my trip. Because of that this exceptional marmalade gets a 10/10.

Homestyle Chicken Salad – 5/10
This was sub-par, not the best but not the worst chicken salad I’ve ever had. The chicken pieces are large which is nice from a value standpoint but it makes it taste like you’re just eating chicken with a little bit of carrot and mayo. The chicken salad is lacking flavor which they make up for with the large amount of pepper they included. As someone who loves to add pepper to food I have to say this chicken salad went overboard significantly. There was too much pepper to the point that it took away from the actual chicken, and on bread didn’t even get me started. The pieces of chicken were so big that they kept falling out of my sandwich. On its own as a snack it’s not bad at all but it’s not a great sandwich filling. I think Trader Joe’s has made better chicken salads in the past and I think this one shouldn’t be on the same level as the Wine Country Chicken Salad which is amazing. This thick and peppery chicken salad gets 5/10.

Crispy Oatmeal Cookies with Sea Salt – 8/10
These cookies are very good and the perfect size. They aren’t really sweet and you can taste the sea salt which is nice because you could pair these with savory items like cheese but then also dip them in chocolate for a sweeter taste. I think these should be marketed as an ingredient rather than a snack since they are so versatile. However, I could see myself eating these by themselves and maybe crushing them over ice cream. These cookies are tiny which is nice and are perfectly crunchy, the sea salt does offer a different taste than one you would get from your average run of the mill oatmeal cookie which makes these feel sophisticated and for me the perfect springtime treat. These tiny simple cookies are an 8/10.