The perfect ice cream cone is a balancing act in which getting the right ratio of creamy ice cream to crunchy cone is paramount. No one wants to be that kid who cries after losing a scoop of ice cream – it's a sign of poor construction and can turn a beloved treat into a cause for a meltdown.
Enter Hold the Cone mini cones! from Trader Joe's ($3.99 for eight cones). Approximately three inches long, these bite-sized ice cream cones are coated in chocolate on the inside, allowing the cone to stay crunchy from start to finish and golden brown. 'a thin layer of chocolate on top. Inside you will find a small portion of ice cream in vanilla, chocolate chip or chocolate flavors. There are also seasonal flavors like pumpkin, ginger, and peppermint during the holidays, as well as my favorite, coffee bean.
Recipes Made Simple / Stephanie Ganz / Trader Joe's
These mini cones are extremely popular with TJ's customers, who voted them first in the Favorite Candy/Dessert category of the 2023 Customer Choice Awards. (They were finalists in 2021, so clearly their audience is growing.) An article on Mini Coffee Bean Cones on the popular TJ-focused Instagram, @traderjoeslist, provide a glimpse into the fervor for the special flavors, with more than 20,000 likes and hundreds of enthusiastic comments.
Trader Joe's also offers Hold the Dairy Mini Chocolate Cones, and the version made with chocolate and coconut milk ice cream, studded with little bits of vegan chocolate, is just as satisfying as the dairy-based version, at least that's what my very demanding 10-year-old son says, who loves dairy products but is sensitive to them. Instead of the chocolate cap, these cones are covered in chocolate drizzle, and at $3.99 for 12, they seem like a pretty good deal. I keep a box of these in my freezer all summer because I love having a satisfying plant-based dessert for anyone who comes by.
Hold the Cone mini cones have become our family's favorite after-dinner dessert. I love them because, unlike a larger ice cream cone, mini cones are easy enough for my four-year-old to handle without dripping melted chocolate all over herself and everything in her path. Plus, a mini coffee cone is a conveniently sized midday pick-me-up that's more affordable than an iced latte. If one cone isn't enough to curb your ice cream cravings, good news: A recommended serving size is three cones, but I usually stick with two.
