You all know we love our snacks. We live for snacks, snacks are life, etc. We oftentimes include a Trader Joe’s find in our Five Weekly Favorites series on Youtube and we love it when you all try our recommendations and let us know. It’s honestly a dream to be Trader Joe’s influencers lol. Anyway- we originally wanted to do a Best Snacks of 2021 YouTube video but because a lot of these are from TJs, and seasonal, we thought it would be more fitting as a blog post.
Note that these snacks may not have technically launched this year, but this year we tried and fell in love with all the snacks n this list. Also, if there is a snack that you’re interested in from Traders that isn’t available at the moment just keep this list handy for next year since they’re sure to come back around.
I also want to mention these are in no particular order and we also realize that most of these are not healthy but they are a nice treat once in a while!
Market Pantry Frozen Seasoned Straight Cut Fries
These fries taste better than most restaurant fries. We make them in the air fryer and they crisp up perfectly. The seasoning is salty with a hint of spice that mixes perfectly with ketchup. However, these don’t even require sauce they have so much flavor. They are also about $2.00 and since this is a Target in-house brand they’re usually readily available.
Nature Valley Wafer Bars in Peanut Butter Chocolate
These are another Target find and I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Nature Valley bars have been around forever but last year they released these wafer bars that taste just like a nutty bar, but better! They’re less artificial and have more chocolate. They’re so good if you want a sweet treat on the go.
Trader Joe’s Coffee Bean Hold the Cone
If you’re familiar with Trader Joe’s Hold The Cone they’re basically miniature ice cream cones that are chocolate dipped. They come in numerous flavors that are released seasonally. While we love the pumpkin, peppermint and chocolate chip our favorite are probably the coffee bean version they released this year. They’re the perfect mix of chocolate and coffee and the perfect nightly treat.
Photo from: @mrs_traderjoes
Mike’s Hot Honey
2021 was definitely the year of Mike’s Hot Honey. It’s truly the most versatile sauce. We use it on pizza, vegetables, and even vanilla ice cream. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and spice and now it’s pretty easy to find. We usually get it on Amazon but they also have it in some grocery stores. Trader Joes has their own version as well, although I have to say I don’t think it’s as good as the original!
KIND Smoothie Bowls
KIND released smoothie bowls this year and as soon as we tried them we were hooked. Which is a bad thing because the sugar content is quite high and they’re $5.00 apiece. As of late, we haven’t been able to find them at Target anymore so I fear they’re being discontinued, probably due to the cost. But truly they have the creamiest base and the peanut butter and nut topping just made the whole thing so refreshing and worth the splurge.
Sour Patch Kids Watermelon
You guys know we love candy. We try to ignore the candy aisle on our Target trips because we have no self-control. However, one day we decided to try the $1 box of Sour Patch Kids Watermelon and we have never looked back. They’re sweet, sour and have the best faux watermelon flavor ever. Way better than the standard Sour Patch kids!
Cheerios Oat Crunch, Almond
It’s been a while since a new cereal has impressed us enough to keep repurchasing, but we had high hopes for the Almond Cheerios Oat Crunch and it is perfection. Crunchy granola with a subtle almond flavor, and standard cheerios add a nice base to the whole thing. We don’t love milk so we buy this just to snack on and its so good and probably the healthiest snack on our list.
Trader Joe’s Carolina Gold BBQ Chips
These are hands down the best chips we’ve ever tried from Trader Joe’s. They’re thick, ridge-cut potato chips with the perfect mustardy bbq sauce flavor. We literally bought bags and bags of these until they disappeared from shelves one day. Since we don’t eat meat we never tried the Carolina Gold BBQ sauce but after the chips were gone we needed our fix and started eating it with our favorite store-bought breaded cauliflower and it’s a great combination!
Photo from: Mrs. Trader Joes
Trader Joe’s Mini French Baguettes
We know a mini french baguette is a weird snack but trust- you’re going to want to have these on hand. As far as we can tell these are not seasonal and are still available at our Trader Joe’s. We love warning them up in the air fryer and enjoying them as a snack with a little butter. They taste like homemade bread you would get at a nice Italian restaurant. We always have a bag of these in our freezer!
Photo from: Mrs. Trader Joes
Dot’s Honey Mustard Pretzels
We discovered Dot’s pretzels either this year or last and while we love the original flavor the Honey Mustard is where.it’s.at. They are so tangy and yet compliment the sweetness of the pretzel base so perfectly. We almost always have a bag of these on hand!
That’s it! We obviously have some other snacks that we buy regularly but like I said, these snacks we discovered in 2021 and wanted to showcase them for you, to add to your shopping list.
What is your stand-out snack from the year?
xx, Britta