Starbucks: the Pastries!

Update Review, 2022-2024 Tastings

I don't generally seek them out, but sometimes I encounter baked goods from Starbucks (usually because I have some stars to spend that are expiring!).  While my previous encounters have mostly been fairly "meh", I found a few items in the past two years that I've actually enjoyed.

Blueberry Scone. $2.95.

"A traditional scone with blueberries, buttermilk and lemon lovingly handmade to remind you of everything wholesome."

Seriously meh.  This is not really a scone.

I certainly didn't taste the buttermilk tang.  It was crumbly, but not in a good way.  Blueberries were hard.

*+.

Chocolate Cake Pop. $2.75.

"Chocolate cake mixed with chocolate buttercream, dipped in chocolatey coating and topped with sugar sprinkles create this wonderfully reimagined dessert on a stick."

Ok, so I generally don't like cake pops.  I *want* to like cake pops, I mean, I like cake, I like buttercream, I like chocolate or white chocolate coating, but ... they always let me down, no matter how fresh, no matter how nice of a bakery they come from.  Just usually so strangely moist-gummy inside, and just not that pleasing to eat.  I generally resort to dunking them in milk, like you might a cookie, and reminding myself that I don't like cake pops.  Sometimes I warm them up, so the chocolate coating melts in, and it just becomes a warm gooey chocolate cake, and then I serve a la mode.  But at that point, it is far from the intended easy to grab and eat cake pop form!

But this ... this I liked.  It was crazy rich, very sweet, and intensely chocolately.  The coating was dark chocolate, a sweet style, but dark, and really satisfied my chocolate craving.  The inside was moist, cookie-dough like texture, but somehow it didn't bother me like cake pops often do.  It was super chocolately and sweet too.  I loved the crunch from the few sprinkles on the outside.

It paired remarkably well with a black coffee, alternating small bites and a sip of coffee to counterbalance the sweet rich overload.  I think it would go great with a glass of milk, or dunked into whipped cream too.

I was shocked that I liked it as much as I did, maybe I was just in the mood (which, to be fair, I really was!), but, I'd gladly get these again.

****.

Birthday Cake Pop. $2.75.

"Vanilla cake and icing, dipped in a pink chocolaty coating with white sprinkles—a celebratory confetti of birthday joyfulness.'

After loving the chocolate cake pops so much, I next went for the birthday cake ones.  I forgot I had tried these before, long ago, when the price was more than $1 less! I didn't particularly like it then, and found it too sweet.

But given how much I adore the chocolate ones, I was still excited to try the birthday one again.

And ... yeah, I didn't care for it. The sweetness wasn't really the issue, I liked the sweet white chocolate coating quite a bit, but, the inside is what I didn't enjoy.  It was dense, a bit oily almost, and not cake-like, nor gooey, and strangely moist.  I didn't like the texture, and didn't like the taste, it was pretty plain.  Coating, good, inside, meh, and kinda the reason why I have historically not really enjoyed cake pops.

*.

Cookies & Cream. $2.95.

"Chocolate cake blended with creamy, sandwich-cookie buttercream and cookie bits, dipped in white-chocolaty coating and finished with dark-chocolaty cookie crumb."

Next up, I went back in the chocolate direction, with the cookies & cream.  Now, I don't generally like Oreo-adjacent items (nor Oreos themselves), but, they were out of the chocolate ones when I visited, and I still wanted to get my chocolate fix.

This one was ok.  The inside was not quite as moist as the others, although still quite rich.  Good chocolate flavor, but, it did also indeed taste like Oreo, due to the style of buttercream mixed in, which just isn't a compelling flavor for me.  The white chocolate coating was a good thickness, creamy, sweet, and yes, fairly rich too.  It wasn't quite as overpowering here as with the vanilla cake, as the chocolate helped balance it.

Overall, for me it was an average item, ***, but if you like cookies and cream, I suspect you'd enjoy this more.

Chocolate Chip Cookie. $2.45.

"This scrumptious, satisfying cookie love will uplift your day—sweet chocolate chips embedded in a thick, chewy goodness of our favorite dough make this an absolute must-have."

Who thinks of cookies when they think of Starbucks?  No one, right?  And certainly not me, the girl who generally doesn't care for cookies all that much.  But ... every once in a while I really crave one, generally either cold/frozen and dunked in milk or coffee, or warm and topped with ice cream or whipped cream.  And when I do want a cookie, it doesn't need to be fancy.  I like it a softer style, and a sweet style, and I want nice big chunks of quality chocolate, but, it certainly doesn't need to be homemade. Sometimes the overly sweet processed kind have a charm to them.

This cookie entirely met my expectations.  It wasn't wholesome tasting, but actually, it didn't have anything too crazy in it.  I liked the sweetness from brown sugar in addition to the regular white sugar, and the use of both milk chocolate chunks and semi sweet chips.  It was reasonably soft, and the chocolate was reasonably well distributed.  I'd prefer bigger chunks, but, this was pretty standard.  A great cookie?  Nah.  One to go buy again?  Probably not.  But it was fine, and even better warm.  ***.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin.  $3.25.
(Seasonal).

"This moist perfectly spiced pumpkin muffin—topped with sweet cream cheese filling and a sprinkling of chopped, spiced pepitas—offers a delightful balance of salty and sweet."

Pumpkin spice season.  I tend to hate it.  Sure, I appreciate a pumpkin pie, but pumpkin spice all the things ... yeah, not really for me, particularly as nutmeg I tend to only like in small doses.

But one day, while craving carrot cake or something similar, I saw the pumpkin muffin and it just jumped out.  Plus, the slightly rustic look with the bits of pepitas on top almost made it look less processed and packaged than it was ...

The muffin was decently moist, although clearly not freshly baked, and the crumb structure was fairly closed.  It tasted subtly of pumpkin, some slight spicing, but nothing aggressive.  The cream cheese filling was really just a dot on top, as it said, "topped with", not "stuffed with" or "filled with", so if you were expecting something closer to a cupcake, this was certainly not it.

Basically, pretty generic, non-offensive, but not particularly good, at room temp.  **+.

But I brought it home, heated it, added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel and ... that transformed it.  Warm pumpkin spice cake, a la mode, sweetened with the caramel?  Really quite satisfying. ***+.

Pumpkin Loaf Cake (Seasonal). $3.45.

"A gently spiced bread with pumpkin flavors and pepitas gives you a tasty way to celebrate a seasonal favorite."

I picked this one day after really craving pumpkin cake, not really something I knew could happen, but, my mom was going to make her pumpkin roll cake, got busy, and failed to do it.  My brain was fixed on pumpkin cake.  I knew the pumpkin cream cheese muffins were pretty good, but decided to mix it up a bit and try this, having forgotten that I did indeed try it as a sample once years ago.  My plan was perhaps to eat it as a morning item, or, do as dessert warm a la mode if necessary.

This item entirely met expectations.  That is to say, it was a bit stodgy, had a highly preserved taste, and the seasonal spices were a bit too strong for me early in the morning (which, is when I was having it, alongside my morning coffee).  It also was fairly sweet, sugar is literally the first ingredient, and that pushed pretty far in the "cake" department rather than morning bread, but, at the same time, it had no icing, frosting, etc.  I did like the little bit of crunch from pepitas on the top.  Warming it up brought out the spices more in some ways, but also kinda softened them.

I saved half and heated it up later for dessert, and served it a la mode and with fresh blackberries.  As a warm cake I liked it more, and the ice cream balanced the spices, but this still isn't an item I particularly want more of.

Somehow, this pretty small slice of cake has more calories than the larger pumpkin cream cheese muffin, which certainly seemed more decadent to me.  

***.

Cranberry Bliss Bar. (Seasonal). $16.25 tray or $3.25 each.

"A blondie cake with dried cranberries, finished with a layer of cream-cheese icing flecked with orange zest and a sprinkle of dried cranberries—a holiday extravaganza of undeniable yum."

I got these mostly for my mom, as they sounded like something she'd really enjoy - cranberries and orange are her thing!  

I got a full tray, so I was able to try one as well.

It was good, for what it was.  The blondie was moist, it did have pops of cranberry studding it, and the lightly orange cream cheese icing complimented it well.  The icing was sweet, but it didn't overpower, as the layer of icing was thinner than the blondie base.  The dried cranberries on top made it look pretty and added a touch of chew.

Overall, a good item, it made me wish I liked cranberry and orange flavors more.  My mother, and aunt, both enjoyed them.

***+, but a **+ given my tastes.

Sugar Plum Cheese Danish (Seasonal). $3.65.

"Cream-cheese filling surrounded by a fluffy danish, topped with a spiced sugar plum spread—a dreamy combination of flavors that will inspire visions of this holiday delight long after your last bite."

Ah, the sugar plum cheese danish.  An item I'd never pick, although I've seen so many people rave about it.  My skepticism was quite high, given that I wasn't particularly fond of the regular cheese danish, and it didn't look particularly good.  I mean, after all, it is a mass produced frozen and thawed danish ...

But the masses, and in particular those who actually *work* at Starbucks insist this thing is fantastic.  I opted to not have it heated up, since I wanted to take it home to have for dessert later.

I tried a bite before warming, and wasn't particularly impressed.  It was much like a danish from an airline, the pastry soft and not flaky, clearly not fresh.   It seemed to have some sugar on the exterior, that was slightly melty and sticky from being wrapped in plastic.  The plum spread was flavorful, and there was plenty of it, but, unless I was a captive audience on a flight ... this pastry is just not something I'd care for.

But heating it made all the difference, which I suspected (the sbux folks are pretty clear that you need to heat it, and they even recommend 500* convection oven at home for 2 minutes to make it just like they do in cafe - I went for 450* convection for more like 3-4 minutes and it seemed like the right temp/time).  The top got crispy, nearly caramelized from the aforementioned sugar goo, making it have a slight resemblance to a kouign amann.  Is this intentional from the sugar sweat?  I have no idea, but it really worked.  It still wasn't fresh, buttery, flakey pastry of course, but the slightly doughy-dense buttery warm pastry with crispy caramelized exterior worked.

The filling was really quite generous, both the cream cheese and the plum spread.  The cream cheese filling was creamy, smooth, rich, and complimented the sweet, fruity plum spread well.  I wouldn't necessarily say, "oh, that's sugar plum!", but, it was a clear fruit flavor different from a generic berry goo, slightly reminding me of apricot.  It is made with plum puree, along with plenty of sugar and corn syrup of course, and light seasonal spices (nutmeg, clove).

Overall, once warm, yup, this was really a nice item, a shocker for a packaged thawed frozen item.  I paired it with ice cream, but it wasn't really necessary.

****.

Update Review, November 2020

As I've mentioned before (reviews below), I have a strange relationship with pastries from Starbucks - I get them very rarely, maybe once a year honestly, and have some items I really do love, but most leave me feeling gross.  And yet, I do still keep trying things, or getting those damn scones again, because, well, I love baked goods too much, and they are always right there on display.  #marketingWorks. 

But this review isn't for something that I sought out, it came to me (for reals!).

Old Fashioned Glazed Doughnut.

"A doughnut glazed with delicious sweet icing."

Ok, who goes to Starbucks for donuts?  Basically, no one.  I've seen them in the case for years and always thought they were kinda hilarious.  Donuts need to be ... fresh-ish at least.  And I know all Starbucks pastries are frozen.

So I've never opted for one, despite being fond of donuts.

And then a co-worker brought them to the office.  If it was being *brought* to me, *placed* in front of me, I couldn't say no right?

Ugh, I should have.

It was actually even ... worse than I imagined.  Heavy, dense, strangely moist on the outside, strangely dry and stale inside. I tried to at least like the "delicious sweet icing", but to no avail.  This was horrible.  The least fresh tasting donut I've probably ever had in my life. *.

Even more amazing? It was is a totally normal size simple donut, and is somehow 480 calories.  How do they even do that?  Mmm, oil.

Update Review, November 2015

Starbucks is known for many things, but quality pastries, even after the La Boulange integration, is not really it. Yet, as you may recall from my earlier review, I'm strangely fascinated by them. I know they aren't high quality. I know they arrive at Starbucks frozen. But ... I enjoy the scones, even though they leave me feeling totally gross.

So, I gambled, and tried another item. I moved out of the comfort zone of scones, past the quickbreads and cake pops I never liked, and zeroed in on the croissant style items. Regular croissants, chocolate croissants, morning buns, and cheese danishes were my options. And honestly, they all looked awful. Flat as pancakes, not flaky. But for some reason, I still went for it. And, just the scones, I'm glad I did. I don't get it.

Cheese Danish.

“A flaky pastry folded around reduced-fat cream cheese.”

It didn't remotely live up to the description of a “flaky pastry”, as the dough wasn’t remotely flaky nor laminated nor layered, but, it wasn’t awful. If you think of it more like a donut, it works. It had that slight cloying oiliness about a donut that makes your gut hurt a little just thinking about it, but it wasn’t too bad. And as long as you didn’t expect light, flaky croissant dough, it wasn’t offensive. Although, it was flat as a pancake.

The cheese filling was creamy, generous, and moist. Overall, truly not awful.

I got it to bring home, so at first I had it cold, so I can’t comment on how it transforms warmed up by their magic machine. Then I moved it to my own toaster oven, again, not a true reflection of how it would come served at Starbucks. My toasting wasn't a great move - the top got crispy, perhaps a bit flaky, but not really. The filling got creamier, which was nice, but, overall, it was the wrong move, and I actually liked it more cold.  Low ***.

Original Review, September 2014

I know Starbucks isn't novel to anyone.  I'm sure you've been there.  Most likely however, it has been for the drinks, which I've reviewed before.  Perhaps for a frappuccino, which I've also reviewed before.  Or, maybe for one of their famous seasonal offerings, which I've also reviewed.

But have you been to Starbucks for ... the food?  Yes, Starbucks isn't known for their food, but when they purchased La Boulange a while ago, they revamped all of the food offerings, trying to turn more into a "bakery".  Except, you know, a bakery where all the baked goods are mass produced in off-site baking centers and shipped to the stores.  When they first introduced the items to stores, they required that you have them warmed up.  You can read all about the reasons why ... but I don't recommend it if you ever want to eat any of these things.

Anyway, you know I've never really been impressed with the La Boulange bakeries themselves, nor their breakfast catering, so what chance did I have to like the even more mass produced items?  Little chance for sure, but you know me, curiosity finally got the best of me.  I can't resist baked goods.

Scones

Starbucks now carries only three scones, two are regular size creations from the new La Boulange line, but the tiny little vanilla scones still remain from their original lineup.  I have of course tried, and compared, all three.

Petit Vanilla Scone. $0.95.

"Our moist, fluffy petite scone is made with real vanilla beans and natural vanilla extract. It's a bite-sized treat that’s big on flavor."

Back when I commuted regularly, I rode a shuttle from the Civic Center Muni station.  On the very rare days that I wasn't frantically dashing to catch my bus, I'd hit up to Starbucks to grab a coffee, and sometimes, a treat.  I always went for the cute little petit vanilla scones.  I remember really liking them.

I recently ventured into Starbucks and wanted something sweet to accompany my drink.  I saw that even though most of the baked goods had been replaced by the La Boulange offerings, the petit vanilla scones remained untouched.  Yes!

Described as, "a moist, bite-sized scone flavored with natural vanilla extract and real vanilla beans."

The scone looked exactly the same as I remembered, and I see no indication online that the recipe has changed at all, but ... I didn't like it.  Maybe I changed.

First, it wasn't really a scone.  It was strangely soft and fluffy.  A scone shouldn't be a brick obviously, but it also shouldn't be a cake.  The flavor of the cake itself was completely boring.  It did have visible little black flecks, which I guess were vanilla bean, but I didn't taste vanilla.  At least it wasn't burnt?

On top was vanilla icing, very sweet.  Too sweet.

This scone offered nothing, other than its reasonable $0.95 price.  I sorta wish I hadn't tried it, and let it stay in my memory as the great treat it once was. *+.

La Boulange Blueberry Scone.  $2.45.

"A traditional scone with blueberries, buttermilk and lemon."

After the disappointing vanilla scone, I decided to try one of the updated scones from La Boulange.  This was an interesting choice on my part, since I haven't really liked any baked goods from the real La Boulange bakeries, so why would I like the less fresh ones at Starbucks?

Answer: I really was craving a scone.

I also forgot that they heat up all of the La Boulange offerings, without asking.  I was planning to get it to go, and eat it later, but once it was warm, I had to try it right then.

I was amazed when I opened the bag, as the aroma coming out of it was pure blueberry.  It was incredible.

Because it was heated up, it was really moist, and not hard, like a scone normally is.  This threw me off a bit at first, it seemed far more like a cake or muffin than a scone really.  But once I tasted it, I stopped caring about the fact that it wasn't really a "scone".

While I didn't taste the lemon that was supposed to be there, the buttermilk was fantastic.  It had such a great tang to it.  The blueberries were fairly plump and moist, and added a lot of flavor, however, they weren't very well distributed throughout the scone, and many bites did not have any.  But the buttermilk really made it a winner.  I also appreciated the large sugar crystals on top for additional sweetness and crunch.  It was also well cooked, not burnt anywhere.

What would have made this really amazing would be some jam to spread on it.  One thing I always really appreciate at La Boulange is that they have housemade jams available at the condiment station to jazz up any of their offerings.  I can't imagine Starbucks incorporating this into their stores, but it really would work well with this scone.

$2.45 was a pretty standard price for a scone, and it was a large size.  I liked this far more than I ever expected to, and would actually get another.  ***+.

La Boulange Cranberry Orange Scone. $2.45.

"A traditional scone with cranberries, orange zest and cranberry spread."

After the shocking success of the blueberry scone, on my next visit, I decided to branch out and try the other variety of La Boulange scone: cranberry orange.

In the case, it looked hard and not very appetizing, but, the blueberry one surprised me before, so I still tried this one.  This time, I was asked if I'd like it warmed up, and since I was planning to consume it right there I said yes.  Starbucks really has worked some magic with their heating machines, as it was handed over to me in what seemed like only 30 seconds, totally nice and warm.

It was also totally and completely gross, but in an almost ok sort of way.  Let me attempt to explain this one.

Since it was warmed up, it was very moist and doughy.  The center was almost raw even.  How was this possible, when moments earlier it was a solid lump?

It was loaded up with cranberries, which were very tart.  I'm not really sure why I even thought I'd like this, since I don't like tart cranberries. Mine didn't seem to have any of the cranberry spread in the description or photos from Starbucks, which I think is for the best, since I wasn't loving the cranberry.  It did also have a touch of orange to it, again, not something I really like, so I'm not sure why I choose this.

The scone was consistently cooked, no burnt or dried out edges, but the base flavor was quite boring.  No tang like the blueberry one.  It did have nice large sugar crystals on top for some crunch.

This thing was really quite fascinating.  The bottom and the sides were quite boring, not very flavorful, and kinda cakey, not at all what I think of as a scone.  The whole thing seemed not fresh and loaded with preservatives.  But that gooey inside was actually really addicting, even though it was sorta like raw muffin batter.  I devoured it. ***+.

And then, I felt ridiculously sick afterwards.  I can't say for sure it was the scone, but ... it sure seems like it.  I won't be getting another, gooey center or not!

Quickbreads

Besides the scones, the rest of the La Boulange baked goods at Starbucks look really unappealing.  The muffins always look soggy.  The croissants and danishes look worse than what you see in a generic grocery store.  The rest of the "breakfast" menu is rounded out by a few coffee cakes and quickbreads.  The coffee cakes were turned into mini loafs, rather than slices, as part of the La Boulange re-vamp, which apparently has outraged fans of the old style.  The quickbreads, pumpkin or banana, remain slices.

Pumpkin Bread.

"A gently spiced bread with pumpkin flavors and pepitas."

I am never a fan of quickbreads, no mater where from, but Starbucks had samples out, trying to entice customers to give the new La Boulange items a chance.  Of course I had to try.

It was just a basic pumpkin bread, with crushed pumpkin seeds on the crust.  The pumpkin flavor was not very strong.  It was pretty dry.  It was however, very spiced.  Too spiced.  Too much nutmeg perhaps?  I did not like, and would never purchase. *.

Desserts

And finally, my favorite category: desserts!  Not that Starbucks has a lot to offer here, just a couple cookies, a rice crispie treat, and pound cake.  Then again, I consider a majority of their "drinks" desserts anyway, so it isn't like it is hard to satisfy your sweet tooth at Starbucks.

Birthday Cake Pop.  $1.50.

Sometime in the past year or so, I had a cake pop that I really loved.  But for the life of me, I can't remember where it was from.  The most cake pops I've had have been from Sweet Lauren, but I haven't ever really liked those.  I really want to like cake pops though, as eating desserts on sticks just seems way too fun.  Let me know if you have recommendations for any!

Anyway, while I did research on Starbucks baked goods selection, I kept finding mentions of their cake pops.  People seemed to legitimately like them, which is more than I can say for most of their other food offerings.  In particularly people mentioned the chocolate ones, but I haven't been able to find those anywhere.

So I went for the one I could find, the "Birthday Cake Pop", described as "vanilla cake and icing, dipped in a pink chocolaty coating with white sprinkles."

It was a pretty standard cake pop.  The pink colored white chocolate shell was far too thick, resulting in one-note sweetness.  A little of this would have gone a long way, and it was exactly the type of white chocolate that gives white chocolate a bad rep, just so, so sweet.  I liked the crunch from the sprinkles it was dipped in, and wished there were more of them.

Inside was the cake, in classic cake-pop form, it had the icing mixed into the cake, creating a very dense, moist interior.  It wasn't particularly vanilla flavored.

So overall, not a winner, and far too sweet.  It would have probably paired nicely with a strong, bitter black coffee, but that isn't exactly what Starbucks is known for either.  If they added some actual vanilla flavor to the cake, thinned out the shell layer, and dunked it in more sprinkles, perhaps it would be a decent pick.  The idea is right, the execution just wasn't stellar. *+.

$1.50 price was fine for the small treat.

Madeleine.

Starbucks doesn't offer these anymore, but I tried one at some point.  I'm really not sure why.

This was totally unremarkable, although, I'm not sure what would make a good madeleine, they just aren't interesting in general.

It was fairly flavorless.  Kinda oily.  Obviously baked a long time ago, individually wrapped to last a while.  Meh. *.