Trader Joe's Pumpkin Waffles

It's that time of year again. I must say, even with the disappointment of not having pickle popcorn, I do enjoy when Trader Joe's brings back its seasonal offerings. It's like Christmas. Almost. But I should say, I do not buy into the pumpkin hype. Have I tried every Trader Joe's pumpkin item? No. Some people buy into the pumpkin thing and want pumpkin-on-steroids. Nothing wrong with that. It's actually pretty cool randomly discovering another pumpkin item at TJ's. As for me, after trying many pumpkin items, my stance is still decidedly "meh." I still have last year's jar of pumpkin pie spice sitting in my spice drawer. It's still looking sad and neglected. 

Anyway, I seem to have left off one variety of waffle from a recent post, which was my primary motivation for picking these up. How can you claim to review every variety of waffle and not include these?? And also, considering I've been walking around with a skeptical expression just shy of a stink face towards anything pumpkin (notable exception: this cereal), I found these pumpkin waffles to be low-maintenance with low-expectations and low-commitment. It's still only $1.99. 

(PSA: Pumpkin spice coffee is offered in K-cup variety this year. I strongly advise against it. See this post. Also, I bought pumpkin spice coffee last year but never reviewed because I returned it immediately. Could not survive a nightshift on that stuff it was so awful. Way too much clove. Made me gag.)

There it is. There's actual pumpkin in this waffle, but you wouldn't know it by taste alone. 

It smells like pumpkin. Other than that, kind of bland. Doesn't really taste much different than a regular waffle. I would be more excited if they came out with a gluten-free pumpkin waffle because at least the gluten-free part would make it more interesting. It doesn't do well with savory toppings, which I tried because I lean towards savory breakfasts. Definitely needs a dousing of syrup and or pumpkin butter to taste more pumpkin-y and maybe more pumpkin pie spice. 

If y'all want more pumpkin-tasting waffles, I'd get the pumpkin pancake and waffle mix and make them yourself. More work for more pumpkin y'all. 

TL;DR: Trader Joe's Pumpkin Waffles. I forgot what they taste like already. 4 out of 10.