Trader Joe's Key Lime Tea Cookies

This is another brand-new product from Trader Joe's; see the company's introduction here.

Not that it matters much, but I think one line in TJ's description is factually wrong: "These little rounds are premium butter cookies, infused with natural key lime flavor and dusted top to bottom with powdered sugar." That pretty clearly implies that the lime flavor is in the cookies themselves, not in the powdered-sugar coating. But I'm convinced that the opposite is true, and all of the lime flavor is mixed in with the powdered sugar, none in the cookie per se. Again--not that it matters much, since only a weirdo like me would scrape the powdered sugar off of one and taste the two parts separately in order to find out.

Anyway, I expected the lime flavor here to be pleasant but mild. Instead, it was intense. The "Eating at Joe's" blog describes it as "an outrageous blast of lime flavor in the pastry aisle," and a "shockingly big lime taste," and "nearly too much lime flavor." I can't say I disagree. What's more, they taste like real limes, not Popsicle-style "lime" flavor. I loved the first several that I ate with Nina upon first opening the package.

But after having several per day for three days now, I think I like them more as a novelty than as a staple of the portion of my diet that is cookies. The cookie inside is a bit dry and bland. After a few, when the "wow" sensation of the liminess has worn off, they seem to me just okay, not great.

One medical warning, though: Don't eat too many, or you may develop Lime Disease.

Will I buy it again? 

I'm very glad I tried them once; it was kind of mind-blowing. But as with other interesting TJ's novelty snacks, such as the Fireworks chocolate bar, I think once is enough.


Nina’s View

That whizzing sound you hear? That is the sound of these cookies rocketing past all other TJ’s cookies and heading straight to a pantheon spot in Nina’s Top Ten.

How do I love these? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS.

1. Good size. You can eat six of these and not feel like an oinker.

2. Powdered sugar. Powdery but not too powdery. I feared it would get all over everything and it didn’t. Win!

3. Shortbread consistency. I like me some shortbread.

4. …????

5. KEY LIME KEY LIME KEY LIME KEY LIME.

These cookies are true to the fruit. They really and truly taste like KEY LIME and plenty of it.

Do any of you remember Lemon Coolers? As a kid, they were my favorites. I loved how you could put in them in your mouth and suck on them and get a rush of almost mentholated sugary lemoniness. Those Lemon Coolers were great, but I don’t think their lemon flavor was as natural or intense as you get from these TJ’s babies.

I think some of the most successful TJ’s products are those that highlight and intensify natural fruit flavor: see the canonized Raspberry Tarte, for example. Concentrated, unadulterated, pure fruit flavors are absolutely fantastic. More of this, please, Trader Joe’s!

I can imagine the Lime Cookies going very well with a cup of tea. It is only the satisfying intensity of the flavor that would keep me from devouring an entire tub of these at once. Bob says that familiarity is breeding discontent, for him. I may never have that problem, because I am going to buy these things once in a very, very, blue moon. I want to keep having that first-taste thrill forever.

Postscript: Knowing retailers’ penchant for discontinuing every darn item that I adore, I should probably by a dozen tubs and freeze them.