Trader Joe's New Sugar Cookies Look Just Like A Popular Brand's

For me, the best part about any holiday has little to do with the holiday itself, and everything to do with what kind of baked goods will be served. And Trader Joe's has everyone's back with the grocery store chain's coveted seasonal items. Valentine's Day preparations are in full swing, and Trader Joe's Sugar Cookie Dough Hearts look suspiciously similar to something Pillsbury has been doing for years. Now, sugar cookies won't be on the list of most popular Valentine's Day candies, but if I've learned anything from baking thousands of holiday cookies over the years, it's that Pillsbury Shape sugar cookies are a staple for any celebration.

The Pillsbury Shape cookies are made for every occasion from football season to the Fourth of July, and the Valentine's cookies are just as festive, with an image of three small hearts waiting to be baked (or eaten right out of the package). Is Trader Joe's copying a long-popular cookie? Or is it reinventing the wheel and improving a Doughboy classic?

So, what's the difference between the Pillsbury Shape cookies and Trader Joe's Sugar Cookie Dough Hearts? Aside from the Trader Joe's cookies having two fewer hearts on each cookie (its cookies feature one large pink heart in the center), it's all about the ingredients. Ask yourself, would you want to eat the Pillsbury Doughboy? Probably not — for many reasons, one of which is that no one knows what that guy is made of. While the ingredients in the Pillsbury Shape cookies are listed on the package, the use of Red Dye 40 is still enough to make many consumers look for a better alternative.

Red Dye 40 is a petroleum-derived product used to give many foods a red color, though its consumption has been linked to allergies, migraines, and other health concerns. Trader Joe's Sugar Cookie Dough Hearts still don festive, colorful heart shapes on each cookie, but the ingredients list shows that the brand uses vegetable juice for color instead of added dyes. Trader Joe's Sugar Cookie Dough Hearts are here to make everyone's Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day — or whatever you celebrate — just a little sweeter.