Breakfast foods are some of my favorite foods. Some of the ones I like the best include sausage, omelets, bacon, and, of course, pancakes. So when I saw Trader Joe’s was selling Maple Flavored Poffertjes Mini Pancake Puffs and Chocolate Chip Poffertjes Mini Pancake Puffs, I thought they looked good and got them to try.
Trader Joe’s Maple Poffertjes Mini Pancake Puffs cost $3.49 for an 10.76-ounce box, and Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Poffertjes Mini Pancake Puffs cost $3.99 for an 11.3-ounce box.
Poffertjes are similar to pancakes, but they’re not quite the same. The only real differences are poffertjes are small and relatively thick. They’re a Dutch food and are usually served with powdered sugar, although the backs of the boxes say they can also be served with syrup, cream, or ice cream. They’re often served during holidays in the Netherlands. These TJ’s pancake puffs are a product of Belgium.
One serving for the maple poffertjes is 13 pancake puffs, with about 2.5 servings per box. Each serving has 420 calories, 22 grams of total fat (28% DV), 2 grams of saturated fat (10% DV), 65 milligrams of cholesterol (22% DV), 390 milligrams of sodium (17% DV), 48 grams of total carbs (17% DV), 24 grams of total sugars, and 18 grams of added sugars (36% DV).
If you’re looking out for allergens, the maple pancake puffs contain milk, egg, and wheat, and they may contain soy.
Trader Joe’s Maple Poffertjes Mini Pancake Puffs nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions. (Click to enlarge.)
As for the chocolate chip poffertjes, one serving is 12 pancake puffs, with about three servings per box. One serving has 370 calories, 21 grams of total fat (27% DV), 6 grams of saturated fat (30% DV), 50 milligrams of cholesterol (17% DV), 290 milligrams of sodium (13% DV), 36 grams of total carbs (13% DV), 18 grams of total sugars, and 14 grams of added sugars (28% DV).
If you’re looking out for allergens, the chocolate chip pancake puffs contain milk, egg, soy, and wheat.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Poffertjes Mini Pancake Puffs nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions. (Click to enlarge.)
The backs of the boxes have instructions for heating these in the microwave or in a conventional oven.
To microwave, remove the pancake puffs from the packaging. Place 12 puffs on a microwave-safe dish. Heat for 55 seconds or until heated through. Let stand for 1 minute.
To heat in the oven, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the pancake puffs from the packaging and place on a baking tray. Bake for 8 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 1 minute before serving.
Maple pancake puffs. This is the whole box.
We heated these in the oven. They were definitely done after 8 minutes, and next time we might take them out of the oven after 7 minutes.
Overall, I liked these as a breakfast food. We enjoyed these with some Trader Joe’s chicken sausage patties for a nice weekend brunch, and both boxes of pancake puffs together were more than enough to feed four people.
Chocolate chip pancake puffs. Again, this is the entire box.
I liked the maple pancake puffs better than the chocolate ones, which is typical for me, since I’m not a huge fan of chocolate. The chocolate poffertjes are still good, though, with small bits of melted chocolate throughout the batter. However, “maple” is a bit inaccurate for the maple poffertjes. They taste like normal pancakes with no syrup on them, which wasn’t what I was expecting because I’ve had other maple-flavored pancakes and waffles that taste a lot more like maple. That wasn’t a bad thing for me, though, and they were still very good.
The Verdict:
Trader Joe’s Maple or Chocolate Chip Poffertjes Mini Pancake Puffs are a good food to eat for breakfast or as a snack, or even a dessert. Each box contains a lot of poffertjes, so these would be good if you’re serving a crowd. I would buy these again.
