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Trader Joe’s Macarons à la Parisienne, reviewed

Trader Joe’s Macarons

French macarons are a little bit more difficult to make than your average chocolate chip cookie. They’re not by any means impossible, but the light meringue cookies take a bit of time and patience to bake and sandwich together. The finished cookies are well-worth the wait because of their lovely texture, with a crisp shell and creamy center, and how flavorful they are. Another thing about these cookies is that they’re difficult to find in the US, where they’re not too popular at bakeries or restaurants. I found them recenetly, however, in the freezer at Trader Joe’s.

The Trader Joe’s Macarons à la Parisienne come 12 to a box, with six each of chocolate and vanilla macarons. There is a lot of packaging with these little cookies to keep them separated and their shells perfectly intact. It works: the cookies looked flawless coming out of the box. To serve, you simply need to defrost these for about 30 minutes. I have to say that, while they’re not going to top homemade or fresh macarons, these did hit the spot. They had good flavor and really got that balance of crisp shell and creamy filling. The chocolate had a ganache center, while the vanilla was more along the lines of a pudding or custard center. It didn’t take long to go through th box and I’d definitely go back for another – even if I was feeling inspired to make another homemade batch before getting in the car to go back to the store!

Trader Joe’s Macarons, close-up

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5 Comments
  • Risa
    January 12, 2010

    Oh how I long for a Trader Joes 🙁 these really do look good though, especially to someone who has lost the battle with homemade macarons oh so many times!!

  • Linda
    January 12, 2010

    Welcome back! Your site was missed while under construction! I saw these at TJs too and wondered if they were good. I don’t even need to eat some things I buy there but I so enjoy trying new things out. And TJs usually does a good job with packaging and good food. Thanks for the tip!

  • Nicole
    January 12, 2010

    I’ve been seeing macarons over at David Lebovitz’s blog and they looked so good. I only know about the ones served at Passover made with coconut or merengue. I was so excited to see these at TJs, have to say I died over the vanilla ones, didn’t really like the chocolate ones.

  • Janet
    January 12, 2010

    I thought these were decent. The same day I also found some at Costco from Cocola Bakery and thus did a head-to-head comparison of the two brands. The Cocola ones were by far superior and the TJs chocolate filling was just a touch too sweet, in my opinion and I preferred the vanilla. The Cocola Bakery ones may be only available in limited stores since they are a Bay Area chain. The best part was that I saved the packaging for the next time I make macarons. As long as I make mine small enough, I now have a convenient transport box for them.

  • britta
    January 12, 2010

    Uhm.. Where do you buy it?
    In the supermarket or did you order these macarons in the internet?!
    Is it possible that you post the rtecipe, only if you know.

    They look sweet also like tiny cheesburger 🙂

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