Review: Trader Joe's Sweet Cinnamon Filled Korean Pancakes

Trader Joe's Sweet Cinnamon Filled Korean Pancakes feature "chewy-flaky dough filled with lusciously gooey cinnamon filling." It's Trader Joe's version of hotteok, a popular Korean street food dessert.

A 12.7-oz package was $4.49.

I haven't eaten much hotteok but I know them for having a brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped peanut filling although they can come with all sorts of sweet and/or savory fillings.

Here, it looks like they went with a sweet potato mousse for a thickened, gooey texture (but no discernable flavor) and just cinnamon and plain granulated sugar for flavor. The resulting flavor was pretty much like a run-of-the-mill cinnamon roll feel, which is to say a sweet and cinnamon-y taste.

In texture, besides the gooey filling, the pancake itself developed a nice, crispy crust from my cast iron pan (you can also cook these fairly quickly in the air fryer or microwave) with a soft, somewhat stretchy, chewy texture inside due to a combination of wheat and sweet rice flour.

Overall, Trader Joe's Sweet Cinnamon Korean Pancakes made for enjoyable dessert eating. It's sweet but not overly so and offers a nice mix of textures. I would say they went for a more accessible/familiar flavor as the pancakes basically feel like a cinnamon roll made with fried mochi dough.

Nutritional Info - Trader Joe's Sweet Cinnamon Korean Pancakes
Serving Size - 1 pancake
Calories - 280 (from Fat - 70)
Fat - 8g (Saturated Fat - 1.5g)
Sodium - 180mg
Carbs - 49g (Sugar - 27g)
Protein - 4g