Image: Trader Joe’s
Okay, it’s officially fall-shopping season, and Trader Joe’s just gave us the greenlight: the Apple Cider Donuts are back on shelves, and shoppers are already stocking up boxes at a time. If you’ve been anxiously refreshing your TJ’s app waiting for the first real sign of autumn, this is it — grab your reusable bag and go, because these six-packs do not sit around long.
What’s In the Box
For $4.99, you get a box of six cake-style donuts made with real New England apple cider and hand-rolled in a thick coat of cinnamon sugar. They’re baked for Trader Joe’s by a family-owned bakery in western Massachusetts — the same crew that also turns out TJ’s beloved S’mores Bars. Each donut comes out dense, fluffy, and just tangy enough to remind you of an actual apple orchard, minus the $9 admission fee.
“These are truly the best donuts I’ve ever had. So moist and cakey,” one TJ’s shopper raved online — while another simply wrote, “Screaming, crying, throwing up.”
Not everyone thinks the timing is right — a few shoppers grumbled it’s “too early” for fall treats to be hitting shelves in late August/early September. But judging by how fast boxes are disappearing off the shelf, most of us are more than ready to fast-forward straight to sweater weather. Trader Joe’s isn’t the only chain leaning into the apple-cider trend this month either — Aldi just dropped its own Pumpkin and Apple Cider Coffee Cake Bites, so this is clearly the flavor of the season across the grocery aisle.
Image: Jaclyn Vernace/Shutterstock, via The Takeout
The Insider Trick: Always Warm Them Up
Here’s the tip that keeps popping up in every review: don’t eat these straight out of the box. Because they’re a cake-style donut, they can dry out fast if they sit for more than a day or two. The fix? A quick 60-90 seconds in the air fryer (or a light zap in the microwave) brings back that fresh-fried texture instantly. Bonus points if you serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or dunk them straight into your coffee — shoppers say that’s the move that turns a “meh” box into a five-star fall breakfast. If you’re also hunting for more of TJ’s freshest bakery drops, we rounded up the new Raspberry Filled Donuts that just hit the freezer case, and the rest of TJ’s September fall preview is worth a look too.
Should You Rush Out and Buy Them?
At under a dollar per donut, this is a low-risk, high-reward grab — even the shoppers who say the apple cider flavor could be “more prominent” still admit they’ll be buying at least one more box before the season’s over. Because this is a seasonally-returning item, availability (and shelf life) is limited, and TJ’s doesn’t restock the same item forever once fall inventory rotates toward pumpkin everything.
Bottom line: if you spot the box on your next Trader Joe’s run, toss it in the cart. Warm ’em up, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy the first real taste of fall — before they’re gone until next year. Snag your box this week, and let us know on socials if your store still has them in stock!
