Frito-Lay Chips

You need no introduction to Frito-Lay, I know.

Frito-Lay is probably the largest manufacturer of potato chips in the US, encompassing a slew of brands: not just Lay's, but they also own Sun Chips, Tostitos, Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, Ruffles, Ms. Vickie's, etc, etc.  And, they are owned by PepsiCo themselves.  No little mom and pop shop here, so, not a brand I'd actually seek out for any reason.

But since I've recently been addicted to salty snack foods, I figured I had to give these classic chips a try again, for old time's sake.

I can't say there are any real winners, but it was a fun walk down memory lane.  The chips really haven't changed in years!  I've consolidated my notes from a bunch of the different brands into this single post, except for Ruffles, Cracker Jacks, and Miss Vickie's, which I reviewed independently previously.  I've also included the relative newcomers, Lay's Air Pops and Kettle Cooked varieties.

Classic Lays

Lay's actually makes a large variety of fairly interesting sounding flavors now.  In addition to the classic Barbecue there is Honey Barbecue or Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue.  A number of flavors promise some spice, like Chile Limón, Flamin' Hot, Pico de Gallo, Tapatio.  And who can resist Dill Pickle?  But I stuck with the basics.

Barbecue.

"Each bag of LAY’S Barbecue Flavor Potato Chips are a savory reason to smile. Our trademark seasoning captures everything you love about a summer barbecue: a smoky aroma, finger-lickin’ good BBQ flavor and of course, a crispy crunch."

When I think of classic barbecue chips, these are it.  I haven't had them in years, but the moment I had one recently, I was instantly transported back in time.  They taste exactly as I remember.  Fairly tangy, sweet, crispy.  Not remarkable in any way, generic as can be, but they aren't claiming to be anything else.  I was glad to remember these, but don't really feel the desire to have any more.  I am kinda curious to try the new barbecue flavors Lay's has added though. ***.

Update Review:  A few years pass, and, time to try these again.  I appreciated them even more this time.  Classic bbq flavor.  Seriously, these remind me of childhood.  They are so crispy, so, just, *what* BBQ chips are supposed to be.  In my mind anyway.  I'm glad to keep these on my every-few-years rotation. ****.

Sour Cream & Onion.

"Each bag of LAY’S Sour Cream and Onion Flavor Potato Chips is a little reminder of how good the simple things are. LAY’S Sour Cream and Onion Flavor Potato Chips have been a flavor favorite for many years. The tart sour cream taste and onion flavor are blended to create the perfect seasoning that people have come to love."

A generic, classic Lay's flavor.  Not that sour creamy.  Not that oniony.  But the little flecks of green bits on the chips brought back instant memories.  Are they good?  Not really, but, memories.  **+.

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Classic.

Well, yup, aptly named.  Thin chip, no real flavor or texture, decently salted.  Nothing particularly interesting here. **+.

New England Lobster Roll.

"A taste of fresh lobster served on a buttery grilled roll."

For the summer of 2018, Lay's introduced a line of ridiculous flavored potato chips (nothing new there), limited edition, dubbed the "Tastes of America" line, available only in retails in the local region (or, online), 12 varieties in all.  

In honor of the Northeast, they were inspired by ... the Lobster Roll.  (For the curious, the others were Truffle Fries, Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper, Thai Sweet Chili, Fried Pickles w/ Ranch, Chile Con Queso, Fried Green Tomatoes, Cajun Spice, Pimento Cheese, Crab Spice, Lobster Roll, Deep Dish Pizza, & Ketchup).

Lobster Roll seemed like a reasonable thing to chip-ify, or at least, chips (or fries) on the side with a lobster roll is a traditional pairing, so, why not?  They are complimentary flavors.  So when I visited the Northeast this summer, I eagerly purchased a bag, not that I had high hopes.

I did not taste lobster.  I did not taste lobster roll dressing.  I did not taste "roll".  I did not taste butter.  There was literally nothing about this that resembled a lobster roll.  If they were going for a hot lobster roll, shouldn't I just taste lots of butter?  If cold, mayo and celery?  None of these flavors were present, which makes sense, given that, besides butter, they weren't in the ingredients (I did taste them before reading the ingredients though).

What they did taste like was a slightly more zesty version Sour Cream & Onion.  Which, when I read the ingredients later, makes sense.  They do have sour cream and onion powder, and the additional ingredients found in them beyond what is in the Sour Cream & Onion are just red bell pepper and garlic powder (nearly last in the ingredient list), plus brown sugar and butter.  Bell peppers, garlic, and brown sugar doesn't exactly scream out "lobster roll" ... nor do sour cream and onion of course.

This flavor could have gone badly, imagine ... fishy tasting chips, more like asian shrimp chips?  But those would require an ingredient like anchovies or shrimp powder at least.  These chips certainly won't offend anyone on taste alone.

Overall, these were a fine chip, didn't taste bad, and were better than regular Sour Cream & Onion actually, but lobster roll they were not.

Kettle Cooked

I'm not sure when Lay's introduced kettle style chips to their lineup, but it was after my youth years when I ate a lot of chips.  They make a handful of flavors, ranging from the mundane "original", salt & vinegar, bbq, etc to the slightly more interesting "Flamin' Hot"  and "Maui Onion".

Jalapeño.

"Each delicious chip is packed with the flavor of real jalapeños, ready for your enjoyment."

I actually liked these quite a bit.

The kettle style was very fried, crispy, oily, and rather generic (they *are* Lay's after all!), but, I liked the curled up style in particular.

They were quite flavorful too - not spicy in a hot heat kind of way, not the kick I'd expect or want from something called jalapeño, but again, mainstream Lay's product, they can't bring too much heat.  They were quite flavorful and zesty though, sorta like a Sour Cream & Onion that was more interesting.

Overall, one of the better Lay's chips out there.  ***+.

Baked

"Frito-Lay’s line of Baked snacks are baked, not fried, to give you the great taste you’ve come to love with Frito-Lay snacks."

You can get most of the classic Lay's popular flavors (sour cream & onion, cheddar & sour cream, barbecue, etc), several styles of Cheetos, and Tostitos, all in baked form.

Original.

Original Review (2018):

These were sorta like untasty Pringles.  Reconstituted potato starch rather than slices of potato like the baked Kettle chips.  Not much flavor.  Not very salty.  Very thin.  Yet I tried them a few more times.  They were never that good on their own, but I eventually enjoyed them dipped in mac and cheese or mushroom soup (I'm weird like that).

Update Review (2022):

These were ... quite boring to be honest.

They were strangely airy, and mostly tasted like compressed potato buds.  Somehow not very salty either.  Just, meh.

*+.

Baked Crunchy Cheese.

"You want cheesy? CHEETOS® Baked Crunchy Cheese Flavored Snacks are dangerously cheesy and 50% less fat than regular cheese flavored snacks. You can let your inner cheetah run."

For those looking for a healthier option, Cheetos offers the regular and Flamin' Hot varieties in a baked form.  Crunchy only.  I tried the regular.

I haven't had regular Cheetos in, um,  maybe 10 years? (clearly never my snack of choice), but these tasted exactly as I remembered.  Crunchy, and although baked and 50% less fat, these certainly didn't taste strangely healthy.   Which I guess is good?  But they were still Cheetos, and I just don't really like the form factor.

I'm curious what regular Cheetos eaters think of these. **.

Cheetos 

Cheetos are, well, cheesy products, that started as puffs or crunchy sticks, and now have evolved into ... popcorn (which I've reviewed separately).  Mac 'n cheese.  Flamin' versions.  Etc, etc.  Signature feature?  They leave you with orange cheesy fingers.

Crunchy Cheetos.

Regular Crunchy Cheetos come in a variety of cheesy flavors, ranging from the original "cheese flavored" version, to all sorts of spicy additions like Cheddar Jalapeno, to a line of "Flamin' Hot" products, each more and more intense.  I started with the classics.

I wasn't ever a huge Cheetos fan as a kid, but I of course have plenty of memories of orange stained finger tips.  I preferred the Puffs version to these crunchy ones, even back then.

It turns out, that "cheese" still coats your fingers even as an adult, and I still got some joy from licking it off, long after my bag of chips had run out.  The chips themselves I still don't really care for, but there is something in that fake cheese flavor that at least makes me nostalgic.  But, I have no plans to eat these again.  **.

 Crunchy XXTRA FLAMIN' HOT.

"Turn up the heat with extra hot, spicy flavor packed into crunchy, cheese snacks. Take it to the next level with CHEETOS® Crunchy XXTRA FLAMIN’ HOT® Cheese Flavored Snacks."

Since I don't care for regular Cheetos, I might as well go all the way in the Flamin' direction right?  The most intense of all of the Crunchy Cheetos is the "XXTRA Flamin' Hot" version, as it is not just "flamin", it is "XXTRA".  And if color is an indicator of "extra-ness", then yes, these ones certainly are the most loaded.  I expected standard orange colored Cheetos, and was surprised to see they were, uh, bright red?  Honestly, it threw my brain off, I'm used to them being orange.

But besides the ridiculous color, they mostly tasted like, well, Cheetos?  Crunchy, fake-cheesy, a bit spicy ... and, like all Cheetos, just not my thing.  **.

Cheesy Jalapeño Cheetos® Mac ‘n Cheese.

"Introducing Cheesy Jalapeño Cheetos® Mac ‘n Cheese—Chester Cheetah®'s new twist on everyday mac and cheese that’s creamy, outrageously cheesy and just the right amount of heat. Just add water, microwave for three minutes and bon appe-Cheetos! You’ve got yourself a 5-star mac (according to Chester). Also available in a classic Mac ‘n Cheese box."

Yeah, ok, I tried the mac and cheese, the easy to make cup version (they also make a stove top cooked version), both are available in 3 flavors.

Add water, cook.  I somehow lost my notes on this, but I remember NOT being pleased.

Fritos

Fritos are corn chips, available in several formats such as the bigger Scoops and more fun Flavor Twists, and they come in a variety of flavors. They also make several Fritos branded dips.  I don't like Fritos, in any forms.

Fritos.

Another one from childhood: Fritos!

They were salty, crunchy, and had a slight corn flavor, but really didn't seem to be nearly as flavorful as I recalled.  I turned them into Frito pie, which was significantly better, but still not something I want more of.

I also tried a bunch of the flavored offerings, including BBQ and Chili Cheese.  I just found the flavors ... strange. *+.

Fritos Flavor Twists: Honey BBQ.

The Fritos product line has greatly expanded over the years, to say the least.  Mostly as new flavors of the standard Fritos shaped corn chips, but also into ... twists?

I loved the shape.  The crunch from the ridges was quite nice.  And the honey bbq flavor was also nice.  But the corn chip base?  E.g. the fritos themselves?  Not my thing! *+.

Sun Chips

"When SUNCHIPS® first hit shelves across the country thirty years ago, we had this gonna-rock-your-world idea. What if we combined the goodness of 100% whole grains with incredible flavors to create truly one-of-a-kind deliciousness?"

I remember when I discovered Sun Chips.  I think I actually bought into the idea that they were healthy chips.  Lols.

Even though its been 30 years (!), Sun Chips really are still quite unique in the market.  At least, I don't know any other chips that are very similar.  Although they do use whole grains (corn), and have less fat than regular chips, these are still, um, chips, and are certainly not healthy.

Sun Chips now come in 5 varieties - the "original", harvest cheddar, french onion, and garden salsa that I've had before, and now, an on-trend spicy chili lime flavor.

I go through periods of really craving these chips, and, in particular, I think they pair really, really well with deviled eggs or egg salad, or cottage cheese with sprouts, tomato, and honey mustard.    They grainy, hearty nature just pairs so nicely.  But as a regular chip to just snack on, or have with a sandwich or salad?  Eh.

Harvest Cheddar.

"The flavor of real cheddar cheese is layered onto a delicious whole grain chip to create this tasty combination."

Original Review (2014): Classic grainy, sorta hearty Sun Chip base.  Decently cheesy.  But, not really that great.

Update Review (2022):
The cheddar chips are the variety I have most frequently, as they seem most common around town.  

I always find myself pleasantly surprised by them - I love the hearty nature, the sorta-healthy grainy nature to them, and the cheesy level is just right, and somehow doesn't taste too fake.  The cheesy quality comes from use of romano, cheddar, and parmesan cheeses, plus buttermilk, whey, and yeast.

I'll continue to get these when the mood strikes.

***+.

Garden Salsa.

"The taste of red tomatoes and green jalapeno peppers delivered right to your mouth on waves of whole grain goodness."

Original tasting notes (2014): 

These were a new one for me.  They had the same kinda grainy, hearty chip base, with a bit of zesty tomato taste.  Not bad, but not particularly good.'

Update Review (2022):

I didn't seek the garden salsa flavor out, they came in a mystery bag I received, and thus, it was time to branch out and try a new flavor.  I wasn't particularly excited though, as I'm just not really a salsa person.

These were good though - same hearty, grainy base that I like, just this time accented with tomato-esque tones, although they do still taste a bit cheesy.  They do have cheddar, romano, buttermilk, and yeast on them like the harvest cheddar variety though, which balances out the tomato qualities.  I didn't taste the jalapeno though, nor anything else "salsa" like, besides the tomato.

Overall, fine to mix it up, but I prefer the cheddar.

***.

Garden Salsa (July 2022).

A few months later, another random bag of Garden Salsa Sun Chips wound up in my possession.  I felt about the same as before - a hearty chip that you need to be in the mood for, kinda interesting tomato-y flavor, no real kick like I'd expect from salsa.

Not something I seek out, but, they are fine. ***.

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French Onion.

These were always my favorites.  Grainy, french onion flavor, but I didn't find them not particularly good the first time I tried them as an adult.  Of course, the next time I thought the flavor was good, and liked the graininess.  Hmm. ***.

Air Pops (Review May 29, 2015)

Sour Cream & Onion.

I expected these to have the same awful consistency as PopChips.  Luckily, they didn't.  Sure, they weren't the greasy, crispy creations I know as regular chips, and indeed were healthier tasting, but they at least still seemed to be potato, rather than styrofoam.

The sour cream and onion flavoring was quite good, strong.  But I still prefer regular chips.

Barbeque.

Just like the Sour cream & onion, I was impressed with the flavor of these.  Very mesquite flavored, deep barbeque.  And just like the sour cream and onion, I thought the texture wasn't awful.

But ... I still didn't want many of these.  The flavor of the sour cream and onion was slightly better.

Read More...

Posh Bakery

Update Review, 2021 - 2023 Tastings

It has been many years since my original review of Posh Bakery, back in 2014.  You may recall that I was incredibly unimpressed by their products, and thus overjoyed when my office switched suppliers for our morning baked goods and desserts.

But fast forward a bunch of years, through pandemic times that lead to our newer vendors closing and our own quantity controls going down, and ... our cafes switched back to Posh Bakery.  I tentatively gave them a try, hoping they had gotten better in the last 8 years, after all, *they* made it through the pandemic, but alas, their items were all as bad, if not worse, than I remembered.

Everything was universally lower quality that a generic grocery store bakery.

Breakfast Baked Goods

Bagels, donuts, muffins, scones, and danishes make up the Posh Bakery breakfast baked goods lineup.  I've tried many.

Muffins

"Our plump muffins are made fresh daily and available in a variety of sizes & flavors.  Every muffin promises to be moist & rich with flavor.  Enjoy our muffins at breakfast or any time of day. "

I will give Posh Bakery credit for the large lineup of muffins.  They produce 15 different flavors of muffin, including fruity (apple cinnamon, blueberry, lemon, cranberry orange, cranberry), chocolatey (chocolate chip, double chocolate), seasonal (pumpkin spice), and even reduced fat choices (blueberry, bran, cranberry).

Double Chocolate Muffin.

"Chocolate lover's can delight in our double chocolate muffin.  We combine delicious moist dark chocolate muffin and fold it together with plenty of rich milk chocolate chips.  Just when you think it can't get any better, a few more chocolate chips are thrown on top."

Well, this muffin did not improve over the years.

It was far from moist as advertised, rather, extremely, extremely dry.  And while it was brown, and thus I guess chocolate, and it did have chips covering the top, it somehow managed to not taste chocolatey at all.

I do not think chocolate lovers will delight in the muffin as promised.

*+.

Scones

"Reminiscent of an authentic English style scone, our scoop and triangle shaped scones are made with real butter for that unbeatably rich, buttery flavor.  Our scones are delightfully crumbly with just the right amount of moisture to keep it irresistible and from falling apart. "

The scones were always the only items I found remotely tolerable back in 2014, although not good, and not really "scones".  They have really not changed at all, with even the exact same 4 varieties offered: blueberry lemon, cranberry orange walnut, raspberry peach, and maple oatmeal peach.

The are not rich and buttery as advertised, they are certainly not crumbly as described, and are basically just sweet breads.  A very soft style.  The part I do like is the pearl sugar on top, but besides that, nothing redeeming about these items.

Peach Raspberry Scone.

Our cafe cut the scones in pieces, a good move, as, well, these are so lackluster who would want a full one?

The sugary top was nice, but, besides that, they were just sweet bread.  I didn't find any peach nor raspberry in mine.  Kinda dry, sweet bread.  

Meh. **.

Croissants

I knew that I had disliked the danishes and croissants, due to the extremely lackluster pastry, but, hey, a few years had passed, so, try and try again.

Cheese Croissant.

"Our cheese croissant is a delicate yet flavorful croissant pastry that is filled with a rich creamy cheese inside. "

Ok, I'll start with the positives.  It is a big croissant!  Well covered in powdered sugar.  Lofty.  But ... yeah, the pastry just still isn't good.  It is soft, not flaky.  No lamination. Just, not a croissant.

The filling is decent though, cream cheese heavy, basically like a cheesecake stuffed into a croissant, smooth and creamy.  And it was generously stuffed.

But sigh, the pastry itself.  I even tried warming it up, but although it got slightly crispier, it didn't help.

**.

Danishes

The danishes fare no better than the croissants.

Blueberry Cream.

"This buttery danish has a dopple of juicy blueberry filling placed on top of our flakey dough.  The danish is lightly brushed with an apricot glaze and baked to a golden brown."

I should have known better.  After all, I had never liked the danishes from Posh Bakery before.  But ...  I was a captive audience.

The pastry part was awful.  Spongy, and just very not fresh tasting.  It tasted like preservatives, which was surprising as it is a locally made, fresh item?  The cream cheese filling was standard, the blueberry filling not "juicy" as they proclaim, but rather just gloopy, more like what you find inside a donut.  I didn't like the flavor from the apricot glaze.

Majorly, meh.

*.

Donuts

"Our donuts are made fresh daily and perfectly crafted to be the finest donuts in town.  Available in raised, cake, old fashion and buttermilk.  Choose from a variety of toppings!  With so many varieties, everybody will love them."

After many, many years of not having any Posh Bakery donuts, as they were always mediocre and my office stopped sourcing from them, they came back.  Just in case something had managed to change in the 5 years or so it had been since I last had them, I tried them again, one morning when I was just really craving donuts.

Posh makes a large variety of donuts, a slew of raised fluffy ones (sugar coated, glazed, chocolate iced, maple glazed, etc, etc), plus twists, cinnamon rolls, donut holes, and fritters all using the same yeasted dough, and then there are a plethora of cake donuts (again, with icing choices, nuts, sprinkles, coconut, and more applied), a lineup of old fashioneds, a range of buttermilk bars, and of course all the filled classics like raspberry or blueberry jelly filled, powdered sugar coated and lemon jelly filled, and more.

But that is not all.

Vegan

Posh makes a large lineup of vegan donuts as well, a dozen kinds, all cake style, no raised, no bars, no old fashioned, but, they come with a variety of toppings ranging from icing in cherry, blueberry, and apple cinnamon in addition to the more standard maple or chocolate glazed, plus coated with nuts or coconut too, in a slew of combinations (e.g. maple glazed with coconut).  Basic plain, crumb coated, and cinnamon sugar round out the lineup.

I've tried many, and I found something fairly surprising: the regular donuts (cake, old fashioned, raised, filled) all still really are not very good, but, somehow, the vegan ones are considerably better.

Chocolate Glazed Vegan.

The first one I tried was the chocolate glazed vegan donut.  The chocolate drew me in, it was so well coated.

And ... well, this thing wasn't bad.  

The chocolate flavor was strong, and the generous coating really allowed it to taste like, well, chocolate.  The base didn't taste like a fresh bakery donut, don't get me wrong, it definitely had more in common with a boxed variety, but, it was kinda great alongside a coffee.  It was just a basic cake base, no frills, and again, not fresh tasting, but it was a good "dunk in your coffee" base, if that makes sense.

I don't claim this to be a good fresh donut, but, average boxed donut quality, that sometimes, particularly when you have a black coffee in hand, can be just fine.

***.

Maple Glazed Vegan.

After the mild success with the chocolate donut, I went for the maple glazed donut next.  Again, I was drawn in by the excessive glaze.

The base donut was the same as the chocolate one, a cake donut, which I don't usually like as much as a raised, but, works well in this vegan format, and is great to dunk into a coffee.  The glaze was ... ok, a bit much on this one.  The generous coating worked fantastically when it was chocolate, but as this was VERY sweet maple ... it made the entire thing eat very very sweet.  That said, if you take my advice and dunk into coffee, some of the maple coating will soften up and fall into the coffee, slightly sweetening the coffee behind it.  Which, it turns out, maple coffee is tasty!

Again, not a fresh amazing donut, but, it really satisfied when dunked into coffee.

***.

Blueberry Glazed Vegan.

Next up, the beautiful blueberry version.

Same plain base, although this one seemed more fried, heavier, oilier.  Definitely didn't taste remotely healthy.

The blueberry glaze was, like the others, generously applied and sweet.  It was mildly fruity, but not particularly intense.  I expected more of a blueberry taste given the visible flecks of blueberry.

Again, fine, not amazing.  Best dunked in coffee, or paired with a scoop of ice cream and fresh berries.

***.

Apple Cinnamon Glazed Vegan.

I remember trying the apple cinnamon glazed version as well, but, alas, I lost my notes.

Regular

For regular donuts, Posh makes a variety of cake, raised, and specialty donuts.

Raspberry Jelly Filled / Chocolate Glazed Cake / Glazed Old Fashioned.

Cake donuts are not usually my thing, so I didn't try the chocolate glazed cake donut.

One bite of the glazed old fashioned and I was immediately reminded why I never liked these donuts before.  It just tasted like old oil.  Yes, it was very well covered in glaze, lovely sweet glaze, but, that didn't mask the oil taste, and it wasn't a good oil taste.  It just tasted, well, old, if that makes sense.  I tried dunking it in coffee, but it still just did not taste good. The glaze job was nice though.  **.

Next up, the jelly filled.  These were massive, as you can see, about twice the size of the others.  They were well glazed.  I tried a bite at room temperature, and at first, it seemed only slightly better than the old fashioned - it was fluffy, the donut airy, but, it did have that kinda stale old oil thing going on.  The filling was very, very, very generic raspberry goo.  I can't really call it jelly, and I honestly am not sure if it contained any actual raspberry, but, it was sweet, fruity goo, no seeds.   Very sweet.  Undeterred, I heated it up in the toaster oven, and it was considerably better once warmed up.  The donut stayed light and airy, the glaze turned into a bit of a caramelized exterior, and the inside goo turned molten.  I served it with a very generous amount of vanilla ice cream to balance it out, and really quite enjoyed it - basically, the fruity goo was like a warm sauce for my ice cream, and I stuffed the ice cream into the donut too, and it just rounded it all out.  It really needed the ice cream to balance the cloying sweet though.

So, as served, the jelly donut, impressive in size and glaze, but otherwise, **+.  Warmed up and served with quality ice cream though, ***.

I would not get any of these again most likely, although if I really was craving a donut and the jelly ones were around, and I had a toaster oven and ice cream ready, I'd consider it.

Raised Glazed.

I skipped the simple raised glazed.

Strawberry Glazed.

Instead I opted for the more fun looking strawberry glazed one.

This donut, much like the old fashioned, again reminded me of exactly why I never liked the Posh donuts before.  Yes, it was nicely glazed, it was a fluffy lofty donut, and the strawberry glaze was fruity and fine, but, it just tasted again like stale oil.  Old oil.  The donut itself just didn't taste fresh.

I don't expect donuts to taste healthy and fresh obviously, but this just tasted old, stale, and like bad oil.  I tried heating it up, but that didn't save this one.

**.  The star only goes to the glaze.

Chocolate Glazed.

I'm really not sure why I tried the chocolate glazed, but at least I found someone to split one with me.

It was basically exactly the same - sure, it was a nice raised donut, and yes, it had a generous amount of decent enough chocolate glaze, but, it just tasted like old stale oil.  Sigh.  I need to not expect otherwise at this point.  My least favorite of the donuts.

*+.

Loaf Cakes

"Slice into any  one of our seven varieties of loaf cakes to create convenient individual servings, or leave it untouched and tie with a colored bow to make the perfect gift for anyone."

Loaf cakes, or quickbreads, always amuse me, as they are commonly served as morning breakfast items, but really ... um, are cake.  Posh makes 7 kinds: including the expected banana (with nuts) and zucchini, plus other morning muffin variety favorites like blueberry, cranberry, almond poppy, and carrot, along with seasonal pumpkin. 

Pumpkin Bread.

The pumpkin bread was a bit boring looking ... no streusel (it wasn't coffee cake after all), just, a dense loaf cake.

It was reasonably moist, had decent spicing (not too much "pumpkin spice"), and otherwise was just kinda basic and boring.  Not bad, not great, and not really my thing (unless warm, toasted, covered in cream cheese, or perhaps slathered with icing for an afternoon treat?).

***.

Banana Nut Bread.

The banana nut bread was also highly average.  Not bad, not great.  Decently moist.  Decent banana flavor.  I liked the nut crumble on top.

I toasted it, added cream cheese and additional sliced banana and candied walnuts, and enjoyed it as a snack.

***.

Desserts

While I do love my morning baked goods and pastries, I love desserts even more, and Posh makes an assortment of cakes, pies, bars, cookies, and other goodies.

Cakes

"Make every occasion special with the perfect cake.  Posh offers many styles and flavors, but they all share one thing in common. . . very  moist, full of flavor, creative and beautiful."

Posh Bakery makes a variety of regular sized round cakes, plus sheet cakes, bundt cakes, cupcakes, and cake pops.  We always had the sheet cakes, cut into squares, as it was large format cafe setting.

The cakes are pretty universally lackluster.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing & Nuts.

I had a glimmer of hope for the carrot cake.  I really like carrot cake, and was pleased to see it included nuts and NOT raisins.  But alas.  Posh Bakery does not ever deliver on quality items.

This was the most cake-like carrot cake I've ever had.  It was odd, really.  Usually carrot cake is denser, more moist, has shreds of carrot, perhaps some pineapple, etc, but this was more fluffy/risen, like, well, cake, or even more like bread.  It had a few visible flecks of carrot, but certainly no shreds, and no additions like pineapple.

What it did have however was spicing.  Extreme spicing.  Way too much spice for me.

The icing was lackluster, and way too thin of a layer. One point for nuts.

*+.

Frosted Brownie.

I'm not usually super excited about brownies (unless warm, a la mode, and with some chocolate sauce and whipped cream too of course), but every once in a while I really get a craving for chocolate goodness.  Such a craving hit on a day we had Posh Bakery brownies, so I was excited to try.

The brownie was ... dense.  Very dense.  Fudgey, not cakey.  Not dry, but not moist exactly, just, really heavy and dense.  It was chocolately, but ... not in a particularly interesting way.  It just wasn't very good.

This was the "frosted" version, and I'm not really sure what it made it frosted.  It seemed basically the same throughout, no visible frosting layer.

Meh.  **. 

Cupcakes

"Possibly the world's best little treat is a beautiful and delicious cupcake.  Available in a variety of decorations, they are easy to serve and easy to devour."

Cupcakes come in all your standard varieties: chocolate, white, red velvet, and carrot, plus german chocolate and black forest.  We often had them in adorable mini size.  They, um, were not good, but they were cute.

Red Velvet.

The red velvet cake was ... ok.  It was a light fluffy style, not moist, but not dry.  Very light cocoa flavor.  The frosting didn't really taste of cream cheese, but it was sweet and fine.  Overall, "ok", but not something to seek out. ***.

Update: I had another.  I appreciated that I could taste the cocoa in it, and again, the cake was this interesting not dry nor moist style.  The frosting was generous, sweet, and only lightly cream cheese flavored.  Great frosting to cake ratio - tons of frosting!  ***+.

White Mini.

Next up, the white mini.  The white cupcake however was really, truly not good.  

The cake was again not dry exactly, but not moist, no crumb to it, too tight of a structure.  It had no flavor whatsoever.  The frosting however was even worse.  It was just cloying sweet.  Not good at all.  

Calling it "white", rather than "vanilla" seemed appropriate, as it certainly didn't seem to have any vanilla flavoring even.

Nothing redeeming about this cupcake. *.

St Patrick's Day "Everyday White".

These cupcakes look considerably better than they were, and were full size regular cupcakes, dressed up for St. Patrick's day.

The frosting is fluffy and the ratio is right, but, it is just cloying sweet.  So very very sweet.  No flavor to it other than sugar.  Just like the mini.  Kudos for the brilliant green color.

The cake, yup, just white, no flavor, just like the mini.  At least not too dry?

Again, no reason to eat these.  Generic as can be.  *+.

Pride "Everyday White".

These cupcakes.  Sigh.  They always look decent!  And then ... they are never actually very good.

This was another "white" cupcake with "white" frosting, not vanilla, just, plain.  Plain, plain, plain.  The cake was not moist nor dry, it just ... was.  No crumb to it.  Not stale, just, there.  Sorta like angel food, but entirely flavorless.  The frosting, just sweet.  Not even good fake-sweet, just, sweet.  Plain on plain.

I honestly don't understand how these are so blah, but they are.  I do strangely kinda like the taste of the edible paper they use on top for decoration though.

*.

Black & White - Mini.

The black and white weren't horrible, but they weren't very good either.  Cake sorta dry, not much chocolate flavor.  Frosting cloying sweet, but I kinda liked it.

A very mediocre, grocery store quality, cupcake.

**+.

Black & White St. Patrick's Day.

The next year, another full size version dressed up for St. Patrick's day with shamrock sprinkles, was no better.

The cake is relatively light, not dry exactly, but also not moist, and doesn't have a very strong chocolate flavor.  Very, "eh".  Frosting generous, fluffy, but just cloying sweet.

Add it together, and it just tastes like a generic grocery store cupcake.  Not awful, could be worse, but no reason to eat this.

**+.

Blueberry Mousse.

This cupcake looked far more exciting than it was.  I was hoping for a blueberry filling, but the base was just a plain white cake.  No different from previous Posh cupcakes, just, white cake.  Plain plain plain.

The frosting was ok, fluffy, it did taste lightly blueberry flavored, and the dot of compote added to the blueberry element.  I'm not sure what was "mousse" about this.

Overall, ok frosting, but meh cupcake.  **.

Lemon.

Lovely fluffy frosting.  Very lemon forward frosting.  Boring "everyday white" cake.  Eh. **.

Everyday Chocolate.

Another day, another Posh Bakery mediocre cupcake.  This one, the "Everyday Chocolate".  The chocolate cake was fascinating in that it was very dark, looked intensely chocolatey, but still tasted like plain angel food cake. Not particularly moist nor dry.  

The frosting was not very chocolately, and quite cloying sweet.  It tasted like just sugar, and wasn't nearly as fluffy as past cupcakes.

This gets a very generic average rating, **+.

Cookies

"We bake fresh daily an assortment of the finest cookies around using only premium quality ingredients.  Make someone's day and give them Posh cookies today...."

You've probably grown sick of hearing me comment on not really being a cookie person, or at least, historically not being a cookie person, but, times changed, and amid the pandemic I got more into cookies.  And thus, I was willing to try the offerings from Posh, although, really, I had low expectations given the other items.

Posh makes your basic chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter (and a version half dipped in chocolate), and snickerdoodle, along with macaroons (again, including a half dipped in chocolate version), almond horns (yup, half dipped option), and palmiers.  For holidays, they do shaped/decorated sugar cookies.

Shamrock Sprinkle Sugar Cookie.

For St. Patrick's Day, Posh made shamrock shaped cookies, coated in green sugar crystals.  I had basically zero expectations for these, but was craving something festive, and thus, gave one a try.

It really wasn't a bad sugar cookie.  A hard style, but that works for sugar cookies.  Buttery and sweet, and yup, extra sweet from the sugar crystals on top.  It was nice to dunk into hot cocoa and into green whipped cream my cafe was serving alongside.

Far better than I expected, and I'd actually happily eat another, if craving a pretty classic sugar cookie.

****.

Pride Cookie.

Another holiday, another themed cookie, this time just a simple round shortbread cookie, with an edible pride logo and drizzle of white chocolate.

This was another simple, but not bad, cookie.  A hard style, but that works for a shortbread base.  It had decent flavor, decent sweetness.  

Much like the shamrock sugar cookie, it was better than it looked or I expected, and I enjoyed it, and again, another I'd eat again if I was in the mood for that kind of cookie.

***+.

Pies

The Posh Bakery introduced pies only recently.  

"Posh introduces pies, baked fresh with all natural ingredients, just like you would make for your family!  Our packaging is oven and freezer safe, and recyclable."

They are sold unbaked.  Fruit varieties include a slew of apple choices (regular double crust apple, caramel apple, apple cherry, or crumb topped dutch apple), along with blueberry, cherry, or triple berry.    They are available with standard top crust, lattice, or streusel.  Seasonal pumpkin is on offer, as is key lime.  In the cream pie department, there is standard coconut, banana, and chocolate.  Prices start at $36 for basic 9" pies, and upwards for premium varieties and crust/toppings.  

Blueberry Double Crust.

"Double buttermilk crust with wild Maine blueberries."

I liked the sound of this pie, at least, the crust.  I'm a sucker for a good buttermilk tang, normally is biscuits or cobbler, but why not pie crust?  An as a pie crust lover, double crust is always my preference (assuming it is a good crust of course).  I was lukewarm on the blueberry part itself, just because I don't tend to love little wild Maine blueberries.

The pie looked reasonable, although it was clear that the pie crust is not a light and flaky homemade style.  Definitely more compact and dense, although I did like the sprinkle of sugar on top.  The crust tasted about as "eh" as it looked ... and I didn't taste any buttermilk.  It wasn't stale, it wasn't dry, but it also just wasn't particularly good nor flavorful, and seemed more like what you'd get from a frozen baked product than a freshly baked one.

The filling was too heavy in the cornstarch, rather thick, cloudy, and, well, cornstarch-y. The berries themselves were fine, and it wasn't cloying sweet nor heavy handed in lemon, but, the consistency wasn't really right.

Overall, a pretty mediocre pie, that didn't taste freshly made, and was on par with what you'd get at a generic grocery store.  ***.

Tarts

The Posh Bakery has a slice of individual mini tarts, essentially all the flavors of the regular pies (apple, cherry, etc), along with lemon curd or lemon cream, triple chocolate or pecan chocolate, and seasonal pumpkin spice.

Key Lime.

I don't generally like tarts, and I don't generally like lemon or lime desserts, so honestly, I don't know why I tried this, but I was curious.  Plus, I think I'm starting to come around to citrus desserts ...

Anyway, it was better than I expected.  The tart shell is where I was quite impressed - so often tart shells are hard, fairly flavorless, cardboard like, and throwaway.  But this was a delicious - sweet, slightly soft, and reminded me of a very good shortbread cookie.  Does that make it a paté sucrée? Sablée?  I would gladly eat just the tart shell as a cookie, and I never say that.  

The filling was fine. Lightly tart.  Not really that strong of a key lime flavor.  Good consistency.  If I liked key lime, I'd be disappointed by the lack of flavor, but it was fine for me.

I did jazz it up with whipped cream and fresh blackberries, and enjoyed my little treat.  ***+.

Original Review, August 2014

The Posh Bakery is a wholesale bakery located in San Francisco, providing baked goods to retail stores, cafes, and restaurants worldwide.  They also have 14 retail stores of their own in the area, under The Posh Bagel line.

I haven't visited the stores, but my office got our morning muffins, danishes, and scones from them for years.  I was never impressed.  The danishes and croissants I always thought were awful, the muffins were never really good, and the scones were only worth eating when I really, really wanted a baked good.  Luckily, we stopped sourcing from Posh Bakery and the pastry team started making all of their own morning pastries.  I hadn't thought about Posh Bakery in a couple years, until ... my office introduced Donut Friday.

Now, Donut Friday *should* be an amazing thing.  And I have to admit, it looks impressive, every Friday morning when I arrive.  For the first few weeks, I was convinced that Donut Friday could be a success.  I mean, come on, piles of donuts in every style and variety imaginable.  How can you go wrong?  The answer is simple: source your donuts from Posh Bakery.

For the first few weeks, I thought I must somehow just be picking the wrong donuts.  Maybe I just didn't like their raised donuts.  Maybe it was just the cake donuts.  Maybe the vegan ones would be good.  No.  Their donuts are just bad, all of them.  I love donuts.  I'm not asking for freshly made donuts like the amazing ones we received at the end of our meal at Cyrus, or The French Laundry.  I'm not asking for delicious foie gras donuts like we had at one of Lafitte's foie gras dinners.  But even the baked-months-ago, loaded with preservatives, and wrapped in cellophane ones from Walgreens are better than these.

I tried far more of these donuts than I'd care to admit.  I was convinced I'd find a winner.  In particular, I was convinced that somehow, sometime, the apple fritter would be delicious.  But, it never, ever was.  None of them were.  Worst. Donuts. Ever.

Donuts

Raised

I started with the raised donuts.  All were light and airy, but generally tasted stale.

Apple Fritter.

Ah, the fritter.  Always one of the first donuts to disappear from a box. Obviously the one I tried first.

"A favorite for all, our moist apple fritter filled with ripe apple chucks and is soft on the inside and crusty on the outside.  It's not too sweet and has just the right amount of glaze to make it a masterpiece."

"Filled with ripe apple chunks"?  I beg to disagree.  I didn't find any apple in my first one at all.  It did have some cinnamon, and it was incredibly well glazed.  I liked the crustiness.  The first time I had it, I deemed it fine, but really not a great apple fritter.

On another occasion, I got one that actually had bits of apple in it.  So I take it back, sometimes, they do have apple chunks.  It was still not particularly good though.

And on another day, I tried another, again, there was some apple, I appreciated the crustiness, but still, it was just not a very good donut.

Yet I tried another.  It was so bogged down with oil. I couldn't even taste the sweetness this time, literally, just oil.  I can't resist these because they are apple fritters, but ugh, so bad.

Yet somehow my third favorite of all of their offerings.

Glazed Twist.

On that same first day, I also couldn't resist the glazed twist.  Don't judge, it is totally reasonable to have 2 donuts for breakfast.

"Our twist donut is hand-twisted and made with our light and fluffy raised donut recipe.  It is coated with a delicate icing and ready to be devoured."

It was totally unremarkable.  The donut seemed dried out.  It tasted very fried.  The glaze was crusty, as if stale, but I had it at 8am, right after they were delivered.  It had a good fluffiness, but was not good.

Cinnamon Roll Donut.

Next, a "cinnamon roll donut".

"Our cinnamon roll donut is prepared with our light and airy dough that we coat with a spicy cinnamon and sugar mix on the inside.  It is then rolled, sliced and covered with the perfect amount of glaze to make it delicious."

First, what is a cinnamon roll ... donut?  Answer: a dried out cinnamon roll, without the flaky goodness of a cinnamon roll, covered in hard icing.  Meh.

Yet, of course I had another.  This time I knew not to expect a cinnamon roll.  It did seem like a decent raised donut, airy and light, with some slight glaze.   But the cinnamon was totally lost, and thinking of it as a cinnamon roll would certainly result in disappointment.

Cake Donuts

After many disappointing raised donuts, I decided that perhaps cake donuts were just more of Posh's thing.  They were certainly different, denser, but all just tasted like bad old oil.

Crumb.

"Our crumb donut is made using our original recipe cake donut covered with icing and a tasty crumb topping." 

It tasted way too fried.  The crumb topping was slightly spiced, but I'm not sure by what.  Meh.

[ Update review: still oily and fried tasting, and why would I want my donut coated in crumb topping? ]

Maple with Coconut.

"This original recipe cake donut is first hand-dipped in rich maple icing, then sprinkled with fresh coconut shavings. "

Ok, this had to be better, right?  No.  Again, a spongy, too fried tasting cake donut.  The icing was clearly not just plain white glaze, but I didn't taste much maple.  There was lots of shredded coconut, but it wasn't toasted, so it was just soggy on the outside.  I really did not like this one.

Plain Old Fashioned.

 "Our famous old fashion plain donut has all the flavor and everything you'd expect from a great old fashion donut."

And, you guessed it, too fried tasting, not particularly interesting.

[ No Photo ]

Blueberry.

This was a basic cake donut, with little bits of blueberry inside. They were flavorless, and honestly I couldn't tell what kind of donut this was supposed to be. It was dense, greasy, and quite gross, like all of their donuts. The only good aspect was the light glaze on top.

Bar Donuts

Ok, so the raised donuts were stale, the cake donuts were oily.  How about ... the bar donuts?

Glazed Buttermilk.

"Our glazed buttermilk bar is made with is our original buttermilk recipe and then covered with a delicate glaze.  This bar is full of the buttermilk flavor you'd expect."

This was one of the better donuts.  The donut base is cake style, denser than the raised donuts, but not as oily as the round cake donuts, and it did indeed have a slight buttermilk tang to it.  The glaze was well distributed and sweet, but not too hard and crusty, as was an issue with the iced donuts.  It reminded me of the fritter, just without the apple, and with a tang (not that their fritter had much apple anyway).  My favorite of the donuts.

So I had another a few weeks later.  I still appreciated the tang and the fact that it wasn't as nasty oil tasting as the raised donuts, but, it too tasted stale.  It was still the best of the lot, but not very good.

[ Update review: still one of the better choices, but, not good.  The base flavor of their donuts is just too strong on the "old, stale oil" spectrum ]

Bavarian Cream Filled Chocolate Glazed.

"Our chocolate bar is made with our light and fluffy raised donut recipe and hand-dipped in rich dark chocolate icing.  This bar comes unfilled to be enjoyed as-is, or may be ordered filled on the inside with creamy and lightly sweet bavarian cream. "

This should be the ultimate donut, basically an eclair, or, if you are from the east coast, a Boston Cream.  But, as you read earlier, their raised donut base is just not very good.  Sure it is fluffy, but it just tastes so oily.  Even the chocolate coating on this was strange tasting, too heavy.  The bavarian cream was the part I was most excited for, but it too disappointed.  Even Jell-o pudding has more going on than this cream.  Would certainly not get again.

Ojan, who adores Boston Cream donuts and eclairs, didn't even want a second bite of this.

Bavarian Cream Filled Maple Glazed.

"Our maple bar is made with our light and fluffy raised donut recipe and hand-dipped in good ol' fashion maple icing.  This bar comes unfilled to be enjoyed as-is, or may be ordered filled on the inside with creamy and lightly sweet bavarian cream."

This was no better.  Same oily, gross base donut, same off putting bavarian cream, same maple icing as before (hard, just sweet, no maple flavor).  Definitely wouldn't try again.

Filled Donuts

Ok ... what about round filled donuts?

Lemon Filled.

This was a standard filled donut, covered in powdered sugar, filled with lemon ... stuff.

The dough was basically the same as all their other raised donuts, although in this case it was more dried out than bad fried oil tasting, an improvement I guess.  I did like the powdered sugar on the outside, it helped the less-than-notable dough take on a more interesting flavor.

The filling was lemon ... goo?  Sorta a jelly perhaps?  Since I don't tend to like lemon, I did not expect to like this, but, strangely, it wasn't bad.  The lemon was sweet and tangy, although the consistency of the lemon goo was certainly a bit strange.  And the donut itself wasn't good.  But the powdered sugar saved it.  I can't say that I want another, but this was my second favorite overall.

Raspberry Filled.

Another filled donut, this time glazed, and filled with raspberry goo.

The dough was fluffy, raised dough, but, just like many of their donuts tasted like only one thing: old fryer oil.  And it seemed stale.  The glaze was flaking off.  Basically exactly like the glazed twist.

Inside the Raspberry Filled.

And inside ... the goo.  I've ceased calling it jelly, as goo really does more accurately describe the situation.

It had no flavor, and the same horrible gooey consistency as the lemon.  Very low quality.

Everything about this donut was bad, and it was one of my least favorites.

Vegan

I don't even know why I was still trying at this point.  But, maybe the vegans knew something that I didn't ...

Blueberry Glazed.

This just tasted strange.  The texture was strange.  Clearly vegan, and not very good.  The icing was tasty, but the donut just boring.

Cherry Glazed.

Taking a play from its non-vegan siblings, this just tasted fried, and had no real cherry flavor.

Scones

As I said, we used to get their scones as well.  Luckily, I was taking notes, even back then.  You can see subsequent notes [ in brackets ].  The scones are my favorite of their baked goods, but I would certainly never seek them out.

Blueberry Lemon Scone.

Same as other scones, always mediocre.  Loaded with blueberries though, which were very flavorful. 

[ Dry, doughy, no lemon flavor. Not many blueberries. Nothing good here. ] [ Tons of plump blueberries, but dry and doughy, subtle lemon ] [ Very dry, lots of blueberries in the middle, but so dry, not much flavor, and totally burnt. ]

Cranberry Orange Walnut.

"We hand-fold in the fruit center and grace the top with sparkling sugar crystals. "  

Same as others, very mediocre.  My chunk only had cranberry (no orange/walnut detected). [ Again, no orange or walnut, but there were plump cranberries. Kinda doughy, not that great, but enjoyable enough with coffee ] [ Dry, crumbly. Base scone just doesn’t have any flavor.  I’m still not sure this is really a “cranberry orange walnut” scone, as I can’t ever find anything but cranberry! ] [ Again, no orange or walnut, but lots of plump, juicy cranberries. Very strong cranberry flavor as a result. If you like cranberry, you’ll like this! So much fruit that it is easy to overlook the dry boring scone. ]

Update 2018: This scone has not improved in the 4 years since I last had it.  Dry, flavorless, crumbly base.  Hard bits of cranberry.  Not good.  Yay for sugar crystals on top?

Maple Oatmeal Raisin.

This one looked great.  It did have nice icing on top, but it was quite hard, yet mushy inside.  Ok oatmeal flavor, not much maple. and not very good flavors.  

Update Reviews:  Hard style. Nice maple glaze on top. Definitely my favorite of their scones. [ Best scone I've had from Posh, but not that great. ] [ Nice texture from oatmeal ] [ Very dry, good hearty texture, but not that great overall. ]

Update Review (2022): 

This isn't awful, but isn't great.  A very hard scone, but I like the maple flavored icing on top.  Little bits of raisin and oatmeal for texture.  Slight buttermilk tang.

Best of their products, but not amazing.

[ No Photo ]

Raspberry Peach

Hard style, sugar top. Very, very doughy surrounding fruit, I think it was undercooked. Raspberry is nice flavor, peach just sorta mushy. 

Update Review: It was definitely undercooked last time. Now just kinda soggy, not very good. Soft, crumbly, no flavor. 

Muffins

The muffins were all super generic and not good.

Poppyseed Muffin.

"Our poppy seed muffin is a harmonious blend of almond flavor and poppy seeds mixed together.  We top this muffin with slivered almonds and bake it to perfection."  

The consistency of this muffin was all off.  It was ... spongy?  Not moist, not dry, but almost gummy?  I did like the slivered almonds on top, and the almond flavor in the base, rather than standard lemon with poppyseed, but it was just all wrong texture-wise.

Double Chocolate.

“We combine delicious moist dark chocolate muffin and fold it together with plenty of rich milk chocolate chips. Just when you think it can't get any better, a few more chocolate chips are thrown on top.” 

Looks tempting but ... dry, chalky. Not good chocolate flavor. Not good at all. 

[ No Photos ]

• Banana Nut: "Topped generously with fresh walnut chunks, this delicious muffin is full of flavor and a real a favorite."  Tasting notes: flavorless, couldn’t detect banana at all, moist/soggy texture.  Not good.
• Cranberry Orange: “Our cranberry-orange muffin is made with plump and juicy whole cranberries. We add minced bits of orange rind to marry two tangy sweet flavors together into one muffin”. Tasting notes: Cranberry did have tartness and strong flavor, muffin itself was really strange bright orange flavor, moderately moist but not very good at all. Very generic, like grocery store muffin.

Danishes

The danishes, even worse.  I put their danish dough on par with their donuts.

Vienna Cream Danish.

• Apple Cinnamon Danish: “This buttery danish has a generous dopple of chunky apple filling placed on top of our flakey dough. The danish is lightly brushed with an apricot glaze and baked to a golden brown.”. Tasting notes: Same danish dough that I don’t like. Topped with goeey not very good apple jelly like stuff, and some chunks of mushy apple.
• Bearclaw: “Pure rich danish dough and filled on the inside with a traditional blend of chocolate and almond bearclaw filling. We delicately brush the outside with a translucent apricot glaze and top it with thin sweet/toasted almond slices.” Tasting notes: plentiful almond slices on the outside.  Decent flavored filling. I’m still not a fan of their danish dough and the ratio of filling/dough is a little off - too much dough.
• Raisin swirl: “This swirled buttery danish is heavily speckled with plump juicy raisins throughout.” Tasting notes: Same not good pastry dough as others, no extra flavor, meh raisins. [ Same danish bread I don’t like, swirled with raisins. Do not like.] [ Same dried out, not good danish bread.  It looked like it would be good due to cinnamon visible, but it wasn’t. ]
• Vienna Cream: “Buttery and twisted danish dough has a dopple of lightly sweet custard filling placed on top of our flaky dough. The danish is lightly brushed with an apricot glaze.” Tasting notes: Same danish dough that I find not very flavorful and sorta soggy.  Nice custard filling. [ Ugh, the danish dough is horrible.  Soggy, not flaky, not buttery.  The cream in the middle tastes nice, but the pastry is just way too nasty. ]

Croissants

The croissants have the same dough as the danishes, thus, disappointing.

Cheese Croissant.

• Almond: “Our almond croissant is our buttery, flaky croissant dough wrapped around a traditional almond paste. This distinctive croissant is then topped with almond slivers and lightly dusted with powdered sugar”. Tasting notes: almond marzipan filling, croissant shell, topped with powdered sugar and almond slices.  The croissant part is just not very good.   Inside was nice flavor, but doesn't make up for gross croissant dough.
• Cheese: "Our cheese croissant is a delicate yet flavorful croissant pastry that is filled with a rich creamy cheese inside. "  Tasting notes: if they would just get some decent pastry dough ... ugh.  Spongy, not flaky, stale tasting, just really horrible pastry.  The cheese filling was fine.
• Chocolate: “This flaky croissant pastry is generously filled on the inside with rich dark chocolate that melts when we bake it. After baking, we drizzle the top with just the right amount of dark chocolate." Tasting notes: Decent amount of chocolate filling, lots of chocolate swirled on top. Same not very good pastry dough as danishes.

Breakfast Treats

Pecan Sticky Bun

• Pecan Sticky Bun: Tasting notes: How do you make even a pecan sticky bun unappealing?  Dried out dough.  So dried out.  Not moist.  Not buttery.  Not good. The glaze at least was sweet, but the pecans were burnt and bitter.  There wasn't much cinnamon.  Perhaps one of their better baked goods, but this really isn't saying anything.

Bagels

• Cinnamon Raisin: "This classic flavor combination brings a wonderful aroma of spicy warm cinnamon and each bite brings a delicate cinnamon flavor along with the taste of plump fruity raisins. "  Tasting notes: ok cinnamon flavor but not a very good bagel. [ Not much flavor, only 2 raisins in whole thing, not good texture to the bagel dough itself. ]

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