Pumpkin Croissants- Trader Joe’s - Marlton, NJ
If you aren't familiar with Trader Joe's, it's a grocery shop where you can buy a lot of natural, organic, and unique items. (It's kind of like a mini Whole Foods.) This place has a HUGE fan base and there are several food blogs that exclusively review items from this chain. Do I share their devotion? Not really. I have bought a few things from them over the years, and while some were unique and really delicious, others are just as disappointing as any traditional grocery store. I think you can find awesome stuff anywhere, you just need to look hard enough. This year I tried a few of Trader Joe's pumpkin items, and so far the only item I would recommend is the pumpkin macarons. Everything else was pretty mediocre.
Okay Trader Joe's, you have one more chance to make me a believer. Let's have some croissants!
The box is pretty small, it's about the same size as a pack of Hot Pockets, and there are only 4 croissants inside. With the average American family being 4.5 members, someone is getting left out. (I know, I know, you can't really have half a person, but with the norm being 2.5 kids, that half a kid deserves a croissant.) Initially the design is a lot better than the soup or macaron packaging, but the photo looks like it has been put through some orange and brown Instagram filters. I prefer my foodie photos to have more accurate coloring, but that is my only complaint. The rest of the text and design is really nice.
These croissants are frozen, but you can't just toss them right into the oven, these involve a bit of prep work. Thankfully the process is super easy. You just open the box, put the frozen dough on a cooking sheet with some parchment paper, and let it rise overnight. In the morning you'll see these huge, fluffy, piles of dough.
They bake up very quickly and the finished product makes your home smell like a french bakery! The aroma is rich and buttery with a nutty hint of toasted pumpkin seeds.
They looked absolutely gorgeous right out of the oven! After they cooled for a few minutes I decided to take a bite.
On it's own, the croissant dough is buttery, flaky, fluffy, and perfect in every way. This is honestly one of the best croissants I have ever had! As for the pumpkin aspect, there was only a tiny bit of filling inside and some scattered pumpkin seeds on top. The filling is similar to pumpkin pie filling, but there is only a tablespoons worth inside the giant flaky pastry, making the croissant dough the star of the show. (Rhyme time?) These were incredibly delicious, but not as pumpkin-y as I had hoped.
On a Pumpkin Scale of 1-5 (5 being the most pumpkin-y) I’d give this a 3.5. I wish there was a bit more filling, but this is the best croissant I have ever had from a grocery store. Heck, this is better than most bakeries!
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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