Trader Joe's Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix

This never happens, but I ran out of all-purpose flour. I guess there's a first for everything - an avid home baker with like five flours on hand at all times runs out of the one I use most. So I caved and bought this baking mix. Baking mixes are pretty nostalgic for me. They remind me of childhood and college dorm room bakes with few ingredients and little equipment. Struggle baking perhaps? Yes, struggle baking but still quite fun. 

This is a new seasonal baking mix. TJ's baking mixes are pretty decent quality IMO, but I don't really buy them much because I enjoy baking from scratch and bake quite regularly. Part of the fun of baking is the process of measuring, mixing, beating, rolling, and all the other verbs. But some of y'all don't keep cupboards stocked with baking ingredients (cuz I'm crazy and need all five types of flour), so mixes can come in handy when you're short on ingredients or time. 

Note that each prepared cookie (1/24th of the mix) comes out to 140 calories, which sounds right. The ingredient list is reasonably simple considering that this is a processed mix.

Assembly does require a bit of work, although much of the measuring has already been done for you. The instructions tell you to use a mixer (standing or hand mixer would work), but if you don't have one it's okay. Elbow grease. 

Tip #1: Use room temperature ingredients. Butter yes but also the egg! Everything will blend together better.

Tip #2: Before you dump everything into the bowl, whip the butter a little bit so it's nice and malleable before mixing with the other ingredients. Also, please don't just throw the whole stick of butter in with the ingredients. I'm not a fan of the "all-in-one" method for cookies. It "saves time" but it's asking for over-mixing. Over-mixed cookies are no bueno. 

Tip #3: I don't buy salted butter so I added 1/2 tsp of salt. I'd mix it around in the dry ingredients to help distribute it evenly. 

Tip #4: Stop the mixer periodically to scrape down the bowl to make sure everything is mixed properly.

Tip #5: Don't overmix.

Tip #6: As far as scooping the dough, you could just use your hands. I started with a cookie scoop but abandoned it and used my hands to shape them into small meatball/golf-ball-sized balls.

Tip #7: It's probably better not to flatten them but just leave them in balls. It won't turn out like the TJ's instagram picture, but that picture was styled like crazy. :P

Tip #8: Use a silicone mat for baking if you wish, but cookies bake better on parchment.

Tip #9: I baked my cookies for about 20 minutes. Granted I rotated the pans halfway through, which probably dropped the oven temp, so that could account for the extra time needed.

Tip #10: Resist the urge to eat them right away. Let them cool on the sheet for 5-10 minutes because they do continue cooking even after you take them out. The residual heat allows the outer edges to firm up a bit so they don't fall apart. Or in my case, pass out on the couch and go back to them an hour later.

1. Even if you ignore all 10 baking tips, my hunch is that your cookies will turn out fine. Unless you do something egregious.

2. "Medium-sized cookies" are a bit of a misnomer. But maybe I'm thinking in American terms where we think Costco-sized cookies are "normal." They aren't very big at all. The cookie on the actual package is pretty accurate to actual cookie size, especially if you flatten the cookies slightly before baking.

3. These cookies are cakey but chewy. My mother-in-law makes a delicious cookie with that texture, but it's not the texture I go for with the cookies I bake. The classic American-style cookie is a little butterier and chewier and gooier. Again, not a bad thing but perhaps not what some people would expect.

4. There isn't enough oatmeal in this cookie for it to be a proper pumpkin chocolate chunk oatmeal cookie, just sayin.

5. It tastes awfully gingery for a pumpkin cookie. But seeing as we're all confused and don't know what pumpkin actually tastes like (spoiler alert: pumpkin itself doesn't have much of a taste!), throw in a bunch of ginger and call it pumpkin. Why not? Seriously though, the spices are not very balanced at all. It tastes more like gingerbread. As a pumpkin spice hater, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wished it tasted more like pumpkin spice.

6. The cookie tastes good though. Unlike many pumpkin spice products, tt's not too sweet. Be warned if you don't like ginger, you won't like this. I, however, like the spiciness. It goes well with the chocolate chunks, although chocolate can pretty much fix a multitude of baking sins.

7. I was able to put this all together after coming home from work. The baking time took longer than the prep time, so if I could do it in a sleep-deprived zombie state, so can you.

8. Not the best TJ's baking mix on the market or my favorite by any stretch. $3.99 for one container that yields 24 cookies.

TL;DR: Trader Joe's Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix. Ginger chocolate chunk cookies disguised as a fall pumpkin product. Assembly required. 6 out of 10. Mantou Joe repurchase? I vow to bake a better one from scratch, so no thanks.