The $3.99 Trader Joe’s Find My Kids Love and I Double Love

I love dried fruit. I always have some on hand—dried apricots, raisins, dried cranberries, and even prunes won’t last long when I’m around. I eat raisins in my morning oatmeal and can’t pass up a trail mix with dried cherries. But honestly, I’m the only one in our family of four that is in the least bit tempted by dried fruit. I can’t even add Craisins to my homemade granola if I want my two teens to eat it. I’ve come to accept this and assume any and all dried fruit will be for me and me alone. 

Then, I came across Trader Joe's New Zealand Sweet Apple Rings. I brought them home and surprisingly had to share. These dried apple rings are unsulfured, unsweetened, and have only one ingredient, dried apples. They are made with my favorite variety of apples: Braeburn, Royal Gala, Fuji, and Pink Lady. The rings are soft and chewy. You don't need to rip or tear your way through these, as you typically would for other types of dried fruits, like mango and pineapple. They have a clean and sweet apple flavor without off-putting smells or odd flavors. Some of the rings still have their peel, which means that not every bite is the same. My family tentatively tried a few and then before I knew it, the bag was empty. Now I never leave Trader Joe’s without at least two of the eight-ounce bags in my cart. Each bag costs $3.99, and contains about 50 dried apple rings.

Once I learned my boys would eat these, I thought I could buy dried apples from any grocery store. I was completely wrong. The Trader Joe's dried apple rings are the only ones that my family will eat. They are that good!

TJ’s dried apple rings are a great grab-and-go option for easy, no mess snacking. We eat them straight out of the bag while we stand around the kitchen, talking about how school went that day. They are a tasty addition to school lunch boxes, too. We’re heading out of town this weekend and I plan to bring a bag of dried apple rings onto the airplane to snack on. I also add them to the bottom of a small container topped with nuts and pretzels as a low-sugar, filling snack for the days my oldest goes straight from school to soccer practice.

These dried apples are a delectable, shelf stable, non-messy, snack that is so tasty that even my I-don’t-like-dried-fruit family happily eats them. Sometimes I just wish they’d leave me some.