Cookie monsters
Now that we have Trader Joe's, we can get all the peppermint Joe-Joe's we want
A close-up of a box of peppermint Joe-Joe's shows the tiny bits of crunched pinkcandy that fleck the cream center.Photo by Teresa Gubbins
This is the Candy Cane Joe-Joe's package. Now, when you go to Trader Joe's, youcan hone in like an eagle stalking prey.
You might think that devoting an entire story to a cookie seems extreme or touty. But, then again, you probably haven't had Trader Joe's peppermint-flavored Candy Cane Joe-Joe's.
Think Oreo cookie. But instead of plain white cream, the center contains a minty flavored cream laden with tiny bits of chopped peppermint candy that crunch and then melt when you eat them. Like an Oreo, the dark crunch of the cookie contrasts with the soft cream in the middle.
Yeah, it's just a cookie. But it's a good cookie, and this Christmas season is the first that it's been readily available in Houston.
Like much of TJ's merchandise, Candy Cane Joe-Joe's have a cult following. The mania magnifies because it is a seasonal product.
In prior years, fans had to ask a friend in California or another TJ state to ship them boxes of cookies. With Trader Joe's stores now open in The Woodlands and in the Alabama shopping center, peppermint Joe-Joe's are but a short drive away. (Alas, the third Houston-area location on Voss in the Memorial area opens Jan. 4.)
Like much of TJ's merchandise, Candy Cane Joe-Joe's have a cult following. But the mania magnifies because it is a seasonal product; whether Hatch chile or morel mushroom, items with a limited availability always seem more desirable.
Candy Cane Joe-Joe's even have their own Facebook page, where fans share suggestions on different ways to eat them. (Throwing them into the freezer or refrigerator seems to be popular.) Their pepperminty flavor makes the cookies a quintessential holiday item.
There is also a limited-edition, multi-flavor Joe-Joe's sampler, which is great for gifting. It's a hexagonal box containing "decadently enrobed" Joe-Joe's in four flavors:
- Double chocolate in dark chocolate with a milk chocolate drizzle
- Peppermint in dark chocolate with peppermint sprinkles
- Peanut butter in milk chocolate with a dark chocolate drizzle
- Ginger in white chocolate with ginger-snap sprinkles
