The last time I tried biscuits from Trader Joe’s, it was a disaster. Not only were the baking directions on the package terrible, the biscuits looked and tasted bad no matter what you did. Often, TJ’s stocks very good ready-make products, but perhaps bake-from-frozen biscuits were not the way to go. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt where biscuits were concerned and picked up a tube of their new Buttermilk Biscuits.

Unlike their predecessors, these were in the refrigerated section of the market and come out of the tube round and ready-to-bake, just like other brands of refrigerated biscuits. They baked up well with the directions given on the packaging, though I had a slight preference for the slightly darker color of the batch I baked at a higher temperature. They were tender and rose well, but were not particularly light or flaky. This lack of flakiness can be partly attributed to the fact that they’re made with shortening (great for tenderizing) and not butter (better for flakiness). The lack of butter also hurts these biscuits in the flavor department: they’re pleasant, but not buttery at all on their own.

Huge improvement over the last attempt, but I still prefer my homemade biscuits - especially since they don’t take long to make. Still, these aren’t bad and make a great addition to a bowl of soup, chili or gravy in a pinch. But a little more butter flavor (which I added by slathering them with butter myself) and they’re even better.