I normally run in the other direction when someone offers a "baked" version of a snack item that is typically fried. I can't do the baked potato chips or the baked tortilla chips. They taste so much worse to me that it's just not worth it.

When I saw that Trader Joe's offered a baked version of the crunchy Cheetos, I figured I would try it out and hope that they would be different. Each serving of Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies has 33% less fat than Crunchy Cheetos. One serving of Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies (about 33 crunchies) comes in at 6g of total fat vs. 9g of fat for the fried version.

Upon trying the Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies, I found that the texture was identical to the fried version. And, that was most important in my eyes. As far as cheesiness is concerned, the Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies come in less cheesy than Cheetos, but still tasty. My husband seems to notice this difference more than the rest of us. He said the Trader Joe's version of Cheetos didn't have enough of a cheddar bite.

I wouldn't say Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies are priced very reasonably. A small 7oz. bag runs $2.69. Ouch! Usually Trader Joe's prices are more competitive. We polished off an entire bag in two days and our snacks usually sit around in the pantry for a while. So the small bag and good taste have the Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies only sticking around for a short visit in our house. But, I think I will still add the Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies into consideration for my grocery rotation of snack foods.

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