Look, ya’ll. Between Girl Scout Cookies, Bridgerton x Jeni’s Ice Cream, and now these Trader Joe’s Red Velvet Cupcakes, March is just gonna be a cheat MONTH. The good thing is, at least we have a little portion control with these 4 cupcakes. I had lunch and then managed to just have half. I won’t judge if you have to hide the rest from yourself. (Or hide one FOR yourself, if your fam is sure to mow these down).
Let’s start at the top. It’s a classic red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. And for me, the frosting really has that cream cheese tang, even more so than some of the TJ’s mini sheet cakes. It really stands out (a plus in my book). It’s a nice amount of frosting without being too crazy. And while I usually scrape some of it off, I definitely DID NOT here.
Let’s cut it in half. Nice crumb. You get a better view of how much frosting we’re talking here. Check your best by dates. With 5 days to go, these were fine, not dry. If I’m being nitpicky, for me personally, they could use a little more cocoa. But they’re delicious. I mean, this has gotta be the mini sheet cake people wanted next. But I’m not mad that it’s here in cupcake form. I mean, how many new mini sheet cakes could they add this year? Lemon’s gotta be around the corner for it’s comeback, too.
On the ingredients, I like that it uses canola oil. It’s got the distilled vinegar, so you know they’re being legit and not just adding food coloring to chocolate cake. The killer for me, as someone who’s watching their added sugar, is 29g added sugar is a lot for one cupcake. But, for a cheat day, it’s worth it. Would I buy Trader Joe’s Red Velvet Cupcakes again? [Ducks head] Oh, heck yeah.
Check out some other We Tried’s from Trader Joe’s:
Cookies & Cream Mini Sheet Cake
Toasted Coconut Mini Sheet Cake