Pumpkin Spice Twinkies

I interrupt this walk down food memory lane to start getting into the holiday spirit of sorts with some fall, pumpkin inspired junk food you may or may not be able to live without. Though it is a low bar for sure. In years past I’ve done more of a cornucopia of all the pumpkin food stuff I could find that seemed unusual, but time and life have sort of interjected and my wrap up is both small and late in coming. Still, there were a couple things that truly caught my eye and I found myself not even thinking twice before dumping them in my basket and hitting the check out line.

Trader Joe’s is always a good source for trying out seasonally themed foods and sometimes it seems more of a let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks or customers buy kind of thing than an actual market testing. Pumpkin seems to be a particularly popular thing as evidenced here and here. This time when I was there picking up a few things I came across these:

**Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Cookies $2.99**

Seeing as how I am a superfan of their gingerbread men cookies, I figured why not give these babies a try and see if they will become my new fave.

They are shortbread cookies with a pumpkin spice yogurt icing/coating ands sprinkles on them. First thing you can notice right off the bat is they are listed as “pumpkin spice” not pumpkin or pumpkin flavored as other things have been in years past. This seems to be a new theme for bandwagon jumping seasonal food as you will see. So no actual pumpkin in these, just the spices you are familiar with from a pumpkin pie.

They are petite, bite size cookies in almost the shape of a pumpkin which you can kind of make out in the picture above. You can really smell the spice in these the second you open the bag. Kind of like what those holiday candles are like. The smell also kind of matches the taste as it is chock full of cinnamon, nutmeg and molasses. And sugar, a lot of sugar and some small hints of vanilla. Props for putting some big flavor in a small bite. Perusing the ingredients on the box, it actually says “natural pumpkin flavor” though it isn’t really specific about where it is, in the cookie or frosting, and where it is puree or what. I can’t say it tastes like pumpkin either, but they aren’t really pushing them as that so kudos for no false advertising and kicking you in the mouth some cinnamon.

I can’t say I’m all in on these as just three or four were more than enough, but I could see them being addictive a bit if this flavor tickles your taste buds. With those crunchy sprinkle balls on top they kind of remind me of Mother’s Circus cookies, something I used to eat by the handfuls. I like pumpkin and its spices but I wouldn’t be able to plow through a box of these like I could a box of gingerbread men. These are nice in moderation and would pair nicely with slightly dry white wine or cup of strong hot tea. Since this was the first time I’ve seen these in their stores, guess we will need to wait till next year this time to see if they were a hit because anything that sells well comes back. That’s retail.

Next up is a childhood classic that went away, was resurrected and seems to toss out new flavor attempts as often as those pop-tart people do. (I’m still down for their pumpkin ones though!) Yes, we are talking twinkie here. If you do or don’t remember, Hostess went a little bankrupt then got rescued and voila, back they came, even though you could hoard them and they will last like, forever. This year they joined everyone else and created a pumpkin spice version.

Notice here, like the cookies, they aren’t saying pumpkin, but pumpkin spice. Like I said, new trend. Just ignore that cartoon emoji slice of pumpkin pie in the upper right corner of the box. But take note of the unbolded print of the words artificially flavored above pumpkin spice. At least they are laying it all out there, if you pay attention. Again, I saw them and could not resist at least giving them a try. They were always a childhood fave treat and while I know they aren’t the same as then (new recipe, smaller size, less cream, etc.) it still felt like cool lark to see what’s up.

They still aren’t the biggest, or maybe because as a kid I remember them being more than two bites, but the filling seems to be proportionate to size at least. Plus, the cake was super moist and sticky like I remember. Much like the cookies, the spice is super forward and aggressively enhanced, mostly through some artificial means to make sure you don’t miss it. And as you can see from the specks in the cream above, you ain’t gonna miss it. Much like the cookie, I didn’t hate them, but a little goes a long way and really, you shouldn’t be eating more than one of these at a time. If you are, I would say no judgement, but yeah, you will be judged.

Not to be totally left out, but the SO was a mega coffee drinker and a sucker for flavored creams to add to it. CoffeeMate was always a go to as they jumped on the seasonal flavor ride years ago and he was all over the peppermint mocha one especially when they put out a sugar free version of it. But lest they leave no taste combo unoffered, they came out with their own pumpkin spice version, in sugar free too.

But I don’t drink coffee you say? Well, that is correct, I do not. But this has no sugar, is lower in calories than milk, has like 1 net carb and is the perfect small splash on my morning bran cereal to make it a tasty alternative to whole, low fat or skim milk. I’m not a fan of peppermint but the pumpkin spice was light and interesting and not overwhelming to kick my cereal up in flavor since bran is bran and not much fun but healthy and good for you and blah, blah, blah. As a fun seasonal flavor, I’m all in for it.

As you can see, it is all about pumpkin spice and not actual pumpkin this year allowing for a modicum of truth in advertising for a change. Not natural or artificial pumpkins involved! Though I can’t verify the veracity all the spice you get is going to be natural either. Still, depending on your level of like and tolerance, the above items have their own individual flavor charms and could be what you are looking for to feel all fall festive and what not. Or if not, just wait a few days and all the the Christmas, peppermint and gingerbread flavored stuff you can stand will hit the shelves to help us all in our slow slide to an expanding holiday waistline.