Aside from Half Moon Bay, nobody does pumpkin season like Dealer Joe’s. The 2025 autumnal lineup of merchandise features a sizable variety of returning bestsellers and a few new choices (or new to us).
One journalist appeared on the big array and muttered, “They’re jumping the shark.” Nope, we’re not declaring that till Dealer Joe’s comes out with pumpkin-flavored Mandarin Orange Hen.
Listed here are the outcomes of our casual, extremely unscientific style take a look at:
The clear favorites
The Pumpkin Brioche Twist gained our unofficial 2025 style take a look at. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
Pumpkin Brioche Twist ($4.99): This 12 months Dealer Joe’s is presenting the brioche as a sliced loaf as a substitute of a pull-apart bread — and maybe tweaked the recipe too. The consequence? For the primary time, this candy bread rose to the highest in our tasting. “The brioche is nice because the pumpkin is pretty subtle, just a little spiced swirl within the soft slice,” one taster commented. We agreed it might be good toasted with butter and yummy as French toast. Or gild the lily and spoon some Pumpkin Butter (see beneath) on high. Even a self-avowed pumpkin-hater needed to admit: “The brioche bread is so soft and delicious that I can overlook the pumpkin flavor.” Winner!
Pumpkin Mini Sheet Cake ($5.99): Nothing however reward for this tasty sheet cake slathered with cream cheese frosting. “The creamy icing and melt-in-your-mouth cake makes this one of the top snacks this year,” one stated. “Moist, well-spiced; cream cheese frosting is rich but not overpowering,” stated one other. This cake is small however wealthy; a bit of sq. goes a great distance towards scratching that itch for dessert.
Pumpkin Cranberry Crisps ($3.99) and Pumpkin Cream Cheese ($2.79): Once more this 12 months, this duo scored effectively with our tasters. The twice-baked crackers, that are a seasonal variation on Dealer Joe’s Raisin Rosemary Crisps and Fig & Olive Crisps, are a complicated snack and could be terrific for a Thanksgiving appetizer tray as a result of they get a pleasant pop from the cranberry. One taster stated of this 12 months’s model: “I think they may have added more ginger, and I don’t know if it helped much.” The cream cheese can also be extra extremely spiced than final 12 months, nevertheless it’s nonetheless tasty and versatile.
Fall Harvest Salsa ($3.49): Put this zippy salsa — a perennial TJ’s favourite — on the espresso desk for the soccer followers, they usually gained’t understand they’re getting a serving of veggies whereas screaming for the Niners. Pumpkin and tomatoes are the first substances, adopted by goodies like tomatillos, butternut squash, bell peppers, jalapeños. It’s additionally very low in energy. Our tasters completed off a bowl of this in brief order. “The balance of sweet and spicy is nice, and while I don’t know if I would grab it over a traditional salsa, I came back for seconds,” one taster stated.
Pumpkin Biscotti ($4.99): Tasters gave these “flavorful but not oversweet” cookies a stable suggestion. “The biscotti had a nice crunch to it. No frills, but it worked for me,” one particular person stated. One other thought nuts within the recipe would add some curiosity. All agreed these biscotti would pair effectively with espresso.
Pumpkin Butter ($2.99): Dealer Joe’s calls this product “the spread that started it all” and led to the shop’s fascination (or ought to we we are saying obsession?) with pumpkin. It’s a wealthy, old-timey topping, one thing your great-grandmother may need made on the range again within the day. One taster discovered it “more jammy” than she anticipated. Apart from bringing again reminiscences, what makes pumpkin butter so interesting? As one taster stated, “it’s well-spiced and not unbearably sweet.” Cloves play a outstanding position in that spice combine.
Cut up choices
Danish Kringle, Pumpkin ($9.99): For years now, TJ’s has been bringing in pastry rings in seasonal flavors from Wisconsin, the kringle capital of the nation. When it got here to this autumnal model, our tasters fell into two camps: “Way too pumpkiny” vs “Not pumpkiny enough.” After which there was the “too sweet” contingent. Those that loved this huge Danish ring praised the moistness.
Our panel was divided on the Pumpkin Kringle. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds ($3.99): The bowl stuffed with these savory snacks didn’t empty out, and that was telling. Possibly sweet-and-spicy would work higher? “Tasty, but too ‘one note’ to hold their own as a snack. Would work well in a trail mix,” one particular person stated. One other thought these seeds might work in a salad.
Pumpkin Spice Batons ($2.29): Essentially the most reasonably priced of the snacks we tried is available in a handy-to-tote-around cylindrical can. Impressions of the style have been blended. Some assume these crunchy little batons have a pleasant pumpkin taste; others discovered the flavour underwhelming and too vanilla-y.
Fall Leaf Corn Tortilla Chips ($3.99): These are conventional chips (no pumpkin flavoring) formed like fall leaves. Enjoyable for events — with one caveat: “They go great with the Fall Harvest Salsa, but Trader Joe’s needs to improve the chips’ scoop-ability.”
Again to the take a look at kitchen
The Dealer Joe’s people should not be studying our annual evaluations as a result of these merchandise nonetheless must be reformulated.
Pumpkin Flavored Joe-Joe’s ($2.99) and Pumpkin Spiced Joe-Joe’s Sandwich Cookies ($4.49): The previous style too chalky and the exteriors go mushy fairly rapidly after you open the field. The latter are overly candy and spiced, what with a pumpkin yogurt coating on high of an all-pumpkin-flavor cookie. To most, the flavors in each are off-putting — however we obtained one late thumbs-up on the coated model.
Pumpkin Spice Tortilla Chips ($2.49): These chips are laborious and brittle, with an unappealing style. As one tester advised us for a second 12 months, perhaps tortilla chips aren’t the best automobile for pumpkin flavors.
Pumpkin Spice Chilly Brew Focus ($9.99): The day by day cold-brew drinkers that we’re, we tried to love this one. The flavour is solely unappealing. “I mixed in some of TJ’s tasty Ready-to-Use Espresso to try to cut through the pumpkin flavor in the cold brew,” one taster stated, “but even the caffeine rush didn’t make up for the sickly squash flavor on my taste buds.”
Ship this one to the product graveyard
This Pumpkin Walks right into a Bar … Cereal Bars ($2.49): Don’t be fooled by the intelligent title. These breakfast bars are simply as we keep in mind them. They odor — and style — like a candle, the cinnamon-clove ones that will probably be sitting on the low cost desk on Nov. 1. Even the hardcore pumpkin spice lovers amongst us advocate you’re taking a cross.
Our taste-testers gave low marks to Dealer Joe’s pumpkin cereal bars. This product bought factors just for the intelligent title. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
