9 Discontinued Trader Joe's Fall Products We Miss Every Year

Every year, Trader Joe's shoppers look forward to fall, when the retailer releases its autumn-themed foods and drinks. But this grocer is known for discontinuing beloved products just as quickly as it puts out new ones. Over the years, many customers have lost their favorite fall finds — from miniature pumpkin pies to ice cream sandwiches or autumnal curry simmer sauces. 

We looked to social media to find the fall items that customers miss most, focusing exclusively on food-related products. (For more info on how we put this list together, you can check out our full methodology at the end of this article.) While some of these items were discontinued recently, others are foods that only true Trader Joe's regulars will remember. If you have a favorite find you wish would come back year after year, chances are, it's somewhere on this list. Who knows — maybe we'll get the opportunity to see these foods resurrected someday.

Released in 2019, this maple-flavored fall ice cream was filled with bits of spicy ginger snap cookies and swirled with even more maple syrup. In a Reddit thread during its release, a user described the ice cream's flavor: "So good with the gingersnap chunks and the teeny tiny pieces of ginger ... This is some extra creamy ice cream." 

Since it seemed to receive mostly positive reviews online, fans were disappointed to realize that the ice cream never made it back on shelves the following year. "Maple Ginger Cookie Swirl ice cream was amazing!!" commented one Redditor on an r/traderjoes thread, after it was confirmed to have been discontinued. "... Here's to hoping for a comeback in 2021." (Sadly, that never happened.) 

As for its discontinuation, it's possible that Trader Joe's decided to simply move in a different, simpler direction — such as its Salted Maple Ice Cream, which is the fall ice cream we wait all year for. Still, we wish there was a version with a little more kick (and crunch) available.

Trader Joe's aisles are full of pumpkin spice beverages, but one notable absence is its Pumpkin Spice Almond Beverage, which left stores for good in 2020. Rather than being an ultra-sweet drink, the beverage was reportedly a little subtler, but with clear notes of pie spices. Its bright orange color was another sign of its pleasantly pumpkin pie-like flavor.

Shortly before learning about its discontinuation, one fan posted on Reddit: "Has the pumpkin spice almond beverage been discontinued? ... I will be heartbroken if it is gone, since it was the perfect seasonal coffee creamer..." 

If you're looking through the aisles for a potential replacement, you could try using regular almond milk with Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Flavored Cold Brew Coffee instead. Still, we wish that Trader Joe's would have replaced the non-dairy pumpkin milk with a similar seasonal beverage, as its current dairy-free milks are lacking in the fall flavors department. 

Whether you love or hate candy corn, there's a chance you might have enjoyed Trader Joe's Candy Corn Popcorn regardless. At the time of its release, it was often compared more to kettle corn than candy corn. There were no pieces of real candy corn in the bag; instead, the popcorn was thoroughly covered in a candy corn flavored coating. If it's the texture of those tri-colored candies you dislike, Candy Corn Popcorn would have been pretty satisfying. Hopefully you have a time machine, because it's been out of stores for several years.

"For FIVE years, I have thought about and hoped for this product to reappear every September/October," wrote one Redditor on r/traderjoes. "This stuff was AWESOME. A delightful balance of salty and sweet with a fun crunch and candy corn flare." In another thread, someone shared their sadness over its discontinuation: "It was so good I basically bought a whole case of it so I could eat it throughout the year," they explained.

The Pumpkin Spiced Cookie Butter may have proved that there really can be too much of a good thing. Many people online raved about this product, which was a mix of warm fall spices, pumpkin, and cookie butter. It was frequently compared to pumpkin pie filling — but better. Plus, as with most dessert spreads, it seemed to go with almost everything — from banana bread to pumpkin pancakes. 

Needless to say, the loss of the Pumpkin Spiced Cookie Butter was devastating to many shoppers. "Personally, I thought it was the best pumpkin spice product I'd ever had and every year I hope and pray it'll come back!" wrote one Redditor. 

Thankfully, you can at least still grab some of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter this fall. If you add in some cookie crumbles of your own, you might be able to achieve a spread that reminds you of the original. Alternatively, per a Redditor in the same thread: "Did you ever try just mixing pumpkin pie spice into regular cookie butter? I've done that and it's pretty good."

This fall spin on classic cinnamon rolls was a hit with pumpkin spice fans. These gooey, pumpkin-flavored rolls were covered in a spiced orange icing. They came in a can and took only around 20 minutes to bake. Reviewers praised their soft texture and the strong notes of pumpkin in the icing.

Despite being a fall staple since 2014, the Pumpkin Rolls were discontinued around 2023. Shoppers speculated that they only left stores because the original supplier went out of business. "... I lived for these every September," one fan reminisced on Reddit after learning about the rolls' discontinuation. 

These days, your best bet is to purchase Trader Joe's regular Organic Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls, which come with vanilla-flavored icing. Just add your own pumpkin puree and spices to the mix. You may want to thin the icing out again with some milk to keep the texture close to the original. You can also try unrolling them to make them look bakery-worthy.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Croissants once came in a frozen four-pack, with pumpkin seeds on the outside and a pumpkin filling on the inside. While not everyone felt they baked well from frozen, customers still seemed to enjoy them. "Pumpkin Croissants: The One That Got Away..." poeticized a Redditor, adding, "my wife and I are always on the lookout every fall, if only we had known the last time was the last time — maybe someday." 

Another wrote: "Good to know I'm not the only one who remembers/misses them. The square ones are decent enough, but definitely nowhere close to as good as these ones were." (Those "square ones" are likely Trader Joe's Pumpkin Cheesecake Croissants.) These days, customers seem satisfied enough with the brand's third iteration of these fall pastries: the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Croissants. While they're not an exact copy of the original, they're worth a shot.

Mini pies are all the rage at Starbucks these days, but do you remember Trader Joe's Mini Pumpkin Pies? These bite-sized pies came frozen in a box of six, and a diamond-shaped slit in the top crust showed off the orange pumpkin filling inside. Reviewers often raved about the taste and texture of the buttery crust. "As the only person in my family/friend group who likes pumpkin pie, these were so perfect for me and I wish they'd bring them back!" reminisced a Redditor in a thread discussing the petite pies. "Wow I forgot about these! Now I'm sad haha," added another.

For now, you'll have to settle for Trader Joe's Teeny Tiny Pumpkin Pies. While these limited-edition mini pies are ready-to-eat rather than frozen, they don't have quite as much crust on top. You could also try baking them yourself for a bite-sized take on Thanksgiving dessert; just don't forget the essential store-bought ingredient for mini pies that are perfect for entertaining.

Trader Joe's Mini Ginger Pumpkin Ice Cream Mouthfuls featured sweet and smooth pumpkin ice cream between two soft gingersnap cookies. Customers found the cookies to be pleasantly spicy and chewy — even if the ice cream sandwiches themselves were a bit on the messy side. "... they make for a tasty treat despite the presentation," explained one Redditor who posted a less-than-appealing photo of the Mouthfuls.

While the Mouthfuls themselves are gone from shelves, you can still purchase Trader Joe's Pumpkin Ice Cream during the fall season. Fans say it's very similar to (if not the same as) the ice cream that was used in the original frozen sandwiches. Better yet, you could always try DIYing your own Mini Ginger Pumpkin Ice Cream Mouthfuls with the grocer's Triple Ginger Snaps for an easy throwback dessert. Just don't forget to use this clever trick for the prettiest ice cream sandwiches.

While many of Trader Joe's pumpkin products are sweet, the Pumpkin Curry Simmer Sauce was a savory exception. Made with aromatic ingredients like pumpkin, garlic, and red jalapeño puree, along with plenty of warming spices, shoppers loved using this sauce alongside rice, tofu, chickpeas, and meat. The simmer sauce was also vegan, since it used coconut cream (which isn't the same thing as cream of coconut, by the way).

Upon its discontinuation in 2022, there was an outpour of support for the Pumpkin Curry Simmer Sauce on social media. "... I'm actually grieving this product," lamented a user on Reddit. A few others claimed that they enjoyed the sauce so much, they had actually stocked up on it the year prior. 

A couple of fans have tried their hand at recreating the pumpkin sauce with their own recipes. Copycat versions online rely on similar ingredients and spices as the original, with a few additions — like diced onions, lime juice, or canned tomatoes. You could also start with a premade curry sauce and add pumpkin puree for a little extra fall flavor. 

To create this list of products, we utilized social media comments and product reviews. We first ensured that each item had several positive reviews from when it was still in stores, and then confirmed that fans lamented the product's disappearance after its discontinuation. This list only looked at food products — including savory items, snacks, and desserts — rather than home or decor pieces.

In order to qualify for this list, each product needed to have appeared at Trader Joe's as a limited-edition seasonal item at least once. The brand itself doesn't confirm publicly when items are discontinued — instead, we consider a food to be discontinued when customers have not seen it on shelves for at least one autumn, as well as when it is no longer listed on Trader Joe's website.