We tried 9 of Trader Joe's Halloween-themed foods, and we'd buy at least 4 of them again
Talia Lakritz,Erin McDowell,Melissa Wells
- Three Insider reporters on two coasts tried every Halloween-themed item at Trader Joe's.
- The Chocolate Mousse Pumpkins were our favorite, followed by the Wicked Good Mini Chocolate Bars.
Nobody does seasonal treats quite like Trader Joe's.
Three Insider reporters — two based in New York and one based in California — tried every spooky, Halloween-themed item we could find at our local Trader Joe's stores and ranked them from worst to best.
We ended up trying nine items, from the chain's signature Joe Joe's to bags of trick-or-treating candy and a haunted-house cookie-decorating kit.
Here's every Halloween-themed item at Trader Joe's, ranked from worst to best.
Trader Joes' Halloween Gummies would be great to hand out for trick-or-treating, but none of us loved the flavors. We ranked them last.
Each of the 20 individually wrapped packets featured nine bat- and skeleton-shaped gummy candies, which we thought was a bargain for $4.49.
We agreed that while these gummies would be great to pass out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween, we wouldn't buy them for ourselves.
Insider correspondent Talia Lakritz thought the gummies were a little sickly sweet, while reporter Erin McDowell thought they were simply a little bland. They tasted like every other brand of gummies on grocery-store shelves — nothing more, nothing less.
The Howling Gourds pumpkin ale, which was only available on the West Coast, was overly sour, in our opinion.
Insider fellow Melissa Wells purchased the six-pack of pumpkin ale for $7.99.
Wells felt the ale's pumpkin-spice flavor left a bad taste in her mouth.
It's worth noting that Wells is not a regular beer drinker — still, she wanted to give this themed drink a try.
Unfortunately, while the pumpkin ale looked enticing, she thought its modest pumpkin flavor was overpowered by too many added spices to make it enjoyable.
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, we sipped on Warlock Imperial Pumpkin Stout from Southern Tier Brewing Company based in Lakewood, New York.
A single bottle of Warlock Imperial Pumpkin Stout costs $3.75 at Trader Joe's.
We could see ourselves drinking this at a fall brewery, even though it was a tad bitter for our tastes.
Lakritz enjoyed the pumpkin-spice flavor, despite the bitterness. McDowell said she "wouldn't be mad" about drinking the pumpkin-flavored beer during a fall outing to a vineyard or brewery.
It's also worth noting that both of the beers we tried were at room-temperature. If they were colder, that could definitely have swayed our ranking in a more positive direction.
In sixth place, we thought the Haunted House Chocolate Cookie Kit was both tasty and a fun Halloween party activity.
The cookie kit retails for $9.99.
The kit included tubes of frosting and more edible decorations than we were expecting.
Lakritz thought the cookies tasted like chocolate graham crackers, while McDowell compared them to chocolate-flavored biscotti. The cookies were crisp and had a similar texture to gingerbread used to build gingerbread houses during the holiday season.
Wells tried constructing the haunted house and found the overall experience frightfully fun.
With eight cookie pieces to put together using two bags of orange and black icing, as well as bats, candy bones, jelly beans, and candy beads for decorating, Wells thought it made for the perfect spooky activity.
The Spooky Bats and Cats Sour Gummy Candies came in three flavors: cherry, green apple, and orange.
A 14-ounce bag of gummies costs $3.49.
While the candies tasted sour at first, the flavor dissipated quickly.
The green-apple gummy tasted the strongest to us, but even then, the sour flavor didn't last as long as we'd hoped.
We couldn't stop eating the Ghosts and Bats Crispy Potato Snacks, even if some of us found them a bit bland.
A 5-ounce bag of potato snacks costs $2.49.
We felt the chips needed a little extra oomph, such as a sour-cream-and-onion flavor or a punchy dip.
Wells and Lakritz agreed that the potato snacks tasted similar to veggie straws. They reminded McDowell of rice cakes, and she felt they could have used more salt.
However, we all really enjoyed the light, super crunchy texture of the chips, and we couldn't help ourselves from repeatedly reaching back into the bag to grab another handful. We all agreed they would fit the bill for a Halloween-themed party's snack table.
We loved that the Halloween Joe Joe's Cookies seemed to feature the same amount of filling as Double Stuf Oreos.
A 1-pound box of sandwich cookies costs $3.99.
The crisp cookies combined with the velvety cream put Halloween Joe Joe's in our top three snacks.
Lakritz still preferred Oreos over Joe Joe's, but said that she'd buy these again. McDowell also enjoyed the festive design of the cookies and liked the crumbly texture. She thought the cookies were slightly crisp instead of chewy.
Wells also thought there was a good amount of cream, similar to a Double Stuf Oreo. However, she thought the cookie itself was a bit bland compared to the cream.
We thought the Wicked Good Mini Chocolate Bars were just as good as Snickers, 3 Musketeers, and Milky Ways.
The variety pack featured four mini candy bars: nougat and caramel, peanut and caramel, caramel and wafer, and nougat. A bag of 24 mini candy bars costs $4.99.
However, we thought the caramel-and-wafer chocolate bar wasn't as delicious as the others, which kept this candy assortment from earning the top spot.
We enjoyed all of the flavors except for the caramel and wafer bar, which we thought was too hard compared to the other light and chewy treats. Still, McDowell said she preferred these Trader Joe's versions to the name-brand candy bars.
The caramel had a nice bite to it, and the chocolate was perfectly creamy and sweet.
Our favorite Halloween-themed Trader Joe's item was the moist, decadent Chocolate Mousse Pumpkins.
The package of six pumpkin-shaped cakes cost $3.99.
When it came to the Chocolate Mousse Pumpkins, we had no negative notes.
When we bit into the tiny cakes, we were speechless at how delicious they were.
Wells thought the chocolate cake was moist and the mousse was creamy and flavorful, without being too rich. McDowell thought the mousse had a slight coffee taste, and she could see herself easily polishing off two or three cakes.
This treat earned the top spot in our ranking — and pride of place on our Halloween-party snack tables.
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