Trader Joe's Shoppers Rejoice Over The Return Of This Fall Bakery Favorite — 'Bought IMMEDIATELY'

The signs of fall creep keep coming (sigh, looking at you, Pumpkin Spice Latte), and that includes at Trader Joe's, which is now selling a thankfully not-pumpkin-spice-flavored item in the form of a pastry. Trader Joe's customers have recently spotted packages of apple cider donuts in the store, which has got some people grousing about their early appearance while others have been quick to express their excitement. In one Instagram post about them, a commenter wrote, "Bought IMMEDIATELY."

On Reddit, customers noted some details about the donut's arrival. One Redditor said about the timing, "This is about the same as last year. They show up about 2-3 weeks before the Fall/Pumpkin tsunami." Another Redditor wrote, "Yeah I ate a whole box this week ... oops." Nothing heralds the beginning of fall like apple orchards, pumpkins, and sweaters; and it looks like Trader Joe's is just getting into the swing of things in the heat of late summer. Aldi has also been selling fall products early this year. (The official end of summer is on September 22, by the way, I say grumpily.)

This isn't the first time Trader Joe's has released these apple cider donuts as they're a seasonally-returning product, but the crowd opinion has historically been mixed. In a Reddit thread from a couple years back, one commenter wrote, "They're not horrible donuts, but the ones I had would've been more accurately described as cinnamon sugar donuts — the apple cider taste was just not there for me in the one box that I got." And another said, "They're just meh for me. Wouldn't waste my calories or money on them."

That's not to say they aren't worth purchasing, though multiple people said they take some finessing. "Great! Warm them up in the air fryer," wrote one person. Other customers chimed in to agree that the apple cider donuts are worth buying if you first warm them up. We're still huge proponents of making your own food when you have the means and we've previously published our own recipe for apple cider donuts, but obviously if you can't make your way over to an orchard Trader Joe's version might be the next best thing — as long as you heat them up beforehand.