Trader Joe’s has a lot of cookies. More than a place that is widely assumed to be some sort of health food store but in reality is just a regular market should have. There are more sweet cookies at Trader Joe’s than you can probably eat in a lifetime… unless you went to TJ’s specifically to buy every cookie you could find.
Which is exactly what I did for this ranking of the best cookies sold at Trader Joe’s in 2022.
Now in truth, I’m not entirely sure this is every Trader Joe’s cookie, because for some reason TJ’s doesn’t keep all of their cookies in one single place, instead they have them scattered around all over the store. With the fresh baked goods, with the frozen foods, near some pasta, above a case of butter, seriously, walking around Trader Joe’s looking for every cookie was like being in Supermarket Sweep, a reference that perhaps only resonates with people over the age of 65.
In my search, I came upon 12 different cookies, from the famous Cookie Butter and Ginger Snaps to oddities like Maple Leaf Cookies and French crepe cookies. So let’s rank them all and separate the good from the trash so that you don’t end up carving into your market budget for a big box of wasted calories and false promises.
12. Half Moon Cookies
The Cookie:
I want these to be good because I look at them, they’re adorable, they’ve got a cool name, and they smell like delicious chocolate fudge. Unfortunately, they fail to deliver in the flavor department. In the 77th episode of Seinfeld, Jerry eats a black and white cookie that upsets his stomach and ends a 14-year streak of no vomiting… this is that cookie and after tasting it, it’s easy to see why it broke Jerry’s streak.
First, there is the icing. It’s too thick and hardened like a shell. It takes a lot of effort to actually chew through it, and most of the icing ends up stuck in your teeth as you chew through the soft short-bread-like texture.
The Bottom Line:
Too sweet, too soft, and too much thick candy frosting. Great smell though, if this was a ranking of the best smelling cookies, this would definitely be up there.
11. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies With Walnuts
The Cookie:
Trader Joe’s vegan chocolate chip cookies are pretty damn fragrant. Notes of brown sugar, chocolate, and toasted walnuts waft from the bag as soon as you tear the pack open, but the flavor just doesn’t deliver. This cookie is somehow soft and grainy at the same time, it has the pliability of a soft-baked cookie but crumbles in your mouth while you eat it. It also has this dull, plant-y after taste.
The Bottom Line:
Bland and boring, with a weird dull after taste.
10. Maple Leaf Cookies
The Cookie:
If you’ve ever eaten a cookie and wished it was a pancake, then I guess the Maple Leaf Cookies were tailor-made for you. I don’t know why this needs to be a cookie, but it is, and you know what? I kind of like it. The cookies smell and taste exactly like a stack of pancakes. They’re buttery, with strong notes of maple and cinnamon flavors, but unlike pancakes, they have a crunchy and creamy mouthfeel.
The only thing is, they’re incredibly overwhelming. For the first few bites of this cookie, it was a great experience, but about halfway through I didn’t want to eat it anymore as the sweet flavors became overwhelming and kind of nauseating. Eating this cookie is like being on certain roller coasters, the first drop is fun but after it spins you around you start feeling sick to your stomach.
The Bottom Line:
A cookie worth trying, but not worth buying.
9. Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
The Cookie:
I never thought I’d say a cookie has “too much hazelnut,” but uh, this cookie has way too much damn hazelnut. I know that sounds like it can’t possibly be a bad thing, but in this cookie it’s distracting. The cookie texture is similar to shortbread, but instead of tasting buttery and light, this cookie has an oily mouthfeel and a waxy nutty flavor that, and I know this sounds weird, kind of tastes like what a candle smells like.
Frankly, it tastes cheap. I know that’s disappointing because this is such a great concept for a cookie, f*cking up chocolate hazelnut is like fucking up chocolate chip. Oh wait, Trader Joe’s kind of did that too… (see number 9).
The Bottom Line:
Too much hazelnut, just trust us.
8. Aussie-style Chocolate Creme Sandwich Cookies
The Cookie:
This cookie comes 11 to a box, which begs the question: Is that an Australian thing? Well, whatever is going on Down Under, they’re doing it right because this cookie is delicious. Sweet milk chocolate creme is sandwiched between two hard chocolate cookies, giving you a chocolate-on-chocolate flavor that’ll satisfy fans of chocolate-chocolate chip cookies and double chocolate chunk muffins.
The Bottom Line:
If you’re all about chocolate cookies, this cookie doubles down.
7. French Chocolate Crepe Wafer Cookies
The Cookie:
I’m not sure this should even be considered a cookie, it’s so thin that it’s crispy. Biting into it shatters the ‘cookie’ into millions of shards of delicious chocolate. Rather than being a solid cookie, this wafer is made up of rolls of very thin ribbons of sugary chocolate. It’s maybe the most interesting cookie I’ve ever eaten, but ranking it any higher than this feels wrong.
This isn’t the sort of cookie you eat when you want to snack out, instead, it’s the only one we’d suggest pairing with a glass of red wine.
The Bottom Line:
It’s neither a cookie nor a wafer, but it’s delicious so who cares? It’s the only cookie that calls for a glass of wine, which isn’t ever a thing we’d thought we needed until now.
6. Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Cookie:
Be careful with these things, they’re thin, crispy, and so unsatisfying that you’ll never feel like you have enough, which will cause you to eat more. First, you’ll say to yourself “I’ll have four, but they’re small, so it’s like having two real cookies.” Then a few minutes later you’ll repeat the process and before you know it you’ll have eaten 20 chocolate chip cookies in a single hour. Then you’ll start having crazier thoughts like, “what if I just poured a bunch in a bowl with milk and ate it like cereal?”
Trader Joe’s is fully aware of how fun these are to eat, that’s why they come in this tall plastic container. As a cookie itself, it’s not even the best chocolate chip cookie, but it tastes exactly as good as it needs to in order to be addicting.
The Bottom Line:
They aren’t the best chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever eat, but you’ll never want to stop eating them.
5. Coconut Macaroons
The Cookie:
I’m a sucker for macaroons, so even if these were garbage, I’d still probably rank them highly. They’re not garbage though, but I’ll say this: if you have a panaderia in your neighborhood or a bakery that makes these, buy them there, they’ll be way moister, fluffier, and fresher than these, but if you don’t have access to those things, definitely don’t hesitate to pick these up.
They’re delicious, sweetened coconut flavors mingle with vanilla coupled with a spongy texture that is a pleasure to chew through. It’s like the middle ground between a cake and a cookie. Trader Joe’s are a bit drier than the fresh-baked variety, but for a market macaroon, they’re pretty damn solid.
The Bottom Line
Delicious fluffy coconut flavors with a toasted exterior.
4. Triple Ginger Snaps
The Cookie:
It’s impossible to get tired of eating Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Snaps, they’re incredibly addicting and have one of the more unique flavor profiles in the world of cookies. The big draw here is that Trader Joe’s uses actual chunks of ginger in each cookie, infusing this cinnamon forward cookie with spicy sweetened ginger notes that buzz on the palate. You can’t call a lot of cookies refreshing, but there is something refreshing and palate-cleansing about the Triple Ginger Snap, it’s like eating an Andes mint at the end of a meal.
The Bottom Line
Spicy, sweet, and refreshing. What other cookie gives you that?
3. Joe Joe’s Sandwich Cookies
The Cookie:
The only thing not to like about this cookie is that it’s so good it can be overwhelming. Let me break it down to you in the simplest way: the Joe Joe is basically a Reese’s peanut butter cookie mixed with an Oreo. I mean, need we say more? You have that distinct crunchy sweet dark chocolate cookie encased in ribbons of milk chocolate and peanut butter, few cookies offer a better experience than that.
But it’s too powerful. Getting through a single Joe Joe is like eating an Oreo and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in succession, and as they stand, those are two overwhelming snacks to begin with. Eating a single Joe Joe will satisfy you enough for an entire day, which means an open pack will go bad before you can even get through it all.
The Bottom Line
So good that its extreme decadence holds it back from being the best.
2. Cookie Butter Cookies
The Cookie:
God damn this cookie is good. It sandwiches butter creme between what are essentially two thin shortbread cookies, giving you a baked butter on creamy butter flavor that tastes like the best cake batter you’ve ever eaten. It’s soft, fluffy, sweet, buttery, it sounds overwhelming, and it is… but in the best way possible. This is the sort of cookie you bite into and immediately realize it isn’t something you should be eating on a regular basis, and then you will immediately reach for another.
It’s addicting, even if you aren’t crazy about butter, but the box is total false advertisement. The cookies don’t actually contain a thick layer of butter creme, as you can see in the above picture the cookies are much more pressed together and the creme is used sparingly. We’re not sure we could handle it if it actually looked like it does on the box — it would be too rich.
The Bottom Line
If you love shortbread cookies, this will blow your mind. It somehow elevates that perfect cookie by adding a creamy sensation to the baked butter flavor.
1. Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies
The Cookie:
The only reason the Cookie Butter Cookie didn’t rank number one is that I’m all about the hard cookie. I think there are two types of cookie eaters, the kind that prefer the soft chew, and us more refined people who know that hard cookies are the way to go. I love everything about this cookie, it’s hard and crunchy, thanks to the inclusion of crushed almonds, with semi-sweet dark chocolate chunks embedded throughout. It has a toasty and deep earthy chocolate-forward flavor with some notes of cinnamon, coffee, and a nutty almond finish.
It’s sweet but never overwhelming, and the way the dark chocolate and almond flavors mingle are interesting, they manage to bring forward the stone fruit flavors connected to both almond and cacao. It might not be as decadent and consistent as the Cookie Butter Cookie, but if you like a balance and sweet and natural flavors, you’re not going to find a better cookie at Trader Joe’s.
The Bottom Line
If you’re a fan of hard cookies, this is by far the best Trader Joe’s cookie your money will buy. If you’re all about that soft chew, go with our number two pick.
