I was a professional baker for 6 years. Here are my favorite sweet treats and baking ingredients to buy at Trader Joe's.

I always make sure to pick up a jar of Trader Joe's authentic imported English lemon curd each time I visit the store.

This take on this classic English dessert spread is rich, buttery, and packed with a bright lemon flavor.

I love to use it in layer cakes or on top of yogurt or ice cream.

I love eating and baking with European-style butter, which is often higher in butterfat than the American version, making it creamier and richer.

Trader Joe's cultured salted butter, which is made in Brittany, France, is affordable and, in my opinion, rivals more expensive European-style options on the market.

One note of caution: Because this butter is salted, I always reduce the added salt when using it to bake biscuits and breads.

Whenever I host but don't have time to make an elaborate dessert, I'll grab the Trader Joe's New York deli-style cheesecake.

Available in the frozen dessert section of the store, this cheesecake thaws quickly and is already pre-portioned into perfect slices.

Trader Joe's brownie truffle baking mix is hands down my favorite boxed brownie variety.

These brownies, which are made with Dutch cocoa, are ultra-chocolatey, fudgy, and chock-full of chocolate chips.

In other words, it's the ultimate chocolate dessert you can pass off as homemade.

One of my favorite sweet treats from Trader Joe's is the chocolate croissants. I'm immediately transported to a bakery in Paris after the first bite.

These frozen pastries need to be thawed out overnight before you can bake them, but I think they're well worth the wait.

The dough is flaky with a nice butter scent, and the chocolate filling inside is perfectly sweet and nutty every time. I typically like to pair these with a cup of coffee.

Trader Joe's sliced French brioche is my secret to delicious French toast.

Each slice is eggy, soft, a little sweet, and made for Trader Joe's directly by a bakery in France.

I can go through the entire loaf of this bread in three days, just by snacking on it one slice at a time.

Baking powder is essential in nearly every recipe, and I think the Trader Joe's version is one of the best.

Affordable and effective, Trader Joe's double-acting baking powder always has a place in my cabinet.

As a baker, I will always choose vanilla paste over extract because the scent and flavor are much stronger and more detectable in paste form.

The only drawback of vanilla paste is that it can sometimes be really expensive, but that's not the case at Trader Joe's.

I love using the bourbon vanilla-bean paste in pound cakes, frosting, or any dessert where I want vanilla to be front and center.

I always have the Trader Joe's mini sheet cakes on hand for a quick post-dinner dessert or a special breakfast.

They're the perfect size for snacking and are insanely delicious.

Trader Joe's carries classic cake flavors year-round, like dark-chocolate ganache, but the store also drops seasonal flavors like pumpkin, carrot cake, and lemon.

Trader Joe's organic brown sugar adds a rich, molasses-forward sweetness to everything from chewy cookies to coffee cake.

I love how this sugar adds a deeper caramel flavor and a subtle crunch to baked goods, especially in crisps, streusels, and cookie doughs.

Trader Joe's unbleached enriched all-purpose flour is always in my pantry, and when it's not, I run to the store to pick up more.

I typically use this flour to make cakes, muffins, and pancakes, but it also works great as a thickening agent in sauces, soups, and stews.