Friday, March 04, 2022

Lola Snacks

#WELOVEURGUTS

Well, that's a slogan.  A memorable one.  And that of Lola Snacks, the maker of a line of plant based, gluten-free, probiotic energy bars.

Lola Snacks makes 5 types of bars, mostly almond based.  In their earlier forms, they had names after people, e.g. "The Nathan" and "The Enzo", but those names were dropped at some point for the more descriptive "Blueberry and Almond" or "Dark Chocolate Almond".

I tried a few and I was pleased with the texture, and thought they were almost great, but, the heavy hand inclusion of flax was too much for me.
The Nathan.
"Nathan's Lola Granola Bar is brimming with delectable blueberries and almonds."

This bar was confused.  It was way too sweet from honey to start, but then bitter on the finish from flax.  Only the middle moment of a bite was enjoyable.  

It had a nice texture, dense but crumbly if that makes sense.  Kinda nice for a breakfast bar.

I almost liked it, but the too strong honey and the too bitter flax ruined it for me.  Oh, the almonds and dried blueberries were second to everything else in it, so, those elements were pretty lost, and they were what I wanted to taste the most.

***.
The Enzo.
"Enzo's Lola Granola Bar is packed with hearty almonds and cashews."

The Enzo went much the same way as The Nathan.  It was almost great, but, for me, the flax ruined it.

I liked the texture and how it crumbled.  I liked the big chunks of almond.  I liked the sweet honey essence, it wasn't quite as overpowering in this one.

But ... it was all trumped by the bitter flax.  I didn't taste the cashew, nor find chunks of cashew in here either, so not quite sure where that element was hiding.

***.  This bar seems to have been discontinued.
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Thursday, March 03, 2022

The Inspired Cookie

“Cookies and Brownies with Intention”. 

That is the motto of The Inspired Cookie, a wholesale bakery that is not only all natural, but also gluten-free and vegan.  Healthy baked goods.  Yup.  They made several cookies all with names like "Tranquility" (Lemon Lavender), "Enlightenment" (Espresso Chocolate Chunk), and "Clarity" (Peppermint Chocolate Chunk), along with basic brownies.  All come individually wrapped and can be found at retailers around San Francisco (where they are based).

To keep items gluten-free, they use a flour mix of garbanzo bean, fava bean, sorghum, and sweet rice, and their vegan substitute for the butter and eggs is apple sauce.

I'll admit that I had a very hard time believing that baked goods not loaded with butter, and not freshly baked would be even remotely tasty.  I had the opportunity to try one of their brownies, and, well, let's just say I had very, very low expectations.  Not only were my expectations blown away, my entire mindset about gluten-free and vegan baking changed.  These things were delicious.
Brownie Bliss.
"This is the perfect brownie, and it's gluten-free and vegan. It's not too fudgey and not to cakey- just the perfect texture and a bold chocolate flavor. We guarantee that you will love it as much as we do. Pour a big glass of milk, almond milk, soy milk, or whatever floats your boat. Enjoy this best seller! "

Ok, this was a shockingly good brownie.  It was a ridiculously shockingly good especially for a packaged brownie.  And for a vegan AND gluten-free brownie?  Woah, what?  Yeah, this was great even if I thought it was fresh from a bakery and regular.

Honestly, I was blown away.  It was dense and moist inside, slightly crisp on the outside.  It was intensely chocolately.  It was loaded with chocolate chunks for some extra texture and chocolately goodness.

It was fantastic even at room temperature, on its own.  I expected to need to warm it up, top it with ice cream, whipped cream, and additional chocolate sauce.  It needed nothing.  It ate well just as is.

****+.

Update review:
I didn't believe my own review, really.  Thinking that perhaps I was just really hungry, or in a mood for brownies the first time I tried it, I had another a few days later.  The result?  Still mind blowing.  I don't understand.  These are amazing. ****+.
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Wednesday, March 02, 2022

Dinner @ One Market Restaurant

Sigh.  Yes, another fantastic restaurant dined at (this time, when co-workers were in town visiting San Francisco, rather than me being on a business trip myself), but, yup, another dining experience in the midst of a very busy work week, a slew of social events, and thus, no time to write up my review after each dining adventure.  Of course though, I took great notes so I could write it up a few weeks later, but ... yup, another set of notes lost along the way.

So I present another mostly photos only "review" of a small group dinner at One Market, a Michelin starred restaurant in San Francisco that I had been to once before during SF Restaurant Week, always has a great menu, is located close to my office, AND had a pastry chef I knew.  It was a very easy choice for my dinner recommendation.

If you are familiar with it, it was at one point part of the Lark Creek Restaurant group (yes, like the Lark Creek Grill at SFO), although they had parted ways before this visit.
A Very Delicious Feast!
Our group of 3 opted to share everything, so I got to try 3 appetizers, 2 mains, and, uh, 5 desserts, and for the most part, they let me pick all the dishes.  I remember being blown away by literally every dish - flawless execution that lived up to the tempting sounding menu, fantastic sauces, and, yup, fabulous desserts.

I'll return in a heartbeat.

Setting

One Market is located at, um, One Market Street, right where Market Street meets the Embarcadero.  One whole side of the restaurant runs right down Embarcadero, with plentiful water and bridge views.
Dining Area.
One Market is a quite large restaurant, and it feels very spacious inside.  Seats along the window all have a waterfront view.

Rotisserie & Grill.
The concept is fairly open kitchen as well, with the grill and rotisserie right on display.
Place Settings.
Tables all came with candles.

Dinner

One Market is open for both lunch and dinner, every day, the former being the destination of many a power lunch, as it is regularly filled with suits, given the proximity to the Financial District, and its Michelin status.
Dinner Menu.
The menu at One Market is particularly large for a restaurant of its calibre, with a dozen starters, an equal number of mains, and additional sides.

A menu this large could be a bad sign, but, luckily, it was not.  Picking what to order however, was a challenge!
Bread & Butter.
 Bread and butter was served after our drinks, but I don't really recall much about it.

Starters

To start, we got 3 items to share.  It was remarkably hard to pick just 3 from the dozen options, as the menu was full of ingredients I love - chestnuts, crab in multiple dishes (local crab, it was in season, <3), accents like ponzu, quince, and even ... gingerbread, fascinating "pancetta vinaigrette", oh, and duck liver mousse of course ... so many great dishes to pick from.

Luckily, my dining companions trusted my judgement, and let me pick the 3 we would share, so I got my top 3 picks.
Roasted Autumn Squash Agnolotti. $16.
"Brown butter-balsamic reduction, gingerbread, hazelnuts."

I know, trendy foam aside, this was actually a fascinating and complex dish, housemade squash agnolotti, with insanely delicious brown butter-balsamic reduction, and, yup, gingerbread spicing, plus crunch from complimentary hazelnuts.

We were all impressed.
Hand-picked Dungeness Crab Salad. $18.
"Miso, citrus, seaweed."

Because I love local crab, and it was in season, of course we had to get it in some form, and I opted for the salad, to have a light dish, and really highlight the crab.  It featured a sauce I adored.
Grilled Octopus. $18.
"'Chorizo' purée, avocado chimichurri, parsley."

And finally, the one I was most excited for, the grilled octopus.  I really really love octopus, and it is fairly rare to find on menus, and, hard to get right.  As you can see, we had the avocado chimichurri on the side, as I'm allergic, but I still wanted my dining companions to get to experience the full dish.

It was beautifully grilled, smoky, and not chewy, everything I wanted it to be.

Main Courses

Since we had 3 starters, and had big dessert plans, we decided to just got two mains for our party of 3.  This too was a very hard decision, as the menu had a dozen main dishes too, and a slew of sides, and, much like the starters, there were highlights all around.  I had to look past the bacon wrapped tenderloin, the gnocchi, the swordfish, and even the halibut with sunchokes (zomg, such a Julie dish!).
Pan-Seared Red Snapper. $33.50.
"Kohlrabi kraut, apple purée, caramelized apple cider."

The group had a slight preference for the red snapper over the halibut, thus, I went with the group decision, and it did not lead us astray.  The crispy skin was beautiful, although, the wet kohlrabi kraut on top did somewhat defeat the purpose (Gordon Ramsey would NOT be pleased!).
Pan-seared Day Boat Scallops . $33.
"Persimmons, parsley root, asian pear."

You know how much I love scallops, and, persimmons, so this was a no brainer.  Perfectly seared, delicious and unique sauce.  Yes, yes, yes.

Dessert

I often say dessert is a highlight for me, but, in this case, I did actually pick One Market for the dessert, as I was familiar with the pastry chef, and couldn't wait to see his work in this setting.  Luckily, I had a group as execited about dessert as I was.
Dessert Menu.
The dessert menu is broken down into 4 sections, which I really appreciate.  First, the "Singular Sensations", with 5 options, sized smaller than traditional restaurant sized desserts, available as singles for $7.50 or a trio for $19.50.  I adore everything about this dessert size - perfect for when you just want a smaller treat to finish a big meal, or don't have anyone else at the table who wants to share desserts, or, when you do want plentiful dessert, but want to try a few.  Singular Sensations meet all those needs.

Then there are the "Signature Desserts", basically, large format normal restaurant desserts.  For one person, but, you know, larger size, often shared.  Next is the section devoted to "Frozen Treats", and then ... "Take me Home", yup, treats designed just to take home.  I think I love the fact that they include take home treats even more than the great portion size options!
Table of Desserts!
I was very happy that my dining companions were as willing as I was to indulge in desserts.  Two large, two smaller, for just 3 people was reasonable right?
Signature Dessert: Roasted Pear Galette. $11.
"Blackberry compote, vanilla bean ice cream."

First up, one of my picks, the seasonal fruit galette, served warm, with ice cream, and plenty of other goodies.  I remember loving the sauces and the brittle in particular.
Signature Desserts: Pumpkin Tart. $11.
"White chocolate-pumpkin mousse, bourbon caramel, pecan-praline cremeux."

Next, a super unique one, the "Pumpkin Tart", which, looked nothing like a classic tart.  If you expected just a small personal pumpkin pie or something, this was certainly not that.

It did actually have a tart base, and there was something sorta akin to a pumpkin pie layer inside, but, there was much, much more.
Pumpkin Tart: Inside.
Here you can see all the glory - the tart base, the pumpkin layer, but also it was all surrounded by the white chocolate pumpkin mousse (so fluffy!), there was a pecan-praline cremeux dome inside as well, plus the stunning glossy enrobing.  Throw in some bourbon caramel, snow, candied nuts ... and, yeah, swoon.

Clearly so much love (and likely R&D!) went into this. 
Singular Sensations: Mint Espresso Cheesecake. $7.50.
"Mint cream, chocolate sauce, chocolate streusel."

We moved on to the cheesecake, this one a "singular sensation", so as you can see, it is still a perfectly adequately size dessert, one that most folks would feel completed their meal well, and wouldn't consider it mini.
Singular Sensations: Bradley's Butterscotch Pudding. $7.50.
"Chantilly cream, pecan wedding cookie."

And last, this is the most famous dessert at One Market, it has been on the menu ~forever, a signature item from their head chef, that has followed him from restaurant to restaurant.  And since I adore pudding, you know this was a must-have for me anyway (and, I've had it before, at one of their sister restaurants).

It is a signature item for a reason, textbook consistency, not to sweet but plenty sweet, and the pecan wedding cookie on the side pairs remarkably well.
Caramels.
And yup, of course we got caramels to take home!  Soft, sweet, buttery, <3
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Tuesday, March 01, 2022

Donuts from Ohlin's Bakery, Boston

One time, I visited a friend's family in the Boston area, and we decided to have a brunch at their house.  Now, for context, the family is Persian and they don't really eat sweets.  Let's just say that their brunch spread is VERY different from what I am used to.  For me, brunch needs to include a lot of sweet bready items - scones, muffins, bread pudding, french toast, waffles, pancakes ... at least some subset of that, right?  Basically, even more of an excuse to eat dessert for breakfast, because, brunch.  Right?

But not for them.
Persian Brunch: Pita, lavash, feta, walnuts, herbs, fruit.
This is a photo of their lovely brunch spread.  Toasted pita and lavash.  Feta cheese.  Soaked walnuts.  Tons of fresh herbs, including tarragon, mint, parsley, and basil.  

That isn't to say that there was no sweets.  The sweet offerings are blueberries and papaya (and other fruit that came out later).

Now, don't get me wrong, I think this is really different and fun, and obviously quite healthy.  As I learned, the way to eat it is to take a piece of the bread, crumble on some cheese, add tons of herbs, roll it up, and make a little wrap thing.  I have a lot of memories of this style breakfast at their house.  But "brunch", in my mind, it is not.

Of course, they are amazing hosts, and they know how I feel about food.  They know that Julie needs her sweets.  When I visit, they stock their fridge with an entire drawer of Persian sweets just for me.  And, for brunch, his sister volunteered to pick up donuts on her way over.  I told her this wasn't necessary, and even I said that just Dunkin' Donuts would be fine (not that I love Dunkin' Donuts for their donuts, but, nostalgia, and I didn't want her going out of her way for this.)

But she asked if it would be ok if she brought donuts from her favorite place instead, Ohlin's Bakery.  I quickly looked up Yelp reviews.  4 stars.  Um, yes?

Ohlin's is located in Belmont, the other direction from his sister's house than his parent's house, but she assured me these were the best donuts in the area and worth her journey in the wrong direction.  I didn't actually visit the bakery myself, but from my research, it sounds like a very old school bakery.  No seating.  You just come and pick up donuts or pies.  People love it.

I quickly put in my requests (er, polite asks): an apple fritter, since it is the king of all donuts.  A sugar jelly donut, since it is such a classic.  A maple glazed, not one I normally pick, but the one that gets great reviews there.  For my friend, of course, his favorite, Boston cream.  And, just to throw in one more, the other donut people seemed to really love from Ohlin's: blueberry cake.  I gave my suggestions as in order of preference, but stressed that I only wanted 1, maybe 2 donuts.  His sister showed up with a box of 18.  Correction: 2 boxes, 18 donuts.  Everything I asked for, and more.  And multiples of most of them.  I did mention that most of the family doesn't eat sweets right?  Not even when from the best donut shop in town?  Ooph.

She also came in raving, absolutely raving, about the plain cake donut.  This was a good sign to me, since if they can make a plain donut that is rave worthy, then, I was looking forward to my decadent ones. 

Long story short ... I ended up eating a lot of donuts.  Too many donuts.  I tried them all fresh so that I could give them a fair review, and nibbled throughout the rest of the day.  By evening, we still had 10 full donuts left.  No one was helping me, and they were clearly getting stale.  After dinner, I was able to revive a few by heating them up briefly in the toaster oven.  Not as good as fresh, but not bad.  No one else touched any.

The next morning, I made "donut chips" from a tip I read online, a la bagel chips.  Sliced up the donuts, coated them in cinnamon and sugar, and baked.  Kinda interesting, but not particularly good.  I also made bread pudding with an assortment of random donut chunks.  That worked better, always a great way to use up stale bread.

But back to the donuts, just the classic donuts.  Ohlin's makes a good donut, indeed.  I'd gladly get these again.  They were all far above average quality, and in particular, I appreciated how none had a greasy, old oil taste to them.  Sadly, I won't have the opportunity to try them again, as the bakery burnt down :(

Cake Donuts

Starting with the simplest option, the cake donuts.  To refresh your memory, a cake donut is one made without yeast.  The denser kind.  Ohlin's also calls these their Old Fashioned, but I always thought that Old Fashioned were the ones with irregular edges?

Ohlin's makes a variety of cake donuts besides just a basic plain one, including the much raved about blueberry, plus coconut and cinnamon topped.  They also make some with a chocolate cake base, either plain or with honey dip or chocolate glaze.  During the fall season, they also offer an apple cider cake donut and a pumpkin cake donut.

My friend's sister came baring plain, chocolate with honey dip, and the requested blueberry.  I tried all three.
Plain Cake.
As I said, his sister, who picked up the donuts came in raving about a basic plain cake donut.  A plain donut?  Please.  A plain donut is just about the last thing I'd ever pick .  Particularly a plain cake donut.

I'll admit that I just assumed this was her not really liking sweets or donuts, and didn't plan to try the basic cake donut.  But of course I did, when there were a plethora left over, and I'd tried all the others.

And, uh, she was so, so right.   You'd never think this would be amazing, but it was.  Sometimes classics can be done really, really well.  And this was.  Perfection really, in a cake donut.

Crusty outside, dense inside, great flavor to it ... plain, but, wow, a wonderful donut, and one that would pair nicely with coffee.

****+.
Blueberry Cake Donuts, Chocolate Cake with Honey Dip.
Next we had more cake donuts, these ones covered in glaze.  Most were blueberry, per my request.  I love blueberries, and blueberry donuts are not very common.  I was excited to try it.
Blueberry Cake Donut: Inside!
I was thrilled to break one in half, revealing bits of blueberry inside.

These were very good, great blueberry flavor, sweet from the well applied glaze, but, actually, I think I somewhat preferred the plain, although, it may be due to the fact that I consumed far too many sweet donuts in one sitting at this point ...

Still, a very good cake donut.  ****.

Raised / Yeasted Donuts

Next I moved on to a raised donut.  You may also know these as yeasted donuts, aka, donuts made with yeast.  They are the light, fluffy variety, a la Krispy Kreme.

Our assortment included just one raised donut, the one I requested: maple glazed. 

Ohlin's other raised selections are honey dipped (aka, glazed), chocolate frosted, strawberry frosted, buttercrunch, and sugar.
Maple Glazed Raised.
This is the donut everyone raved about on Yelp.  I like maple glazed, but I wouldn't have had it as a top choice if not for the accolades.

It was a fairly classic raised donut, nicely fluffy.  Not too greasy.  It had a great maple flavor from the glaze, but I didn't find it nearly as exciting as the rave reviews seemed to imply it would be.  I wonder if maple glaze is just a bit more rare to folks?

Ohlin's also make a maple frosted with chocolate drizzle on top too, or a chocolate base with maple and chocolate drizzle.

***+.

Filled Donuts

Now, getting more exciting, we move into the filled donuts.  Ohlin's has quite the assortment, including my requested jelly filled and my friend's Boston cream.

Ohlin's does take a different approach than most donut shops for most of their filled varieties.  Rather than injecting the filling inside, they cut them in half and stuff them, like a sandwich.  This gives a far better distribution of filling.  I wonder why more places don't do this?  Admittedly, it is quite messy this way, as filling does ooze out the sides.  The Boston cream took this form, but the jelly remained classically filled.

They also make lemon and blueberry filled like the Boston cream in that they are cut open and stuffed,  both topped with powdered sugar.  They also make a marshmallow filled one, same thing, split open and stuffed, and then topped with either white or chocolate icing.  I really would have loved to try one of those, but didn't know about them in advance to ask for one.  Next time!

The rest of the filled selection is rounded out with apple filled with cinnamon and raspberry filled with chocolate.
Sugar Jelly Donut.
The donut for the sugar jelly was a raised donut, again, light and fluffy, not greasy.  Mine was sugar coated, but they also make this with honey dip.

I loved the generous sugar coating, and it went really well with the overall donut.  This turned out to be a serious winner.
Sugar Jelly Donut: Inside!
Inside was plentiful jelly, a bit of a fake crazy color, but it was fruity and delicious, some of the best jelly donut filling I've ever encountered.  

Really, everything about this donut hit on all dimensions, and it was my favorite donut of the bunch, a perfect *****.  Really.  Nothing I would change about it.
Boston Cream.
My friend had the Boston Cream, which was the aforementioned cut-in-half style, thus oozing with cream filling.  He seemed to enjoy it, and didn't share (which, really, was fine, I had 17 other donuts ...).

They also make a fascinating sounding marshmallow filled version that I'd love to try.

Other

And then of course, I saved the best for last, my other requested donut: the king of donuts, the fritter.
Apple Fritter.
Fritters are often massive, and this one was no exception.  It was huge.  Comically large.  Covered in glaze, perfectly covered, the glaze was hard but not cracking and flaking off (I hate when it does that!).  Gobs of apple and goo inside.  

Another fantastically made donut, one of the better fritters I've ever had.

****.
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Monday, February 28, 2022

Scones from Panera Bread

Update Review, 2021

Blueberry Scone. $2.99.
"Freshly baked, cream-based scone made with dried, infused wild blueberries."

Eh.

Very hard. Dry.  Needs to be turned into shortcake biscuit with fresh fruit and copious amounts of whipped cream to really be enjoyable.  Blueberries flavorful though.

***.

Update Review, January 2020

As I mentioned in my last update review, Panera has recently updated most of their pastries, including, the scones.  I had always liked their blueberry scones before, but, they made them even better.  So I was excited to try another new scone, this time, opting for the Cinnamon Crunch, again, entirely revamped, to see if it improved, as, I hadn't really cared for it the first (and only) time I tried the previous version, back in 2014.
Cinnamon Crunch Scone. $3.29. (July 2019)
"A freshly baked, cream-based scone mixed by hand for a delicate crumb. Made with cinnamon chips and cinnamon crunch icing."

The Cinnamon Crunch scone was *entirely* different from its previous form.  First, the shape (now round, before triangle).  Then, the drizzle (now a cinnamon icing drizzle, before a "white icing glaze").  Also, now a slightly healthier option (400 calories - before 550, lower sugar with 32 grams, before 41grams, and lower fat - 15 grams now, before 23 grams).

But I really cared about the eating experience, not the looks, not the stats.

This scone was very, very sweet.  I kinda can't imagine it for breakfast, and I'm someone who has no shame eating desserts for breakfast.  The "cinnamon crunch icing" was sweet, sweet, sweet, and, although a drizzle, it was quite generous.  Sweet and cinnamon-forward.  Which describes the entire thing.

The base was moist, good texture with a slight crumble but not the kind that makes a mess.  Slight tang to the base, giving it a slightly interesting flavor.  And then, tons of cinnamon goodness, from bursts of flavor from cinnamon chips throughout.

It was a good scone, but, I had to turn it into dessert, and cut the sweetness with whipped cream.  I think warming it up and serving with ice cream would be fabulous too.  I enjoyed it, but I prefer the blueberry scone, and think I'd actually like this more without the icing.
Apple Cinnamon Crunch Scone. $3.29. (November 2019).
"A freshly baked, cream-based scone mixed by hand for a delicate crumb. Made with apple cinnamon filling and topped with cinnamon crunch topping and salted caramel icing."

The Apple Cinnamon Crunch scone was introduced in the 2019 fall season, along with a few other seasonal items.  At first I thought it odd that Panera would add an apple cinnamon crunch variety, when they already had cinnamon crunch, and only two other scone varieties (blueberry, orange), but it really was entirely different, even if it sounded much the same.

First, the texture.  All of the other Panera scones are a crumbly, biscuit like style.  This was considerably softer ... honestly, not really what anyone thinks of as a scone.  More akin to a donut, just not fried, or a bread ... kinda.  Very hard to describe actually, but it was quite soft, and moist.  This is also surprising as it uses the same "Scone Mix", along with heavy cream, to form the base.

The base was very good though, the soft nature entirely worked, as long as you didn't want a harder-style, crumbly scone.  It even had some tang to it.  Unlike the Cinnamon Crunch variety, it does not have the cinnamon chips integrated throughout, instead, it has an apple cinnamon filling, chunks of moist juicy apples, basically like what you find inside an apple fritter, rather than what you find inside an apple pie.  I loved the little bits of apple cinnamon, as they reminded me so much of an apple fritter, and I adore those.  Note that the apple cinnamon bits are integrated throughout the dough, although in pockets, it is not a "filling", no separate center full of gooey apples, as I kinda expected from the description.  Again, think apple fritter, not apple pie.

And finally, the toppings.  The Cinnamon Crunch scone has a cinnamon icing, made from white icing mixed with "cinnamon sugar topping".  This one integrated caramel sauce in, and is described as "salted caramel icing", although I'll admit that I didn't taste the salt, nor the caramel really.  It was different though, a lighter color, less cinnamon flavor in it.  Still nicely applied, very sweet, hardened. If you choose to heat up your treat, which of course I did, it melts beautifully.

The entire top is coated in cinnamon sugar topping, again, unlike the Cinnamon Crunch variety that is bare, and I think that the topping all over it helped give it a great sweet cinnamon flavor.

So, very different makeup, for a similar sounding item.

And very successful.  I really, really enjoyed this.  Of all the Panera scones, I think it is the most breakfast appropriate, both in taste, and in nutrition, only 26g of sugar compared to the 34g in the cinnamon crunch (90 fewer calories too).  But I also enjoyed one warmed up in my toaster oven for a few minutes, and topped with some whipped cream, for an easy dessert.  It is certainly sweet enough to be a "real" dessert, and would take extra toppings well I'm sure ... some salted caramel ice cream, or vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzle ...

I guess its time to go buy another ....  highly recommend.

Update Review, January 2019

I was pretty excited to see most of the changes Panera made to their pastry lineup this year, mostly removing sooo many items I always found lackluster, and adding a few that look much better.

But ... they also touched the scone section.  They did away with the mixed berry (meh, whatevs, it was fine), they revamped the cinnamon crunch (great, I never liked that one anyway).  They also changed my precious blueberry scone.

Gone is the triangle shaped "wild blueberry" scone, and in its place is a round simple "blueberry" version.  I was nervous.  I loved that old version.

The Panera FAQ page even has a section devoted to it.  I clearly wasn't the only one concerned.
"It's true - we've said goodbye to the Wild Blueberry Scone on our menu and have replaced it with our new Blueberry Scone. It is now a cream-based scone made with fresh blueberries. If you liked it before, you'll love it now!"
It turns out, they changed very little. 
Blueberry Scone (December 2018). $2.99.
"A freshly baked, cream-based scone overfilled with plump, fresh blueberries." 

The description now reads one word different: "fresh blueberries" instead of "wild blueberries".  Besides the type of berries used, I think they really did keep the same recipe.

The scone is still more like a biscuit to me, a shortcake biscuit, and now it is appropriately shaped to be a biscuit.  It has a touch of tang.  A good crumb.  Moist inside, crisp outside.  Exactly as before.

And now ... loaded with bigger, juicier full size blueberries, not little wild berries.  This is even better.  Remember my original review?  I said ... "They are tiny wild blueberries though, not big, bursting with flavor berries, which I'd prefer."

Well, thank you Panera.  It turns out, you took my favorite item, and improved it.  Kudos.

I still prefer to treat this as a dessert item though, serving it warm, ideally with a fruit sauce (I used leftover blueberry compote from IHOP that I love), and with plenty of whipped cream, basically, making a fruit shortcake.  They also made it a bit smaller, about 100 calories less, which means ... more whipped cream? :)

I'll gladly get this again and again.

Update Review, September 2018

I've now tried every variety of Panera's scones.

My conclusion?  The awesome sounding (and looking!) cinnamon crunch always disappoints, the orange one is always strangely *almost* something I want, and the the Triple Berry is similar enough to the Wild Blueberry that it will do in a pinch.  But the wild blueberry scone remains my sole "go to" item at Panera, (but never for a breakfast treat, rather, to bring home and shortcake it!).
Triple Berry Scone. $2.99. (August 2018).
"Freshly baked, cream-based scone made with dried strawberries and blueberries and raspberry flavored chips, then finished with a light glaze of white icing and half & half cream." 

Since the wild blueberry one has been such a hit, I finally decided to try the triple berry, a very similar sounding scone, same cream base, just with dried strawberries and blueberries (and raspberry chips?) rather than what I think are just dried blueberries (although maybe they use fresh for the blueberry scone?), and, the addition of a glaze on top (bonus!).

I was pretty disappointed when I picked up my scone.  Had I ordered it in person rather than mobile, I likely would have asked for a different one, although the entire pan looked like this.  It was really over-baked, dry, and burnt around the edges and on bottom.  The cinnamon scones in the next baking rack looked like they had been decorated by a 4 year old in the kitchen, with glaze all over the place.  I think the baker was ... struggling this day.

I still tried it, but, as I could tell just from looking at it, it was really dry, and the burnt edges and bottom tasted horrible.  I salvaged it the best I could, and could tell that I did like the flavor of the base, very much the same as the blueberry, but it was also obvious that the little dried fruits inside were hard style, and not really what I like.  Eh.

The icing was nice of course.  Overall, this was fine, and if cooked properly would be my second choice of scone at Panera, but the blueberry is just far superior.

It was clearly different from the wild blueberry in other ways, coming in at only 390 calories vs 460 in the blueberry, which was a bit surprising.  I'm really not sure what is different about them, but it is higher sugar and lower protein as well?
Triple Berry Scone. $2.99. (September 2018).
I decided to give the Triple Berry another try, when I saw it was properly baked.

It was nicely cooked this time, no burnt edges, consistently baked.  Well coated with sweet glaze.  I liked the glaze, wished the blueberry one had the glaze.

The base seems less sweet than the blueberry version, which I never really consider "breakfast", but rather, more like a biscuit to have with fruit and whipped cream as shortcake.  This one could standalone as a breakfast scone.  That said, the base wasn't particularly interesting, no real tang.  Decent crumb in that it wasn't hard or too soft, but also, not great, like most of Panera scones, more on the cake-like side of things.
Triple Berry Scone: Inside.
Here you can see the insides of the scone, generously loaded with dried blueberries, little tiny dried blueberries, and bits of red.  The red bits I guess were the raspberry "chips" and the "dried strawberries", but I didn't really find what I'd identify as dried strawberries.

That said, the fruity bits were all enjoyable enough, lots of pops of flavor, bits of chewy texture, and I enjoyed it.

My second favorite scone, and if the blueberry is ever run out, its worth getting, but, the blueberry is still my first pick.
Wild Blueberry Scone. $2.99. (August 2018)
I've had this one many times.  It truly is my favorite of Panera's scones, really something I enjoy, although, as always, fairly sweet for breakfast.  To me, this is dessert, if you warm it and top with whipped cream or ice cream.  Even better if you add macerated fruit for a shortcake.

This one however was a bit over baked as well.  Not sure what is going on with my local Panera!

Update Review, December 2017

Another year, more Panera scones.  This time, I stuck with wild blueberry on most visits, and didn't bother write reviews, as I've covered them before.  But I did try a new flavor: orange.
Orange Scone.  $2.99.
"Freshly baked scone made with flour, butter, brown sugar and orange peel and topped with orange icing."

After exhausting all other scone choices, I finally gave in to try the orange scone.  Sometimes I can be surprised by liking something unexpected, after all.

I took one bite, and the taste was very familiar.  Fruit Loops.  It tasted like fruit loops.  Besides that though, it was just a Panera scone, a bit dried out on the edges, very cakey inside, with lots of sweet icing on top.  I didn't care for it, but the Fruit Loop flavor was uncanny.
Orange Scone. $2.99 (July 2017).
A few months later, I tried another.  I had ordered a cinnamon crunch bagel through Rapid Pickup, and ... they were out when I arrived.  I was offered a pastry instead, and the offerings were limited.  So, another orange scone it was.

And, it was exactly as I remembered.  It was soft and cakey.  The glaze tasted exactly like Fruit Loops.  It was not bad, but it was not very good either.  I don't see a reason to get another at this point.

Update Review, September 2016

Another year, more Panera scones.  I still like the wild blueberry.  You can start with my earlier reviews for more context.
Wild Blueberry Scone. $2.69.
This year, I played it safe, and got the some scone as I did last year: Wild Blueberry.  I actually went to Panera intending to try the Triple Berry scone, with its dried strawberries and raspberry chips in addition to blueberries, plus an icing glaze, but, alas, it was discontinued, so, the single berry, no glaze option was all I had.

It was pretty much exactly what I remembered.  More like a shortcake biscuit than a breakfast scone, kinda sweet, a tiny bit of tang.  It crumbled nicely, like a bread or cake, not making a mess.  The little wild blueberries were good, but, I really wished they were bigger.

Overall, it was again good, for a shortcake biscuit, but not quite right for breakfast.  I'd get it again if I was in the mood for this kind of item.

Update Review, October 2015

If you didn't read my original Panera scones review, I suggest you start there, and then return to this update, since I'm skipping the background this time around. See "Original Review, September 2014" below.

The short version: I've never loved their scones, but finally found one that is decent enough.
Wild Blueberry Scone.  $2.59.
"Freshly baked, cream-based scone overfilled with plump, wild blueberries."

This is a hard-style scone, but somewhat cakey, more like a shortcake biscuit. It had a decent tang to it, not as much as I wanted, but at least there was some flavor in the base.  Studded with little blueberries, which provided decent pops of flavor.  They are tiny wild blueberries though, not big, bursting with flavor berries, which I'd prefer.

It isn't quite what I want in a breakfast scone, but actually would be quite good with whipped cream and some fruit, turned into a shortcake.  Or perhaps just with clotted cream and jam, for tea time?  But on its own, it falls a bit short.

Original Review, September 2014

Panera likely isn't novel to you.  As a chain, their stores exist all over the country.  I've reviewed them before, for their drinks (not bad!), bagels (I love their cream cheese!), and muffins (not good) .

I'm skipping all the generic details in this review, and only commenting on the specifics of their scones.  Because, even though I didn't like the muffins, I love my baked goods!
Strawberries & Cream Scone.  $2.49.
"Freshly baked, cream-based scone made with dried infused strawberries and white chocolate chips."

After failing to be impressed with the muffins at Panera, I decided to try my luck with a scone instead.  They had several varieties, but the strawberry & cream caught my eye.

The description didn't really seem accurate.  I didn't find any white chocolate chips in it, anywhere.  Nor any consistency changes that it could have been a melted chip.  I'm very puzzled by the description.

The strawberries also didn't seem dried.  They came as decently sized, moist, chunks.  They were quite flavorful and good.

The scone base was crumbly but moist.  It was clearly cream based.  Pretty good flavor.

On top was a lot of glaze.  It didn't seem to have any particular flavor other than sweet.  Perhaps lemon?

Overall, this was a very sweet product.  I would have liked a black coffee with it, rather than the tea I was drinking.  I thought tea was the right pairing for a scone, but in this case, it was just too sweet and needed something bitter to balance it.

Not a mind blowing scone, but it was enjoyable.  Not sure if I'd get one again, but it wasn't bad.  A decent price for an insanely large scone.
Cinnamon Crunch Scone.  $2.49.
"Freshly baked, soft and tender cream-based scone flavored with cinnamon chips and finished with a cinnamon crunch and white icing glaze."

The next time I wound up at Panera, I decided to try another scone, since the previous scone had been far better than the muffins I'd tried, and I wanted a sweet, bready breakfast item.  This time, a new seasonal option jumped out, the cinnamon crunch scone.  It sounded like a cross between a scone and a cinnamon roll.  I've been on a cinnamon roll kick lately, so it sounded intriguing.

Unfortunately, the scone sounded much better than it actually was.  The texture was right, with a good crumbliness to it, not dried out. But the base didn't really have much flavor.  I always love a bit of a tang to my scone.  There were plenty of little tiny cinnamon chips throughout, which I thought would give it a ton of flavor, but really didn't.  The cinnamon aroma was stronger than the taste.  On top was an unremarkable sweet glaze.  I appreciated that part, as I was really in the mood for sweet.

I also really wanted it warmed up, and wish Panera offered their goods that way (besides just using the microwave).  Warm muffins, scones, etc are always just soo much better!  I brought home the part I didn't finish and heated it up in the toaster oven, and indeed it was better that way.

Overall, it was quite unremarkable.  No bad, but not good.  I wouldn't get another.  Perhaps my problem is that I went into it wanting it to be more like a cinnamon roll, I wanted more cinnamon flavor, more icing, more ... something.  (Panera does make a cinnamon roll, but it really didn't look great).

Like most of Panera's food, the nutrition stats shock me.  Yes, it was a large scone, but 550 calories? 23g fat?  And, I guess due to the glaze, 41g sugar?  Wow.  I don't care that much about nutrition stats these days, and only noticed it because the signs in Panera all prominently display these details, but certainly not worth it.

The price of $2.49 however was fine for a huge scone.
Caramel Apple Scone.  $2.49.
"Freshly baked, cream-based scone with dried cinnamon apples and caramel chips, topped with a thumbprint of apple filling and caramel icing."

And finally, another visit to Panera, another scone.

As I stared at the rows of pastries, a helpful employee came bouncing up.  "Do you like apple pie?", she asked.  Now, this is a hard question.  In the realm of pies, apple is pretty low on my list.  But, a nice, flaky double crust apple pie, served hot, with melted cheese (don't ask, its a New England thing) and a scoop of ice cream can be pretty good.  But a generic apple pie?  Meh.  Although, still a pie.  With all these thoughts running through my head, I simply said "Sure?" And she eagerly went on to tell me all about the latest seasonal offering, the caramel apple scone.  She said it was the absolute best item they had, and, just like an apple pie.

Since I was being indecisive anyway, I went for it.

The scone base had a slight tang to it, but it was minimal.  There was a slight taste of cinnamon, but again, minimal.  It seemed dry and almost stale.  The bottom was a bit burnt.  So far, not much of a foundation to build on.

Throughout the scone were little bits of caramelized apple.  They were chewy and sweet, which was kinda nice.  I never discovered the promised caramel chips, which reminded me of the strawberry and cream scone, where I never found any promised white chocolate chips.  On top was a sweet glaze, not particularly interesting, but, it was sweet, and did give a bit of flavor.  I guess this was the "caramel icing".

In the center was apple filling, the part that was supposed to make it amazing, and, "exactly like an apple pie".  The filling was awful.  It was just goo.  Mushy little bits of apple, in a very, very thick goo.  A spiced goo, but the spicing, particularly the nutmeg, was just too strong.  Also, why on earth did the scone have a bunch of goo in it?  Doesn't this sort of filling belong in a danish, not a scone?

Anyway, the helpful employee also told me that it was best to stick it in the microwave to warm it up first.  Now, you know me.  I don't use microwaves for anything but popcorn.  And certainly not for baked goods.  I wasn't intending to take her suggestion, but after not really caring for it at room temperature, I figured it wouldn't hurt.  So, I did it (also, yes, every Panera has a microwave, which I've always thought was really strange.  They really seem to be there just so customers can heat up their baked goods.  Shutter.)

It was worse warmed up.  Yes, it was more moist and not dried out at least.  And yes, it was more like a pie I guess.  But the icing just melted away.  And the almost-pleasant chewy bits were now soft.  I certainly preferred it at room temperature.  Warm like this, it reminded me of airplane food.

It wasn't the worst scone I've ever encountered, but it certainly wasn't good, not a good way to spend 450 calories, or $2.49, and I won't be getting another.
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