Every year, Trader Joe’s lovers start champing at the bit for the holiday goodies. The specialty grocery store is known for its ever-changing seasonal selection that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Will our favorite Trader Joe’s Christmas items be back in stock? What will the new items be? Will they discontinue classic ones? Only the Trader Joe’s gods, a.k.a. executives, know the future.
But we love to fantasize, reminisce, and recommend, so that’s what we’re going to do. These are our must-try Christmas products from Trader Joe’s. We only hope that we’ll see every single one of them back on the shelves for the 2024 season.
Jingle Jangle Products
If anything says “Trader Joe’s Christmas,” it’s Jingle Jangle. This product is a holiday mix with milk and dark chocolate pretzels, dark chocolate-covered caramel popcorn, dark chocolate-covered broken Joe-Joe’s cookies, milk chocolate red gems, and milk and dark chocolate mini peanut butter cups.
Yes, it includes all the good things you could imagine. Beyond the classic mix, they also offer Jingle Jangle Ice Cream, Jingle Jangle Pretzel Twists, and more related products.
Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s (And More Joe-Joe Products)
Easily one of the most iconic Trader Joe’s Christmas items, the Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s are essential for us. In case you’re not a loyal Joe’s customer, Joe-Joe’s is their version of Oreos.
For the holiday season, they add pieces of candy cane to the frosting, taking them to a new, minty fresh level. They do a lot with Joe-Joe’s. You can also find Joe-Joe’s Ice Cream, Chocolate-Covered Joe-Joe’s, and more around Christmas.
The Advent Calendar For Dogs
Trader Joe’s has an array of advent calendars for sale during the Christmas season, but the one everyone is obsessed with is not for humans.
You get 24 salmon and sweet potato dog treats in this Dog Advent Calendar, one for each day counting down to Christmas. Maybe you don’t want to try this treat this year, but your dog certainly will, and it’s a charming way to make them part of this beloved season.
Cranberry Chevre Cheese
This product might not seem special, but customers are obsessed and eagerly wait for it every year. Good news — Joe’s puts this product out along with its fall seasonal products, so you can get it before the other Christmas items hit the shelves.
It’s a log of creamy, tangy goat cheese rolled in sweetened, dried cranberries. Spread it on a cracker, put it on toast, bake it into puff pastry, or eat it with a spoon. We’re not judging you.
Seasonal Puff Pastry
For whatever reason Trader Joe’s believes that puff pastry is exclusively an autumn/winter food. We beg to differ. Nevertheless, we’re always psyched to see the puff pastry back in stock when the holiday season hits.
Trader Joe’s Christmas puff pastry just seems special — it puffs up in the oven like nobody’s business and has a buttery taste and tender texture that will have you making all the cliche yummy noises.
Wintry Blend Ground Coffee
Trader Joe’s also sells seasonal Gingerbread Coffee which is spicy and tasty, but the Wintry Blend Ground Coffee is the real star. The Wintry Blend is hearty and homey with spices like green peppercorns, red peppercorns, fresh cloves, and cinnamon, capturing the holiday vibe in your morning coffee mug.
If you want to pretend you’re in a Hallmark movie, like we do, you can add a sprinkle of nutmeg and a cinnamon stick, and wistfully look out a frosted window.
Gingerbread Sandwich Cookie
These are like Joe-Joe’s, but the cookies are gingerbread. The center is still that buttery, creamy vanilla frosting that we all know and love. The cookies have a softer texture than Joe-Joe’s, so they’re perfect if you want the sweet treat without the crumbs.
Coarse sugar crystals on top of the cookies only kick the sweetness up a notch. You can’t snack on a gingerbread house while you build, so make sure you have a pack of these on hand to fill that gingerbread void.
Peppermint Mini Hold The Cones
Don’t ask us why these are called “Hold The Cones!” because they do in fact come with cones. But we forgive Trader Joe’s for the confusing name because these are peppermint heaven.
Hold The Cones are available year-round, but you can only get this refreshing and sweet flavor when the holiday season hits. Beyond the decadent chocolate, smooth ice cream, and crunchy cone, this dessert is also simply adorable. They’re mini ice cream cones! What’s not to love?
Peppermint Bark
There are countless peppermint bark options out there. We know you have your choices, but we recommend you choose Trader Joe’s Christmas Peppermint Bark. Frankly, this bark is for chocolate lovers, so if you’re not here for a mouthful of chocolate, this one might not be for you.
It’s extra thick bark with a generous layer of dark and white chocolate, and, of course, crunchy pieces of peppermint stuck in the chocolate. On top of all of it, the box they come in is very festive and cute, so you can save it to store Christmas decor.
Chocolate Peppermint Loaf Mix
Oven and basic baking skills required here. Almost everything else on this list is ready to eat out of the package, but the Chocolate Peppermint Mint Loaf requires a little love to happen. But we’re head over heels for this mix, not only because the flavor is so North-Pole-yummy, but because you can make a million things with it.
Make muffins, bundt cakes, cupcakes, icebox cakes, bread loaves, and anything else your merry heart desires. It’d be inconsiderate of us not to share the Trader Joe’s Peppermint S’more Cake recipe with you.
Peppermint-Coated Pretzel Slims
More peppermint? Tis the season, people! But the Peppermint-Coated Pretzel Slims take a new approach to peppermint, bringing in the yeasty saltiness of pretzels into the mix. It seems like these flavors shouldn’t work together, but they do, so beautifully.
They’re skinny pretzel twists dipped in white chocolate and covered in peppermint pieces, like peppermint bark but with a pretzel inside! You’ll want to make these your new Christmas-movie snack.
Dark Chocolate Mint Stars
Some evil website told us the Dark Chocolate Mint Stars were discontinued. Don’t worry, we did some digging and discovered this is a completely baseless claim, and we don’t think Trader Joe’s would hurt us like that.
These are star-shaped shortbread cookies covered in minty dark chocolate. They’re about the size of a quarter, so they can be an indulgent snack or a topper for holiday cakes, bars, brownies, and more!
Lebkuchen Cookies
As one of the most popular holiday treats from Joe’s, we can’t imagine they’d skip these this year. However, we can’t confirm if they’ll be back or not. Each holiday season, Trader Joe’s usually offers sugar-glazed and chocolate-covered Lebkuchen cookies.
They’re soft and chewy with a subtle gingerbread flavor that captures the spirit of the season. The cookies are simultaneously simple and decadent, and we don’t think anything goes better with a cup of tea.
Mini Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Trader Joe’s always has a delicious variety of biscotti flavors, but this one is special to the holidays. The Mini Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti has a bright but warm flavor that suits Christmas (and Thanksgiving) perfectly.
The crunchy cookies are loaded up with dried, sweetened cranberries and chopped pistachios. You can serve these as a Thanksgiving dessert or hoard them for yourself all December long.
Danish Almond Kringle
The Danish Almond Kringle is a Trader Joe’s holiday classic. It’s a buttery, flaky pastry ring stuffed with almond paste and coated in almonds and sugar. It’s rich and ready to eat out of the package.
These kringles put your average donut to shame, and you’ll curse the day they leave shelves in January. While we eat several each December, we’re always sure to keep a few around for Christmas morning, as a morning kringle is a gift in itself.
Mini Peppermint Meringues
Peppermint meringues are a unique holiday treat. The meringues are airy and crunchy, melting on your tongue for a few moments of peppermint bliss. The peppermint pieces and taste linger, so you can relish the festive flavor.
We tend to think these meringues are underrated, as not everyone is a fan. Maybe the meringues aren’t for everyone, but that’s fine with us. We’ll buy the lot!
English Toffee Bites
We’ve highlighted a whole bunch of peppermint, gingerbread, and chocolate items, but that’s not all Joe’s offers. English Toffee Bites are another beloved Christmas item that is here one day and gone in January.
These buttery, crunchy bites are covered with chocolate and nuts, adding to the robust texture. Something about these makes us want to eat them at all hours of the day, so if you want to treat them like a breakfast snack or afternoon treat, you’re not alone.
Eggnog Greek Yogurt
Just talking about this one gets us excited. It’s not very complicated — it’s whole milk Greek yogurt flavored with egg yolks and other ingredients to mimic the taste of a creamy glass of eggnog. We can confidently say they nailed it.
In fact, this yogurt might be better than any eggnog we’ve ever had. It even has that hint of nutmeg that brings it all together. And this Greek yogurt is one of the healthier items on this list, so you can feel a bit better about your holiday diet.
Fig and Olive Crisps
Joe’s shelves fill up with a wide variety of crisps, chips, and crackers during the holidays. We can’t list them all; there are way too many. But we’d be remiss not to mention the Fig and Olive Crisps, which deserve a spot in the Trader Joe’s Hall of Fame, if that existed.
They’re small toasted crackers with a rustic appearance and taste. This product offers a sensational balance of sweet and savory and tastes phenomenal with a range of dips and spreads (including some on this list).
Unexpected Cheddar Holiday Spread
Trader Joe’s claims that this cheese spread tastes “like Holiday Cheer,” and we’re inclined to agree. The cheddar cheese spread includes dried, sweetened cranberry bits, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a bit of Riesling.
The result is a punchy but smooth flavor that is impossible to resist. While the cheese does not taste like wine, the Riesling brings a clever sweetness and acidity to the dip that pleases the tastebuds. Be warned: it takes extreme willpower to stop eating before the container is empty.
Sugar Plum Sparkling Beverage
This product is as bubbly and sweet as it sounds, and it also looks enchanting. The drink is just as magical as the Sugar Plum fairies it’s named after, with a blended plum juice base, white grape juice, and sparkling water.
It’s an effervescent holiday beverage that will make any other soft drink pale in comparison. It’s tasty on its own or over ice, but we also love to use it to create new Christmas cocktails.
Gingerbread Ice Cream
In the past, Trader Joe’s has released its Gingerbread Ice Cream as part of the fall limited-time products, but sometimes they wait until the Christmas season. It can also depend on your location.
Whenever you finally get your hands on it, you’ll realize that this ice cream is exceptional. It’s gingerbread-flavored ice cream with ginger snap cookie pieces and gingerbread swirls, so it really brings the ginger. It’s sweet and spiced, offering an interesting flavor profile that people can’t get enough of.
Winter Wassail Punch
You can skip the hassle of concocting a holiday punch for your next party because it doesn’t get better than this one. We’re not the biggest fans in the world of punch, but this one is outstanding.
It has a little bit of everything: apple, black currant, lemon, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger and orange peel. The depth of flavor is impressive, and it’s the perfect thing to sip on during a Christmas shindig. It also pairs well with a variety of liquors, so you can treat it like a ready-made cocktail mix.
Candy Cane Green Tea
We were hesitant the first time we saw Candy Cane Green Tea in stores. But it’s become a hallmark in our houses every season, thanks to the blend of herbal flavors and fresh peppermint.
The green tea flavor takes a backseat as the peppermint strikes through to your palate. It honestly tastes pretty close to a liquid candy cane, but you still get the benefits of green tea! It’s decaffeinated, so feel free to drink three cups before bed. That’s what we do.
Truffle Burrata
Why isn’t the Truffle Burrata available year-round? We don’t know, but we’re just grateful we get it for a few weeks each year. It’s the perfect accompaniment to Whole Foods’ Holiday Boule!
The creamy burrata is elevated by the addition of black truffle paste and white truffle It’s the definition of indulgent. No holiday party appetizer spread is complete without this addictive treat.
Peppermint Mini Marshmallows
These adorable pink marshmallows are a wonderful item if you want to kick your hot chocolate game up a notch. They’re mini marshmallows flavored with peppermint, but you probably guessed that.
We top our hot chocolate with them, make brownies with them, and use them for minty crispy rice treats. The possibilities are plentiful, so we challenge you to think of more ways to incorporate these sweet little mallows into your holiday diet.
Cookie Mug Hangers
Joe’s calls these Cookie Mug Hangers, but we like to think of them as Cookie Mug Huggers because they’re so precious.
They’re gingerbread men with a wide gap between their chunky legs, allowing you to plop them onto the site of your bowl or mug where they can relax until you’re ready to chow down on them. We like to dunk them in hot chocolate or eggnog, but the possibilities are endless with these little guys.
A Trader Joe’s Christmas
If anyone from Joe’s is reading this, these are our demands! We’re sure that we’ll love whatever Christmas goodies go on the shelves this year, but all of these items have a special place in our hearts.
Keep an eye out for these products as we get closer to Christmas, and your tastebuds (or your dog’s) can thank us later.
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