Listen Up, Joe: We Need These 9 Sweets of Yours Turned Vegan, Now

Thanks to a slew of vegan options, it should come as no surprise that we love shopping at Trader Joe’s. In fact, we have to give the grocery chain a lot of credit because it seems as if it is introducing new vegan products (that we can’t keep our hands off of) almost every month. Even better is the fact that many Trader Joe’s vegan products keep us up to date on the latest food trends—if the Cookie Butter wasn’t vegan, we would have been left out of what has become a food culture phenomenon. But there are still some amazing-looking, dessert-ready products that we’d love to try … except for those pesky animal products in them. If we ran Trader Joe’s, we’d make sure all the products were vegan, but we’d have to start somewhere, and here’s where:

1. Cookies & Creme Cookie Butter
Joe Joe’s cookies are vegan. Cookie Butter is vegan. Why the Cookies & Creme Cookie Butter isn’t vegan is beyond our comprehension. Looking at the beautifully swirled jar of goodness on the shelf is too much for our Cookie Butter-loving hearts to take. Our spoons are waiting …

2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dunkers
While there are plenty of vegan chocolate chip cookies on the market, and Trader Joe’s sells a fantastic option, there’s nothing quite like a cookie designed to fit perfectly into a glass of almond milk. Plus, it has a chocolate coating. Need we say more?

3. Hold the Cone!
These miniature ice cream cones are almost too adorable to resist, but we have to because Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry a dairy-free version. While we’ll take these in pretty much any vegan flavor, bonus points if they make a Soy Creamy Cherry Chocolate Chip version.

4. PB&J Milk Chocolate Bar
Described by Trader Joe’s as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chocolate replacing the bread, this candy bar is everything our inner child desires (our lunches certainly would have been much more exciting with these candy bars in them). Judging by the list of ingredients, if they offer a dark chocolate option, vegans will be lining up for these.

5. Campfire S’mores Bar
If you haven’t noticed from the previously mentioned items, we love dessert and, more specifically, chocolate. So, of course, we’re drooling over the Campfire S’mores Bar. A chocolate bar with ample amounts of graham cracker and marshmallows, it’s a less messy version of the beloved camping snack. If there was a vegan version, we’d definitely be using this as the chocolate component for actual s’mores—with Trader Joe’s vegan marshmallows, of course.

6. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread
Trader Joe’s prides itself on its selection of pumpkin-flavored items during autumn, and we’ve heard the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread is absolutely divine. Since they already have vegan cream cheese, we figure all they need to do is mix some pumpkin and pumpkin spice in it. But for now, mixing it in ourselves will have to be sufficient.

7. Ruggedly Adventuresome Cowboy Bark
This chocolate bark sounds so good that it’s actually unfair we don’t get to try it. Dark chocolate bark with toffee, pretzels, Joe Joe’s cookies, peanuts, almonds, and a sprinkle of sea salt are making our mouths water just thinking about it. Trader Joe’s, please do us a solid by making this vegan immediately! We want to be as ruggedly adventuresome as everyone else who eats these. We promise you won’t regret it.

8. Glazed Walnuts With Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup
The name says it all, really. Unfortunately, these sweet treats contain butter. However, if Trader Joe’s can replace the butter with a vegan version, we would pair them with plant-based cheese and vegan crackers. Or put them in cookies. Or eat them straight out of the bag. Until then, we’ll be dreaming about how delicious these walnuts must be.

9. Gluten Free Oat Cranberry Flaxseed Cookies
These cookies are a very new release (as in week or so ago), but we’re already salivating over them. Described as having brown sugar and molasses, chewy cranberries, and flaxseed, we imagine the tartness of the cranberries, the sweetness of the sugar, and the crunchiness of the flaxseed hit all the right notes. Make these cookies vegan, and we’re in!

Perri Lerner is a freelance writer on a mission to find all the best vegan food … because someone has to.