Weather 
Christmas has come early this year at Trader Joe’s, with the grocery chain re-launching fan favorite holiday dessert chocolate mascarpone — now available on the shelf-to-stomach pipeline from now until the end of the year.
Longtime fans of the creamy, dense spread (which technically resides in the cheese category) have taken to Reddit to express their elation at its return.
“They retired this like 7 years ago,” a user with the name @rastacola recently posted on a Reddit thread dedicated to celebrating the reintroduction. “That was the only time I wrote an email to a company asking them to reconsider lol. Absolutely 10/10.”
The grocery store site lists the $3.99 seasonal sweet treat, which includes about eight 2-tablespoon servings, as a “creamy, spreadable dessert cheese that can make your wildest Christmas dreams come true.” It can be found in the store’s cheese case.
The site recommends taking full advantage of its versatility and suggests putting the topping on strawberries, crepes, cupcakes and bagel halves.
The dessert, which rings in at a surprisingly low 120 calories per serving, includes only five ingredients — pasteurized cream, pasteurized milk, sugar, cocoa powder and citric acid as an acidifier.
“The flavor is rich, without being bittersweet, or too chocolate-y,” the Trader Joe’s product page reads.
While the aforementioned Reddit thread was mostly filled with people praising the pastry and relaying ways they’d added it to other tasty treats — user @DulceSiren shared they sat down to enjoy it with “hot honey popcorn, bread and a spoon” — one poster was not pleased.
“I really didn’t love it, I felt the flavor was weak,” commented user ‘@Timely_Cranberry1270.
This opinion seems to be the minority, however, with most Trader Joe’s loyalists expressing their excitement at trying the dessert — whether for a repeat or first time.
“No words, just Trader Joe’s seasonal chocolate mascarpone,” reads the caption on an ASMR-like TikTok by @laurenmadisonwellness with 4,000 views that shows a spoon mixing through a tub of the creamy, light-brown spread.
The return of Trader Joe’s beloved chocolate mascarpone is not the only tasty reveal the chain has treated customers to this year. They also reintroduced two flavors of the brand’s pudding cups that had been discontinued four years ago — Chocolate Pudding and Rice Pudding.
The California-based chain also celebrated its annual Customer Choice Awards earlier this year, with each of its 11 category-winning products available in every Trader Joe’s store — including the viral Chilli & Lime Flavored Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips, which won the best overall product category for the third consecutive year.
Snacks have not been Trader Joe’s only saving grace as of late, either. In mid-November, the grocery store unveiled new micro tote bags, which are still available store-wide for a limited time, as reported by USA Today.
Bags can be bought for $2.99 and are available in red, green and blue.
“Trader Joe’s is an odd duck when it comes to grocery shopping,” posted Reddit user @CupBeEmpty on a thread titled ‘Why Do People Like Trader Joe’s So Much?’. “Since it is small and relatively cheap, it isn’t the best place to go for just generalized shopping and their produce selection is usually a bit limited. The reason that it is very nice is that it takes a lot of time selecting which brands to carry and keeps its own brands’ quality high for the price.”
