The best new Trader Joe's groceries for April (including the cream cheese everyone is talking about)

Sometimes the best new items at Trader Joe's clearly follow a theme for the month (like when everything includes pumpkin or is drizzled in hot honey). This month, however, it was more of a sound that united many of the more delicious items in the bunch. 

I'm talking about shattering cracks of chips, crackers, roasted nuts, and ultra-crispy cookies. The crunch factor was so high that I would not want to eat most of these new groceries near an avalanche-warning zone. Still, there were also a few new silent pleasures in the mix, which is great because then no one in your home will hear you enjoying your new favorite mochi ice cream or whipped cream cheese. 

Of course, not every new item can be a winner. Of the 22 I tried, these are the five you might want to consider adding to your list of Trader Joe's favorites, and two you can probably skip.

This mochi is the quiet-seeming sweet I was much too vocal about upon taking my first bite because it's just … rude how good these are. Some of us have to work! And now, all I want to do is eat these mochi. 

So often the salt component of salted caramel-flavored foods is lost in the background. But here? The salt and caramel elements are so balanced in the nutty, ultra-buttery ice cream middle - other mochi makers should take note.

If you thought you didn't have any more room in your heart for another crunchy, tangy chip, you might want to make some. Much like the spicier Chili Lime Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips, these unleash a symphony of crunchiness when you take a bite. Here the chili-lime spice is swapped for a buttermilk tang-forward ranch seasoning that is reminiscent of its chip cousin. It's well-worth adding to your snack rotation.

I've admittedly not tried this spread on anything other than a spoon or my own finger. I also don't think there's anything wrong with that, as this cream cheese more than mimics the flavor experience of a slice of carrot cake. While it might be easy to assume this would taste like cream cheese frosting and a whisper of carrot cake, it's really the opposite. 

This not-too-sweet cream cheese features all the earthy carrot, cinnamon spice, and subtly toasty brown sugar notes of the spring dessert. Double your fun and put this on a stack of carrot cake pancakes - because why not?

Pivoting from loud bites of chips, I cleansed my palate with a few earth-shatteringly crisp Danish Oat cookies. I'm talking Nature Valley Granola Bar-levels of crunch here with these buttery, caramelized sandwich cookies that are filled with a dark chocolate drizzle. 

At first, these cookies sort of stumped me. They're certainly a dessert and very reminiscent of lacy cookies mixed with buttery sandwich cookies - but there's also a savory backbone here (from the oats?!) that is pretty irresistible. Either way, their crunch factor goes down a few notches (in an excellent, melty way) when dipped into hot, milky tea, which is great to sip on as you contemplate why these are so good.

Easily the loudest portion of my taste-testing was when I realized how well this bar nut mix goes with the aforementioned Ranch Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips. I would absolutely suggest mixing these two together - but perhaps not if you have a sleeping baby or anyone studying nearby, or if you don't want to get kicked out of a library. 

If you're fans of the very-viral Garlic Butter Irish Potato Chips, you'll want to get your hands on this nut mix that takes all that similar magic and uses it to coat cashews, toasted bread chips, almonds, and pecans. My canister maybe had a bit too many bread chips, but I'm not mad - just going to sprinkle them as croutons on my next salad, TBH.

More is more, but sometimes it's also too much. That was what popped into my head as I searched through this container of chicken salad to figure out why it doesn't quite work. There's just way too much going on here: chunks of chicken that are almost too big, sun-dried tomatoes, mayo, olives, marinated artichoke hearts. 

The result is an overly rich, oily, olive-forward mishmash of a chicken salad, and something I wouldn't repeat if I made it myself at home. In fact, this convinced me I should just keep making my own chicken salad at home.

These poblano peppers are clearly experiencing an identity crisis. These might look like cheesy chile rellenos, but only if you're squinting hard. That's how it feels eating one, too. 

It's seemingly filled with Monterey Jack cheese, corn, sour cream, rice, chicken, and a creamy cilantro sauce, and yet? It's still … pretty bland. Even the poblano pepper is pretty mild in the spice department. Who hurt this pepper? I demand justice!

What new Trader Joe's items are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments below.

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