When I was browsing the most recent edition of the Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer, I noticed an interesting dessert that I had to add to my shopping list. Trader Joe’s, which is Aldi’s cousin, is known to sell a variety of unique international-themed foods, from assorted Indian dishes and shawarma to alfredo pasta and Danish kringle.
What caught my eye in the latest Fearless Flyer (Trader Joe’s version of an advertising flyer) were some Korean cinnamon-filled pancakes. They’re called hotteok, and they’re a popular street vendor food in cities such as Seoul. They can contain a variety of fillings, but the original cinnamon version is the best-liked, and that’s what you’ll find at TJ’s. These pancakes get crispy on the exterior and are soft and gooey on the inside, with a mochi-like chewiness. They are great served for breakfast or as a dessert, and Trader Joe’s recommends slicing them in half laterally and serving them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in between.
Sweet crispy, chewy dough, cinnamon, and vanilla ice cream? That sounded like a winning combination to me, and I love trying foods from around the world. I found a package of these cinnamon filled Korean pancakes in the freezer section during a recent trip to Trader Joe’s and brought them home to try.
Trader Joe’s Sweet Cinnamon Filled Korean Pancakes cost $4.49 for a 12.7-ounce package at the time of publication. With four pancakes per package, that comes out to about $1.12 per serving. This is a product of the Republic of Korea (South Korea).
The back of the package states:
Hotteok, a traditional Korean street snack, just need to be heated before serving. They are best heated in an ungreased pan over medium heat until quite brown and crisp on both sides.
As mentioned above, the package recommends adding a scoop of Trader Joe’s Vanilla Ice Cream. A photo on the package shows the ice cream served with these pancakes similar to an ice cream sandwich.
Ingredients include water, wheat flour, batter mix (wheat flour, modified tapioca starch, sugar, cornstarch, sweet rice flour, canola oil, rice flour, dextrose, salt, gucono-delta-lactone, sodium bicarbonate), sweet rice flour, sugar, sweet potato mousse (sweet potato, water, sugar, modified cornstarch, salt, vinegar, xanthan gum), soybean oil, yeast, cinnamon, caramel color, and sea salt.
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains soy and wheat.
One package contains four 1-pancake servings. One pancake has 280 calories, 8 grams of total fat (10% DV), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% DV), 180 mg of sodium (8% DV), 49 grams of total carbohydrates (18% DV), 27 grams of total sugars, and 12 grams of added sugars (24% DV).
Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
The back of the package has instructions for heating the pancakes in a microwave/on a stove top from frozen, on a stove top from defrosted, or in an air fryer from frozen.
To heat in the microwave/on the stove top from frozen, remove all packaging. Place one pancake on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 20-30 seconds. Remove from microwave and place in an ungreased pan over medium heat on the stove. Heat for about 5 minutes on the first side, until crisp and dark golden, before flipping. Heat on the second side until crisp and golden. Allow to cool a bit as the sugar can be quite hot.
To heat on the stove top from defrosted, remove all packaging and place pancakes in an ungreased pan over medium heat. Heat for about 3-4 minutes on the first side, until crisp and dark golden, before flipping. Heat on the second side until crisp and golden. Allow to cool a bit before serving.
To air fry from frozen, remove all packaging and place one pancake in the air fryer and set the temperature to 350 degrees. Heat for 5 minutes. Allow to cool a bit before serving as the sugar can be hot.
Pancakes after heating.
I thawed these pancakes in the refrigerator for a day and then heated them on a skillet. While the instructions say to heat for about 5 minutes on each side on a skillet, I had to keep a close eye on these to keep them from scorching. I heated them for more like 4 minutes per side, or even as little as 3 minutes.
Ready to serve.
Once heated, I let these cool for a few minutes before slicing them in half laterally or horizontally. These are thicker than traditional pancakes and they get crispy while heating, so it’s not difficult to slice these horizontally using a good kitchen knife. I let them sit for another minute or two to let the inside filling cool some (we could see it steaming when I initially sliced these) before adding ice cream so it wouldn’t melt quite as fast.
A pancake sliced in half horizontally and filled with Trader Joe’s French Vanilla Ice Cream.
These tasted as good as I expected. The pancakes are crispy on the outside with just the right touch of sweetness and cinnamon, and these pair perfectly with creamy vanilla ice cream. Be sure to keep plenty of napkins on hand if you eat these with ice cream because they get quite drippy and melty, but they’re delicious and well worth the sticky hands. If you spot these at your local Trader Joe’s, you won’t regret dropping these in your shopping cart.
The Verdict:
Trader Joe’s Sweet Cinnamon Filled Korean Pancakes, also known as hotteok, are a popular street vendor food. Heat them until the outside is crispy and the inside is tender and chewy with a sweet cinnamon filling. You can eat them as is for breakfast, or for an indulgent dessert, try slicing them in half laterally and adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream so you can enjoy them like an ice cream sandwich. If you like trying various foods from around the world, don’t miss out on these treats from Trader Joe’s.
