Trader Joe’s Strawberries and Créme Pancake and Waffle Mix

During the workweek, I’m a cereal guy. I currently go for Cheerios or the generic equivalent, with the occasional Life cereal knockoff to change things up. My stomach isn’t up to much more during the early morning hours of the average weekday, not with the day ahead of me.

Weekends are another matter. It’s my habit to make something more robust on Saturdays and Sundays. Some days it might be eggs and hashbrowns. Other days it might be homemade breakfast burritos. Still other days my wife whips up an English tray bake.

On occasion, we do either pancakes or waffles. We like making pancakes using the Aldi pancake mix on our two-burner griddle, while we use this Taste of Home recipe to make Belgian waffles in our Belgian waffle maker. Both are reliable and relatively inexpensive options that we pair with, say, pork or chicken sausage.

Not long ago, we took note of a rather unique pancake and waffle mix in the summer Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer. Intrigued, we decided to pick up the box and put it to the Saturday morning test.

Trader Joe’s Strawberries and Créme Pancake and Waffle Mix appears to be a seasonal item at the grocer, showing up during the summer months. Once fall hits, it may or may not stick around. It can be found in the breakfast food section of the store and costs $3.99 for a 16-ounce box. That’s right around 25 cents an ounce, which is a good five times as expensive as standard Aldi pancake and waffle mix. You’re paying for something unique here.

The front of the box advertised that it comes “with sweetened dried strawberries and white chocolatey chips.” The ingredients list includes unbleached enriched flour, sugar, sweetened dried strawberries, and white confectionary chips, along with various other components. Three allergens are listed: milk, soy, and wheat.

As the front suggests, you can make either pancakes or waffles from this mix. The preparation instructions are more or less identical for the two, other than where and how you cook the batter.

In both cases, you’ll need the following:

• 1 1/2 cups pancake and waffle mix
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 eggs

Also in both cases, you’ll want to mix the milk, oil, and eggs into a bowl, whisking together until combined. Then you’ll add the dry mix and whisk briefly to blend, being careful not to overmix. Next, let it stand for 3 to 4 minutes.

At this point, the directions split for pancakes and waffles. For the pancakes, preheat an electric griddle — or, like us, a two-burner griddle over a stove — to 350 degrees. Pour about 1/4 cup batter per pancake on the hot griddle. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until sides are set and bubbles appear on top of the pancake. Gently flip the pancakes over and cook on the other side until they are golden brown on the bottom.

For the waffles, the instructions say to oil and preheat the waffle iron. Next, pour batter onto the waffle iron leaving enough room for the waffle to expand. The instructions say to cook for 3-5 minutes or until the waffle is golden brown.

We made both pancakes and waffles. The contents of the box were exactly enough to make one batch of each.

The Pancakes:

We cooked the pancakes over our griddle. They took about the time suggested by the instructions. We found that these are a little harder to gauge regarding if they’re done or not, since they are a different color than traditional pancakes. In a couple of cases, we might have overcooked them a little, although none of them came out tasting burnt. We ended up with 10 pancakes, just a hair more than the 8 advertised on the box.

Our testers liked them. They’re light and fluffy like other pancakes we’ve had, and also, of course, sweet. There isn’t a ton of strawberry and white chocolate bits in them, but we did bite down on some from time to time. The chocolate adds a bit of chunky sweetness and the strawberries a softer burst of sweet.

The Waffles:

The instructions called for cooking these in a waffle iron. We cooked them in a Belgian waffle maker, which is a little deeper than a traditional iron. They came out fine, though. We ended up with 4 waffles; the package said the batch makes two 8-inch standard waffles.

These were maybe a little easier to cook than the pancakes since the waffle maker made them a more uniform golden brown. Our Belgian waffle maker didn’t need as much time as those in the instructions, though — each waffle was fully cooked in about 2 minutes. Your mileage may vary.

Our family also liked these. They cooked up well, with a crispy exterior, a fluffy interior, and the same bits of chocolate and strawberry that could be found inside the pancakes.

The Verdict:

The Trader Joe’s Strawberries and Créme Pancake and Waffle Mix is a fun changeup from the traditional pancake and waffle batter. It has a sweet strawberry flavor punctuated by bits of dried strawberry and white chocolate. We made both pancakes and waffles and liked the taste and texture of each. We’re not sure they’re something we love enough to buy all the time — we can make pretty good pancakes and waffles in other ways, and for less money — but they’re fun to try if you love pancakes or waffles.