Otis Spunkmeyer Muffins

Update Review, 2023

A few years passed since my last Otis Spunkmeyer encounter, and so even though I hadn't really liked their products before, I tried them again when a hotel I was staying at had them in the buffet and I truly didn't want anything else on offer.

Wild Blueberry Muffin.

This was just as blah as previous ones I had tried.  The top was gummy.  It was too sweet overall, more like cake than a breakfast muffin.  Very homogeneous tight crumb structure.  Blueberries small and didn't add much flavor.

**.

Update Review, 2021

Much like Costco muffins, Otis Spunkmeyer muffins have their place in this world.  Granted, usually that is in airline lounges, hotel breakfast buffets, etc, and you may not know what brand they are at the time, as they are mainly a wholesale distributor.  No one will claim these are the best muffins ever, and they certainly don't taste, nor look, wholesome or homemade, but, when the mood strikes for a perfectly fine generic muffin, they most certainly do the trick.

I last (knowingly) had Otis Spunkmeyer muffins many years ago, so a update review was in order, when I recently attended an event with the Otis Spunkmeyer "Delicious Essentials Variety" mini muffins.  Of course, I had to try all three flavors, just for you, dear readers.

Wild Blueberry.

"Blueberry muffins made with no artificial colors or flavors. Our blueberry muffins use real wild blueberries and are an ideal healthy treat for your breakfast or as a snack. No tame blueberries for us!"

The full size wild blueberry muffin was the first Otis Spunkmeyer muffin that I (knowingly anyway) tried.  The mini version looked much the same: homogenous texture, not a crispy top, slightly moist on top.

However, I ... really didn't care for it.  It tasted very artificial.  Full of preservatives.  From a package. The texture wasn't a nice crumb, rather, it was spongy.  It did at least have little bits of wild blueberry, but, eh, I would certainly pass on this in the future.

**.

Banana.

"Muffins are delicious. Bananas are delicious. So we put them together."

Next, I tried the banana muffin, really just for completeness as it looked rather boring.  The full sized ones have a buttery crumb topping, and they also make a banana nut version, both of which I imagine are more appealing.

This was as boring as it looked.  It tasted like ... nothing.  The banana was incredibly faint, honestly barely detectable.  It had no visible banana, and, obviously, no nuts or topping.

Bo-Ring.

**.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip.

"Our Double Chocolate Chip Muffins are a decadent dessert that is guaranteed to turn any frown upside down."

I saved the best for last.  Chocolate Chocolate Chip.  A chocolate based muffin studded with chocolate chips.

Let's just be clear on one thing.  A double chocolate muffin is not really a breakfast item.  No, this is a chocolate cupcake, just missing the frosting.  Which is not a bad thing.  Served as it was, it was "fine", decent chocolate flavor, like a fluffier brownie really.  But I preferred slathering some buttercream frosting on it (that I had from a rather awful piece of cake, the frosting the only salvageable part!).  I suspect it would be nice warmed with ice cream as well.

Original Review, October 2014

Ok, I admit it, this is a bit random.  I am rarely satisfied with the baked goods from nice bakeries all over San Francisco, particularly when it comes to muffins.  So what on earth am I doing reviewing packaged muffins?

Well ... you may recall that I do have a particular fondness for the almond poppyseed muffins from Costco, so, there is some sort of precedent here.  Oh, and you can't forget about the crazy good cinnamon rolls from 7-Eleven.  So yes, sometimes delicious things come from surprising places.

But, the real story is that I was helping test out Google Shopping Express before it launched publicly.  After ordering all our household essentials of toilet paper, tissues, shampoo, and whatnot, we started to get a bit creative.  And Ojan loves blueberry muffins, so, at some point, he ordered blueberry muffins from Google Shopping Express.  You may recall the blueberry muffin from Walgreens that I reviewed a while ago?  Yeah, same reason.

This batch came from Otis Spukmeyer, a large baked goods distributor.  They sell wholesale baked goods for restaurants and businesses nationwide, apparently including the US Army.  However, little known fact, they actually started as a fresh baked cookie shop in nearby Oakland!  They also make those rather delicious hot fresh cookies that American Airlines serves in first class.  Their products are available in retail version fully cooked, or, for restaurants, they come as frozen dough and pastries to be baked off on site.  They also distribute their own special ovens to bake their signature cookies, 3 dozen at a time.

Wild Blueberry Muffins, 3-pack.

The muffins did not look good.  Sure, they were from a grocery store and pre-packaged, so I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but they looked gummy and moist through the packaging.

And they were.  Moist muffins wrapped in plastic are going to get gummy, I don't think there is any way around that.  One thing I love with cupcakes and muffins is when they have a crispy top, yet moist interior.  (Yes, I'm definitely the type who wants the crispy edges of lasagna too!).  These were entirely homogenous throughout, not dry, but not moist exactly.  Just, preserved "freshness"?  And the tops were indeed a bit gummy.

I wasn't a huge fan of the consistency at room temperature, so I popped one in the toaster oven for a few minutes.  A warm muffin is always appreciated, and it eliminated the gumminess this way.  It also crisped up the top.  Much improved!

Many reviews I read said they were "not too sweet".  I'm not really sure what those people were thinking.  These tasted as sweet as any cake, not a muffin.  Too sweet for my breakfast tastes.  And I like sweets!

They did have a slight tang to them, pushing them slightly on the muffin side of the cake-muffin divide, but just slightly.  That was the part I did like.

I was amused that they came as a 3-pack, yet the nutrition stats were for 6 servings.  Because you know, people really eat just a half a muffin ...

Cross section.

I cut one in half, to see what the suggested portion size looked like.  While the muffins were large-ish, a half a muffin was way too small.  Silly portion sizes.

As you can see, there was a decent quantity of little blueberries.  I am never much of a fan of wild blueberries, I prefer large plump ones, so that was not a selling point for me, but the blueberry was at least more substantial than in the Panera muffins.

Ojan is the one who ordered these, as he loves basic blueberry muffins, and he liked them, particularly for a packaged good.  I however, would not get again.

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Golden Diner, NYC

An Asian diner.  I've seen lots of fusion cuisines before, but, I hadn't ever stumbled upon an Asian diner until I spotted the menu at Golden Diner, in New York.  I was intrigued.  The menu had your expected diner dishes, like a wedge salad, burger, club sandwich, pancakes, coffee cake, etc, except ... all have a bit of Asian flair to them.  That wedge is garnished with chili crisp.  The burger has gochujang sauce.  The club sandwich is actually chicken katsu.  The coffee cake is green tea.  Etc.

I was even more drawn in when I saw how strong the reviews were in general, AND when one of my most trusted locals told me she adores the place, and in particular, the pancakes.  So although I never made it there during August when I was staying in New York, I finally made it last week, and dragged 10 others with me.  For context, the diner seats only 20, so we took up more than half the restaurant.  Our visit was at dinner time.

Setting

Counter Seating.

I absolutely loved that they have classic diner counter seating.  The short order cooks were working the line right behind it.  Coffee cake was in the display on the end.  Such great vibes (and don't worry, it filled up quickly!).  No jukebox, but they were blasting some solid tunes the whole time.

Table Seating.

The rest of the seats are at tables for 2-6, made up from a combination of benches and chairs.  The diner seats 20 total inside.  The decor isn't really diner-eque, but the brick and white lace curtains had a charm to it too.

There is additional sidewalk seating.

Drinks

To drink, they had a few wines available (1 sparkling, 2 white, 2 red, 1 orange), a few beers on draft or by the can, a couple korean spirits, and some soju or korean wine based cocktails.

Sparkling water was Topo Chico, which I love.

Omija Negroni. $14.

"Seoul night plum suju, omija 'campari', sweet vermouth."

I briefly considered getting plum wine, because it had been a while since I'd had it, but when I saw they had a play on a negroni, I wanted to try it.

I didn't really care for it.  It was rather sweet, lacking any bitter notes.  Not much booze flavor either.  I wouldn't get it again. *+.

Savory

Since we were there at dinner, not breakfast or brunch, we mostly went for the savory lunch/dinner appropriate dishes, rather than the breakfast all day, although that was available too.  We opted to share a few things, starting with one salad (which was hard to pick, as all the salads had really interesting components to them), and their most famous sandwich, the aforementioned chicken kastsu.  We skipped the share plates with popular Korean fried chicken wings or some interesting sounding vegan nachos, and the burger as that seemed the least unique.  If we had ordered one more dish, it certainly would have been the vegetarian hero, which has marinated yuba in it, and sounded fantastic.  If you are noticing the extensive vegetarian and vegan options, you are absolutely correct.  This diner has extremely strong vegan offerings.

Chili Crisp Wedge Salad (Vegan). $17.
(Dressing on the side).

"Chili crisp a la Fat Choy, iceberg lettuce, vegan ranch, blue "cheese", mushroom "bacon"."

I struggled to pick between the two interesting sounding salads, but was drawn in by the chili crisp and mushroom "bacon" in this one.  It just happened to be vegan, which certainly isn't what you think of when you have a salad known for 1) blue cheese, 2) ranch, and 3) bacon.  I'm also certainly not vegan.

But honestly, I couldn't tell it was vegan.  The ranch was creamy and flavorful enough, basically, well, it tasted like generic ranch.  It was fine, but I'd love more buttermilk tang, or interesting herbs in it.  It certainly didn't taste oddly vegan.  I had it on the side as I was worried about not liking it, but normally the salad comes smothered in it.  Average ranch dressing: ***.

The chili crisp they also put on the side, and it was good.  Nice size bits of "crisp" and not too oily.  A notch above average chili crisp.  This is something I regularly drizzle on my own salads, so this was a natural salad topping for me.  ***+.

The salad base itself, two iceberg wedges, was not as crisp as I'd expect for a wedge salad.  Kinda limp and pale too.  I know it is iceberg, which isn't exactly known for being a robust lettuce, but, it was pretty boring.  Same with the bits of tomato, and harsh red onion.  ***.

The vegan blue "cheese" was fascinating.  It tasted, and looked, quite a bit like blue cheese.  It was white with blue veins.  It had funk to it.  Uncanny.  I am not a big blue cheese fan, but, this was interesting and novel as a vegan item.  ***.

And finally, the mushroom "bacon", which I adored.  Great crunch, nice umami flavor.  There was far, far, far too little of it.  Just a few little bits.  This was my favorite component of the salad, and the most minimal.  **** for taste/texture/etc, but * for quantity.

Overall, this was a fine salad, and there is no way I'd ever think this was vegan, but, it could do with fresher base lettuce, more "bacon", and a better onion component, like fried onion strings or something.  I wouldn't get it again. ***.

To the salads, you can add avocado for $3.50 or crispy chicken for $10.

Red Cabbage Slaw. $5.

I adore cole slaw, and when I saw it was available as a side, I added it to our order.  It normally comes on the club sandwich.

The portion was a sizable mound.  It really was just red cabbage and mayo.  I think I expected carrot at least.  It was a bit soft.  Well dressed, but the taste was just mayo.  Not much seasoning, if any.

As a standalone slaw, it didn't work very well.  I wanted it crispier, more flavorful, potentially more components.  But, used inside the sandwich, I see how it would totally work.

** as a side, but not holding this against them as most people get it inside the sandwich.

Pickled Diakon. $5.

One of my other guests saw that they had pickled diakon on the menu, and immediately ordered it.  I may or may not have stolen a bunch.

It was good, nicely crisp, good pickling flavor.  $5 worth of diakon?  I'm not sure about that, but I liked it.  ***+.

It normally comes with the Korean fried chicken wings.

Chicken Katsu Club. $19.

"Panko breaded chicken katsu blt w/ red cabbage slaw, bulldog sauce, and kewpie mayo served on milk bread."

Take the classic chicken club, and make it fusion.  That gives you their top selling sandwich, the chicken katsu club.  Most of my group wanted this.  

The portion was a full sandwich, cut into 4 wedges, with three slices of bread, one separating the chicken and slaw, the other the lettuce, tomato, and bacon.  Not a single person was able to finish it, even when served without a side.  They seemed to really like it, although one guest lamented that it was too hard to eat because it was so tall.  Another took all the leftover 1/4 and 1/2 slices from the group home, and was quite pleased with her bounty.

For $5 more, you could make it "deluxe" with fries and a pickle, or $6 you could opt up to home fries.

Out of the rest of my group, one other ordered the vegan grilled cheese and tomato soup, and one had the matzoh ball soup, neither had much reaction to their items.

Sweet

And there, of course, we get to desserts.  A primary reason for me to pick many places.  Here you find a pastry item (green tea coffee cake), a cake (thai tea tres leches), and pudding (pistachio rice pudding).  All sounded good to me.  

And then there is the pancakes.  My co-worker's top recommendation, but also, the top recommendation of many others in reviews too.  This is probably Golden Diner's most well known dish.  The pancakes technically aren't on the Sweets menu, but rather, the All Day Breakfast section, but we ordered them as dessert.

Honey Butter Pancakes. $15.

"Double stack of fluffy, moist and savory pancakes served with honey butter maple syrup and whipped honey butter, finished with lemon zest."

Behold, the famous honey butter pancakes.  The serving is a stack of two diner plate sized large fluffy pancakes.  They come pre-sauced and buttered, no additional is provided unless you order and pay for an additional $1 each.

The honey butter and honey maple syrup were both good, and while the pancakes were pretty smothered in the syrup, I wanted more.  The pancakes were quite plain without it.  **** syrup/butter though.

You can add a berry compote for $4 more, and I wished we had.  I just really wanted more flavor in this dish.

Pancakes: Second layer.

The pancakes were cooked really unevenly.  As you can see in the first photo, the top pancake was light and perfectly colored.  The pancake under that one?  Wow, so dark!  At first I really thought it was burnt, and wondered "wow, how could they plate that and not notice!"  

But actually, the uneven cook was fine.  The top one was light and airy, this one had a bit of a crust to it, which I liked.  The pancakes were a bit bland though - no real buttermilk tang, no cornmeal grit, nothing like that.  Just, plain pancakes.  Good pancakes, nicely thick pancakes, but, plain.  ***.

Pistachio Rice Puddin'. (Vegan) $11.

"Coconut milk, orange, candied cardamon pistachios."

Because I can't resist a pudding, and because I was saddened by the lackluster rice pudding at my office the previous day, I also ordered their newest menu item, the pistachio rice pudding.  It also happens to be vegan.

It was attractively served with orange supremes and pistachios on top, in a layered parfait style glass.  The rice pudding was fine, the rice nicely cooked, not too mushy, not too al dente, nice sized grains.  It was quite thick and rich from coconut milk.  I loved the bits of pistachio for crunch, and there was plenty of it, so every bite got some.  The pistachio also added a lot of flavor.  The orange supremes added a bit of freshness, and juiciness, and went well with the pistachio, but I'd rather see fresh berries.

Overall, this was absolutely fine, but I found myself wanting a bit more of a complimentary flavor, maybe some whipped cream too.  ***+.

Green Tea Coffee Cake. $7.

"Made with hojicha and matcha."

And lastly, we ordered the coffee cake, made with both hojicha and matcha.  It was served warm, but otherwise unadorned.

The color of the base was not particularly appealing, somewhat green-gray, but it was clearly loaded with green tea.  The flavor was, well, green tea, fairly strong in the hojicha direction.  If you like green tea flavor, this delivered.

The crumble topping layer was equally as thick as the base layer.  It was quite crispy.  It was good, but not remarkable.  

Overall, this ate pretty dry.  I wanted whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream to make it a real dessert.  Pairing it with some berries would be nice too.  Most of my group didn't even try it, so even though we only had one piece, we had plenty left.  I took it home and had with breakfast the next morning, and enjoyed it more in that setting than as a dessert.

Overall, perhaps worth trying if you really like green tea, and for brunch, but not what I'd recommend for dessert.  ***.

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Breakfast at Residence Inn by Marriott New York Downtown Manhattan/World Trade Center Area

Another day, another hotel stay.  In this case, another Residence Inn, which means included breakfast for all.  While domestic Residence Inn free breakfast never comes close to rivaling the breakfast I get in other parts of the world with my status, some locations do an actually decent enough job, like the Residence Inn in Cambridge, MA, that surprised me with the variety and constant change from day to day.  I cannot say the same for the Residence Inn I stayed at in Manhattan, near World Trade Center.  

Breakfast was a crazy time every day, with a space not seemingly designed for the crowds, with bottlenecks abound.  The wait for the elevators at breakfast time was even worse.  The lackluster experience was pretty on par with everything else I experienced at this hotel, which included really shabby rooms in need of updates (literally every door frame or painted surface had paint hunks missing, there were weird patches on the walls, the wallpaper was peeling off, nothing was actually clean, with visible debris around the corners of the room and under and around everything, the linens smelt awful, etc, etc).  Anyway, this isn't Julie's hotel review blog, but, yeah, I don't recommend this hotel at all.

And now, back to the food and drink review.  I can solidly say: meh.  I was there for 8 days, tried a variety of items, and only found one that I liked in the entire time.

Starbucks Machine.

There were two Starbucks branded drink makers that made a variety of espresso beverages, coffee, chai and hot chocolate. Two choices for regular coffee beans, plus classic Pike Place decaf were available.

One machine was broken.  The other was sloooooow.  It took a fair number of steps for each guest to actually get to the button to "zomg, give me my drink already", and then it was quite slow at grinding beans, brewing, etc.  Given how truly awful the big urns of brewed coffee (regular only) on the side was, this meant quite the queue.  I saw people routinely give up, and say to their partner, "I think there is a Dunkin Donuts across the street, let's just go".

Anyway, I had both the regular and decaf coffees from the machine.  All were almost passable, but not particularly good.  

Apple and Orange Juice.
Water Dispenser.

The buffet starts with dispensers with two kinds of juice, classic apple or orange.  There is also an in-counter faucet controlled by a display on the side for chilled, sparkling, or elderflower (!) water.  I appreciated having what I assume is filtered sparkling water on tap.  Sadly, the breakfast room is closed after breakfast service, so I couldn't use it to fill bottles later in the day and the faucet is too low to fill a water bottle, which seemed intentional.  You could only fill their tiny little glasses, no extra water for you!

Cold Brew, Oat Milk, 2% Milk

This Residence Inn went slightly above and beyond, with a pitcher of cold brew, and oat milk.  (Strangely no soy milk, which I'd think is more common? ) The big dispenser had 2% regular milk, and nonfat was further down in individual bottles.

It turned out that that cold brew was only there one morning.  I never saw it again in my 8 night stay.

Cereal: Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, Kashi Granola.

The cereal was in those annoying dispensers that either 1) jam up, 2) dump way too much at once, or 3) crush the contents.  All basic cereals, nothing particularly interesting.  I wished the corn flakes weren't frosted, and that the granola wasn't so full of super hard pellets of sugared raisins, but, it was at least a reliable option.

Oatmeal.

The standard pot of hot oatmeal and toppings was on offer.  I do like the walnuts they have, but, boo, no chocolate chips (like most Residence Inn locations have).  Only nuts, seeds, dried fruit.  Not even cinnamon to put on top! (the shaker was cocoa powder).

Yogurt & Milks.

In the little fridge was Chobani greek yogurt and a few flavors of lowfat creamy Danon yogurt, along with non-fat milk, both regular and chocolate.  I tried the chocolate milk on a whim one day, it was, well, chocolate milk.  The yogurt was all cloying sweet and fake tasting.

The only fruit to go with the yogurt was whole apples and oranges.  No berries, no melons, no pineapple.  Just whole fruits.

Bagels.

In a city known for bagels of course they had bagels, but I think these were just generic mass produced bready kind.  No bread or english muffins, just bagels.  Toasters were on the side to toast, and, judging from other guest's comments, seemed to not really toast at all, just, lightly warm.  There was always a long, long line for the toaster slots too.

Peanut butter, jam, s & p.

The usual suspects were on offer as spreads: Jif creamy PB, Smucker's brand jam.  Grab n go individual packets made it easy and mess free in the spreads area.  Not a very compelling lineup, particularly when I've seen RI locations with fancier jams (and a big lineup of them), plus come on, not even fairly standard Nutella?  Just peanut butter and jelly.

Cream cheese, butter.

At least the cream cheese (plain only, regular or low fat) and butter were properly kept cold.

Scrambled Egg Whites.

The hot bar had 4 items, two were eggs, either whites and regular, scrambled.  These never changed.  No fried eggs, no poached eggs, etc.  Just scrambled.

Next up was a rotating breakfast meat of the day.  The day it was sausage patties I heard multiple guests complaining there was no bacon.  The next day, it was labelled as sausage, but was in fact bacon.  It seemed to only ever be the pork sausage patties that looked highly processed and limp, or the bacon.

There were never any breakfast hot potatoes of any kind, no hash browns, home fries, or anything like that.

Daily Special: Liege Waffles.

The last item in the hot buffet did rotate.  On weekends, it was waffles.

So, um, these were a surprise.  Not because omg there was something decent in the buffet, but because of the noticeable absence of *the* signature Residence Inn self-serve waffle station.  I actually looked around, checked around the corner, thinking I really must be somehow missing it (like, in Cambridge, MA, where it really was in another room entirely).   But, nope, this RI does not allow you to make a horrible mess everywhere and burn your own waffles.

Now, those signature waffles are never actually anything special, even if you do cook them properly, but even otherwise "meh" RI locations tend to have a great toppings lineup for the waffles.  Flavored syrups, fruit compotes, and always, always whipped cream.  I was counting on being able to get a cup full of whipped cream at breakfast!  But alas, no whipped cream.  In fact, the only topping for the waffles was packets of pancake syrup, and it was only there on waffle day.

That said, these were liege waffles, and thus, syrup isn't actually needed, as they have pearl sugar baked in.  I was particularly excited as I got a fresh batch of the waffles my first day.  They were ... soft.  At least not over cooked and dried out, but, this kind of waffle is not supposed to be floppy.  And these were floppy.  The base flavor was fine, and they did have pearl sugar studding them, but, presumably being kept hot in a steam tray did them no service.  I pondered sticking one in the bagel toaster ...

Overall, still ***, but, would get another half star if actually lightly crisp.

Update: The next weekend, the waffles were back.  They were not just soft this time, but also wet and gummy.  Sadness, as these really could be good, but this steam tray does them no justice. **.

Daily Special: Sausage Biscuit.

On Monday, I went eager to snag a liege waffle and found that slot now housed packaged sausage biscuits with cheese.  Lukewarm.  It turns out, this 4th hot dish was a rotating special, so waffles weren't actually available daily (only weekends I was told).

Sausage Biscuit: Unwrapped.

"Our Cheddar Sausage Biscuit is made with our classic, scratch made Mason Dixie® Cheddar Biscuit and nitrite/nitrate free sausage and ready in just 90 seconds."

I didn't try the sausage biscuit the first day, but, when it came back 2 days later, and I literally wanted nothing else from the buffet, I decided to brave it.

It was worse than I thought it would be.

The biscuits were both dried out and moist at the same time.  More like soggy I guess, due to the steam inside the plastic wrapper.  But they were hard/dry as if overcooked as well.  I did not taste the cheddar cheese, that was supposed to be inside the biscuit part.  They had no tang either, no buttermilk or anything slightly classy about these.  They tasted like soggy hard compressed cardboard.  Not good. *.

And the sausage?  A thin, chewy patty.  Tasted highly processed (I know all sausage is obviously processed, but, these were very processed). *.

Truly nothing redeeming about this. *.

Daily Special: Swiss Cheese & Spinach Crustless Quiche.

The third day, the breakfast special was packaged crustless quiche.

It was soggy.  Lukewarm.  Had no real flavor.  Did not like. *.

Egg, chorizo, & cheddar breakfast burrito.

"For the True Southwestern Morning."

Another day, another "special" pre-made packaged item.  This one came from Green Chile Food Company, who make a variety of burritos, both breakfast and regular.  The breakfast burritos feature eggs and most include hash browns and cheese, along with a variety of breakfast meats (bacon, sausage, chorizo, beef, etc).  Regular burritos include the standards like pork carnitas, chicken fajita, steak and jalapeno, bean & cheese, etc.  Our special was the egg, chorizo, and cheddar version.

I didn't try this the first time it showed up, after the other specials failed so miserably, but when it returned the very next day, I grabbed one out of curiosity/boredom.

Ir was actually considerably better than I was expecting.  The flour tortilla was soft and not dried out.  The fillings well distributed, warm, and comforting.  The cheese was nicely melted.  The chorizo bits were flavorful.  Soft bits of scrambled egg and shredded potatoes rounded it out.  The roasted corn and other zesty "southwest" inspired ingredients gave it a ton of flavor.  Basically, good textures, good flavors, and truly not bad.  No additional sauce required either.

It did leave me feeling *very* weighed down, as this is a heartier item for breakfast than I normally would have, and I wished I had my griddle to toast the exterior on, but, I wasn't upset I ate it.  I wouldn't get another unless really craving something like it though.  ***.

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Peter Pan Donuts, NYC

Yup, yet another day, another donut.  Whatever city I am in, donuts seem to seek me out.  Certainly, this is helped by the that my offices have a donut rotation, where someone brings in donuts from a place of their choosing every week.  But also, random parties with extra donuts just seem to regularly happen around me.  I rarely seek out the donuts, they come to me.

Yet, when I was staying in New York for a while this summer, I actually sought out donuts myself.  I wanted to see if there were other noteworthy donuts, besides Doughnut Plant.  So I did my research.  I had, well, plenty of options.  But one, Peter Pan Donuts, was located near where I was staying in Brooklyn, and got great reviews, so I assumed it would be my destination.

And then, random donuts kept showing up at the office, and I never made it to get a donut of my own accord.  Until I returned to New York in the fall, and the craving for a good donut hit.

And thus, Peter Pan it was.  

Peter Pan makes a variety of yeast and cake donuts.  All the classics, plus some upgraded ones, but nothing particularly wild or unique.  Yeasted donuts start with the standard honey dip, sugared, or frosted and sprinkle topped.  Filled versions had, lemon, blueberry, strawberry, or Bavarian cream.  Jelly donuts could come plain, sugared, or powdered sugared.  More fun is the crumb topped and cream filled red velvet or old fashioned, or other varieties with cream filling and a coating.  Cake options span from plain/cinnamon/glazed/powedered/coconut'ed old fashioned, to chocolate cake, to more interesting red velvet or even sour cream.  Oh, and don't forget the specialty donuts like a boston cream, several types of eclair, crullers with several toppings, or, my dad's all time favorite, the jelly stick.

I had one each, cake and raised, to really evaluate.  The raised was exceptional, and I'd gladly return for more and more of these!

Donut Box.

No pink box from this  shop, but a relatively classic and classy bakery label let us know what goodies were inside.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake. $1.95.

The first donut I tried was a cake donut, which isn't normally my preferred donut (generally, I go for raised over cake).  But if I'm having a cake donut, an old fashioned or buttermilk based donut definitely far exceed regular cake donuts.  And, it was blueberry?  And glazed?  Now, that's a good combo, even for a cake donut.

It was fine.  Lightly glazed, not so sweet it took over.  It was clearly studded with lots of bits of blueberry, with visible blue bits throughout.  Mild blueberry flavor.  Dense in the right way inside, yet quite moist, and lightly crisp from the glaze.  But ... I didn't detect a buttermilk tang, and I was really hoping for that.

Overall, an absolutely fine cake donut, but didn't deliver in the "special" department for me, that is needed to take a cake donut above ***.  So, a strong ***, but, still just ***.

Yeasted White Cream Coconut. $1.95.

The next donut I tried was a raised one, and not one I picked for myself.  When I was stuck in a meeting when Peter Pan donuts arrived, I asked him to snag me something, and this was his selection.  It likely isn't what I would have picked (so much coconut!), but actually, it turned out to be absolutely fabulous.

The coconut on top was standard shredded non-toasted but likely sweetened coconut.  It was very generously applied, which I thought would be too much, but actually, it totally worked.  Just, a nice coconut flavor, that went so well with the fluffy sweet frosting.  ***+.

The cream frosting blew me away.  I expected fairly generic very sweet buttercream, but it was actually just really, really good.  Vanilla flavored I think?  It was so soft and fluffy, even though it was fairly old by the time I had it late in the afternoon.  It was sweet, but absolutely not cloying.  Really, really great cream. ****+.

Yeasted White Cream Coconut: Underside.

So, what about the donut itself?

Here you can see that this was actually a ring donut (surprise! Didn't it look like a filled donut?).  It had a great pocket of cream in the middle, in addition to the topping.  Given how much I loved this cream, this was a huge win for me.  

The donut was perfectly fried.  Very lightly crisp on the outside, golden brown, and so, so, so light and fluffy and airy inside.  Great flavor to it, didn't taste oily nor greasy.  This is really as good as a basic yeasted donut can get.  ****+.

Overall, I loved everything about this.  The quality of the donut, the frosting, everything.  I'd get it again in a heartbeat, and it made me immediately want to try more donuts from Peter Pan!  ****+, really nearly a perfect *****.

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Donut Pub, NYC

Another day, another donut.  Whatever city I am in, donuts seem to seek me out.  Certainly, this is helped by the that my offices have a donut rotation, where someone brings in donuts from a place of their choosing every week.  It generally means I get to try donuts from places further away from my house (or where I'm staying) than I'd normally go.  And it means I eat a lot of donuts.

When I was visiting my New York office this summer, it was of course donut day at some point.  My co-worker picked Donut Pub, a donut shop with two locations in Manhattan.  She got a selection of great looking donuts.

Great looking, but, overall, I was not impressed.  The donuts themselves were fairly average, and they relied heavily on far too sweet toppings/fillings.

Birthday Cake. $3.25.

"Yeast raised donut with vanilla icing, sprinkles, topped with buttercream."

The first one I went for was fairly ridiculous looking.  Yes, there was a donut hiding under all those sprinkles and frosting!

This was a raised ring donut, which may not be obvious at first glance, but, it was hollow in the center.  It had both vanilla icing cover it all AND the center filled/topped with buttercream, and of course the very heavy handed (er, generous?) application of sprinkles.  As you can imagine, um, it was a very sweet donut.

The donut itself was very average - average lightness and loftiness, and it was hard to really tell if it was greasy or not due to the toppings.  The vanilla icing was sweet, and the buttercream was crazy cloying sweet, and the sprinkles were the kind that are relatively waxy and, yup, sweet.  It was far too much sugar even for me to have in the morning, but if you think of it more like a cupcake, or perhaps if you are 5 years old, maybe it can be good.

This was a more premium offering, at $3.25, which is still reasonable for most NY donuts, given that $5-6 donuts are pretty normal.  **+.

Brooklyn Cream. $3.25.

"Buttercream filled and topped with chocolate icing."

Next up, I tried the "Brooklyn Cream", which is a play on the Boston cream (which they do also offer), but with buttercream filling rather than custard.

The raised yeast donut was similar to the previous one, fairly lofty, fairly light, but this time, rather than a ring, it was solid, and filled with the same cloying sweet buttercream.  I really love buttercream in general (I'm one who wants a cupcake to have equal parts frosting to cake!), but, I didn't really like this, as it was just too far in the sugar direction, and not enough, well, butter nor cream.  The chocolate icing was fine.

Another premium donut at the reasonable $3.25 price.  **+.

Assorted Regular Donuts: Red Velvet, Vanilla Cream,
Marble Cake, Apple Crumb.  $2.75 each.

A co-worker nicely grabbed me an assortment of other donuts to try.  She selected these, two cake donuts, and two raised.

Red Velvet (Cake):  Big let down. This one really was just a standard glazed old fashioned cake donut.  Yeah, it was reddish, but, I didn't taste anything red velvet about it (no cocoa element, and it seems like a missed opportunity to use a cream cheese glaze rather than generic regular glaze).  So ... interesting color, but average plain sweet glazed cake donut.  **+.

Vanilla Cream Powdered (Raised):  This was very similar to the Brooklyn Cream, but with powdered sugar rather than chocolate icing.  So again, average raised filled donut, cloying sweet frosting, and this time, powdered sugar coating, which didn't help to balance the sweetness in the same way the chocolate glaze did.  **+.

Marble (Cake):  Another cake donut, this one both regular and chocolate.  I don't think I've ever seen a marble donut before, so that was a bit unique.  But the donut itself was very average, and the chocolate flavor not particularly deep.  **+.

Apple Crumb (Raised):  This one was interesting at least.  It was a filled raised yeast donut, stuffed with apple pie filling (e.g. spiced bits of apple and goo), and then frosted with icing, and coated with crumbs.  The spicing was a bit much for my taste, and I was very sick of overly sweet donuts by the time I reached this one, so, the generous icing glaze was not particularly appealing.  A unique one though, so my favorite just as it was most interesting to eat.  ***.

These were all regular donuts, only $2.75 each.

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Bobo's Oat Bars

Update Reviews, 2021-2023

I've reviewed Bobo's products many times, so, skipping the intro this time around.

Oat Bites

"Everyone likes mini things! Oat bites are a mini version of Bobo's bars, perfect for a small treat or to complement the rest of your snack."

I've reviewed some of the "Bites" before, but to refresh your memory, these are smaller, snack size (or child size?) bars, a cute round style, great to have stashed in your bag when you need a quick pick me up, or a small bite to eat before hitting the gym but don't want a full breakfast.  

Bites come in two varieties: mini versions of the most popular flavors of the regular size bars, and, mini versions of their newer product, called Stuff'd bars.

Stuff'd

"Bobo's stuffed oat bars are a pre-stuffed trifecta of delicious nut butter: no mess during your enjoyment, and more protein!"

I was pretty excited when I saw Bobo's introduced the Stuff'd products.  Everything is more exciting with filling!  They come in full size bars and bites.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Stuff'd Bite.

"Every crumb of our Peanut Butter and Jelly Stuff'd Bites transports you to a joyful state of soft, gooey wonder – just like being a kid again. Gluten-free with 100% whole grain oats, Bobo's PB&J bites are the perfect blend of savory and sweet - and they're downright addicting. They're everything you want when you bite into a PB&J sandwich ... just without the mess."

Back in my original review of Bobo's products, I covered the pb & j inspired product Bobo's made at the time.  I found it ... lacking.  I wanted more from it.  Much more.

So I was eager to try out the new version, part of the "Stuff'd" product line, as I hoped it would, well, be "stuffed" full of goodness.  

The exterior is much the same as other Bobo's products - a reasonably soft, tasty, oat puck.  Some seem much softer than others, and it doesn't seem based on age.  You never know if a given Bobo's bar will be soft or not. It still amuses me that I like these, but I do.

The shell is where the peanut was incorporated in these.  No, sadly, there is no peanut butter layer iside, just the slight peanut flavor of the oat part.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Stuff'd Oat Bite: Inside.

Inside, it was ... ok.  

The first one I had really let me down.  Not nearly as stuffed as I wanted.  Really, I mostly wanted something ... more gooey?  And I definitely wanted more peanut butter flavor.  As it was, the product was nearly the same as all the other Bites - oat based puck, with slight, slight, sight peanut taste to it, and inside was a raspberry filling.  A decent amount of raspberry filling (I'm not calling it jelly, nor jam, because I couldn't quite identify it as a proper example of either!), but, it was not gooey in any way.  

2.5/5, kinda disappointing, really.

The second one I had however was considerably better, and I don't just think it was adjusted expectations.  The peanut butter flavor was much stronger (although I still wanted some as the filling too).  Again, no peanut butter stuffing, but rather, just the peanut integrated into the exterior oat part.  But inside, yes, plenty of fruity filling.

3/5, considerably better.

After several of these, I declare them fine as an Oat Bite, but, they certainly do not deliver nearly as much peanut butter, nor jelly, gooeyness as I really want.

Apple Pie

"Bobo's Apple Pie Stuffed Oat Bite is the most American treat. This one is a classic, combining ground cinnamon and tart organic apples to create that Apple Pie flavor we all hold so dear to our hearts. We recommend with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. "

Do you like oatmeal?  Apple pie?  Then, you will probably like this.

Like all Bobo's Bites, the base is a pleasantly sweet and lightly spiced oatmeal puck.  Not too firm, not to soft and crumbly-messy.  Enjoyable as an oatmeal forward snack bar.  

Since this is a "stuff'd" product, inside is a filling: apple pie in this case.  There isn't a lot of it, and the filling is a bit dry, not as gloopy as apple pie filling from a can, but it does have a nice apple flavor, and, key for me, does not taste like applesauce.

Overall, an enjoyable item as a breakfast bite, and next time I'd like to try warming it up and serving with whipped cream to turn it more into a dessert.  3.5/5.

Full Size

They also of course make the standard full size bars, which I've reviewed in every flavor previously.  But then they came out with a new one ...

Cranberry Orange.

"Our Cranberry Orange oat bar mixes the slight bitterness of organic cranberries with a sweet, zesty orange citrus, making this bar a favorite of many. Every bite brings out a lively flavor guaranteed to remind you of summer days by the pool. We recommend this bar as the perfect pairing to a cup of green tea."

Cranberry orange always reminds me of my mother.  In my mind, that is "her" flavor.  She often makes holiday cranberry sauce with a lot of orange in it, or cranberry orange compound butter, and, if she's picking a muffin, besides morning glory (her real #1), she opts for cranberry orange.  And for me, it has never really been my thing.  Perhaps a more "grown up" flavor in my mind for many years, but, I'm a grown up now myself, and still rarely gravitate towards cranberry or orange for that matter.  Thus, I tried this somewhat in my mom's honor.

This bar didn't remind me of "summer days by the pool" as described, but it did remind me of winter holidays, and a taste of home.  Both the orange and cranberry flavors were strong - orange in the background, cranberries as pops of chewy flavor studded throughout.  As always I enjoyed the soft-ish oat bar format, sorta like a less messy muffin, and very breakfast appropriate.

I still don't gravitate towards these flavors, but, it was a nice bar if you do.  3/5.

Update Reviews, 2018-2020

No need for an intro here, as I've reviewed Bobo's many times before (scroll down for earlier reviews, and proper intro).

I will say though, that I laugh when I read through Bobo's marketing, boasting about all the uses for their product, but the thing is ... I agree.  They are great for early morning exercise!  They are good for breakfast.  They do make for healthy kid's snacks.  I use them as an "on-the-go pick me up" all the time.  They could be a "perfect lunch pairing" or "meal on-the-go".  I'd imagine them as after school snack, workout protein boost, "travel companion", "outside adventure seeker", etc.  The marketing is funny, but, I think it does make sense.

I usually have Bobo's as a quick on the go breakfast, or in my bag to devour after an early morning workout.

Bites

"Everyone likes mini things! Oat bites are a mini version of Bobo's bars, perfect for a small treat or to complement the rest of your snack."

I love the form of the bites.  Perfectly snackable, filling enough due to the protein and oats, but never so big you feel loaded down.  Also, cute!

Lemon Poppyseed.

"Our Lemon Poppyseed bar is so delicious; the muffin man sends us an email from time-to-time trying to get a case or two. An adaptation of a coffee house favorite, this bar brings refreshing zest into the lives of its consumers, forevermore changing their outlook on life. It’s a perfect pairing for your favorite cup of coffee or tea."

I rarely like lemon/lime desserts or baked goods (and I *loathe* lemon curd!), but for some reason, lemon poppyseed muffins are on my "yes" list, so I was excited for this one.

The lemon flavor lived up.  The bar uses lemon oil which really gives it a strong lemon zing, and yup, the little crunch from the poppyseeds was there.  Add to that the base of rolled oats and pleasant sweetness characteristic of Bobo's bars, and, well, it was a winner for me, flavor-wise.

It was however rock solid.  And dry.  I'm not sure why, as I consumed it well within the eat-by date. I still enjoyed it quite a bit because the flavor was so good, but, something was certainly off. 3.5/5.

Update Review: I had another about a year later, and was again surprised by how hard it was.  The lemon flavor was again actually great (just vibrant and full of zing!), and the lemon poppyseed combo worked great for me, but, this flavor in particular just seems to trend ... hard?  I still really liked it, but wished it was a bit softer.  3.5/5.

Maple Pecan.

"Our Maple Pecan oat bar combines the sweet taste of maple syrup with a rich, buttery pecan crunch. Every bite is reminiscent of a warm pancake breakfast, making it the best way to jump start your morning … every morning."

This flavor sounded right up my alley.  Take an oatmeal base, and add in the maple syrup that I'd drizzle on a regular bowl of ice cream, and buttery pecans for crunch?

But it didn't really deliver.  Like the lemon poppyseed, the puck really seemed too hard and dried out.  The maple flavor didn't come through as maple, rather, just almost "fake sweet" tasting.  I did like the pecans.

Not sure what went wrong with this one either, I know I really do sometimes love Bobo's products.   I wonder if they have changed the recipe as they have scaled production?  2.5/5.

Oat Bars

"Grab a box and share with a friend! With delicious and wholesome ingredients these oat bars will sure to be your new favorite snack! "

The oat bars are the full size product, heftier than a standard granola bar, and, if you read the nutrition label, consist of 2 servings per bar.  This always makes me laugh, because it doesn't really seem reasonable to think someone would open a wrapped, sealed package that looks like an individual serving, and split it in half, and wrap up half to save for later.  But if you do indulge in a full bar, beware that they are ~500 calories, perhaps a bit more than you'd expect.

Anyway.

Chocolate Chip.

I've had the chocolate chip flavor before, and although I liked the base flavor, I was disappointed by the extremely few chocolate chips in my bar.  Granted, it was a mini, but still, I expected more than, um, zero chips.

This one was better, a full size, big hearty bar, serving size listed as 2.

I loved the sweetness (not too sweet!), the texture (moist yet crumbly), and, the quality of the mini creamy milk chocolate chips.  I still wanted more chocolate, as in, um, I wanted a chocolate coating, but the number of chips in this were actually quite reasonable.

Overall, a good product, and I'd get it again, just with a side of chocolate to melt and dip it in ... 3/5.

Almond Butter.

"Almonds are all the rage these days and our Almond Butter bar is no different. We mixed creamy almond butter with crunchy sliced almonds."

This was not a winner for me.  And the reason is simple: almond butter.  I just don't like it.  I like almonds.  I love peanut butter.  But almond butter always tastes oddly bitter to me, and I just don't like it.

The rest of the bar was fine, albeit quite simple.  Soft oats, slightly sweet from brown rice syrup and sugar, but besides that, the only other real ingredient was almond butter, and it left behind that signature almond bitterness that I couldn't get past.

Fine form factor, but not the variety for me. 2/5.

Update Review, January 2018

I've reviewed Bobo's Bars before (original, 2016 update), but I tried a few new flavors, and a new branding.  It seems the "Bites" are now called "Minis"?

Coconut Mini.

"Our Coconut bar combines our hearty oats with sweet organic coconut flakes, transporting every eater to a tropical paradise. While we recommend consuming this bar on an island, it may also be enjoyed at every other moment in life."

This one was only ok.  The bar still had the same dense quality, the hearty taste that I enjoyed, it wasn't too sweet, and the brown rice syrup as a sweetener worked well to compliment the oats.  The coconut added additional texture and a bit of chew.

But I just wasn't into the coconut flavor, and it seemed harder than others I had in the past. 2/5.

Coconut Bite (2020.

A few years later, I had another, and liked it more.

Again, some hearty taste I enjoyed, pleasant natural sweetness, and I was in a particularly coconut-inspired mood, so it really met my cravings.  As the last time though, I did find it considerably harder than the others.

I still enjoyed it, particularly when topped with a touch of coconut cream! 3/5.

Chocolate Chip Mini.

"No offense to Chocolate Chip cookies, but our Chocolate Chip bar is kind of a big deal. This tasty treat feels more like dessert than breakfast, but without the guilt. The slow-burning oats leave you feeling satiated beyond measure, satisfying your hunger and your sweet tooth. "

As always, I liked the hearty, dense base, even though it makes no sense to like a hard oatmeal puck.  But for some reason, it just really hits the spot for me, the sweetness is just spot on.

"Chocolate Chip": Inside.

But ... after two bites, I was confused.  Where were the promised chocolate chips?

I think I had a dud, as it literally did not contain a single chocolate chip.  I still liked the base flavor, but, chocolate chip it was not. 3/5.

Update Review, March 2016

A few months ago, I reviewed several flavors of Bobo's bars, which you can read about in my original review below.  They really shocked me, as I'm not generally a huge lover of bars, and these were quite great.  I describe them as oatmeal, but, in bar form.  Which doesn't sound like it should be good, but it is.  Oh, and some are gluten-free too.

So, I tried more varities (including some more fun ones!), this time, I went for the smaller "Bobo's Bites".

Bobo's Bites

"The perfect size for school lunches or a quick snack on the go. Enjoy a tasty Bobo’s Bite any time you want a small snack to keep you going!"

Bobo's recently introduced a new product line: "Bites".  These are smaller, 1.3 ounce bars,  ~180 calories, rather than 3 ounce, nearly 400 calorie "bars" I tried before.  This size makes more sense to me, as I found it odd that the larger size one had a serving size listed of 2, because who would really eat half a bar?

The Bites are all gluten-free, and offered in only three varieties: original, apple pie, and peanut butter and jelly.  I thought it was interesting that they only make gluten-free versions of the Bites, whereas the bars are available in both gluten-free and regular.  My guess is that they are more successful in the gluten-free market, and these are their most popular varieties?

Anyway.  I continue to think Bobo's bars/bites are awesome.  I don't entirely understand why, but, they are.  Get them.

Original Gluten-Free Bobo's Bite.

"Bobo’s Bites Original Flavor has all the great flavor of our Original Bar in a smaller snack size Bite!"

If you step back, this does not sound exciting, in any way.  Gluten-free and vegan.  A little packaged bar.  When do I ever like this sort of thing?  And, just in a plain, "original", flavor?  Please.  How good can some gluten-free rolled oats, sweetened with brown rice syrup and sugar, possibly be?  The only other ingredient in the entire bar is what seems like the components of Earth Balance (oil, water, annatto extract).

I realize, as I describe this, that it doesn't sound good.  I don't know how to convince you otherwise though.  These things are awesome.  Yes, even the plain flavor.  Oats, brown rice syrup, and Earth Balance ... nothing more.

Unlike most "bars", these are soft, even though made of oats.  Think of them like a dense ball of oatmeal.  Almost doughy inside ... but not really.  Sigh.  I can't do better than this at describing these.  You'll just have to try one.

Dense, perfectly sweetened, nice chew.  The "bite" will be gone before you know it.

Even the totally plain flavor is great on its own.  Just plain.  Room temperature.  No alterations.  For real.

One day, I was at home, and decided I'd try to get more creative, so I threw it in the toaster oven at low temperature for a few minutes to warm it up.  I pulled out honey butter and my mom's homemade jam to slather it with, as if it were a muffin or scone.  But first I took a bite warm.  I realized I didn't want anything else on it.  It really is just perfect as is, cold or warm.  I did like it warm, perhaps slightly more than at room temp, but warming it is really not necessary.

These are perfect for grab-n-go breakfast, or afternoon snack, but of course, I love desserts, and can also imagine crumbling one over some fruit to make a crisp.  Or just dunking it in whipped cream.  But ... again, not necessary.

Peanut Butter & Jelly.

"Bobo’s Bites Peanut Butter & Jelly Flavor packs the perfection of a PB&J into a perfect snack size Bite!"

Ok, now this one sounded GOOD!  Given that even the basic plain variety is amazing, I couldn't wait to try the PB & J flavor.  Again, made from the same base of gluten-free oats, sweetened with brown rice syrup and sugar, with the bonus ingredients of organic peanut butter and raspberry jam.  (Ok, slight strike against them, I prefer strawberry jam!).

Peanut Butter & Jelly: Inside.

I eagerly took my first bite.  Just like the others, I enjoyed the dense, oatmeal patty nature of it.  Slightly crumbly, slightly sweet.

The peanut flavor was subtle, but present, and I think there were little chunks of peanut inside.  The jam too was subtle, but provided a sweetness and slightly fruity quality.

But I'll be honest: I expected more.  Bigger bits of peanut, maybe some swirls of jam.  You can see the inside here, and, there isn't any visible peanut butter or jelly.  The flavors were there, subtle but there, but I really wanted to think "PB & J!", and, I didn't.

It was still good, still a bit better than the basic flavor, but not quite what I was hoping for. 3/5.

Apple Pie.

"Bobo’s Bites Apple Pie Flavor tastes like home made apple pie in a perfect snack size bite."

As you can expect, this is made with the same base of gluten-free oats, sweetened with brown rice syrup and sugar.  To get the "apple pie" flavor, it also has dried apples and "natural apple pie flavor".  Yes, for real.  Where do I buy that?

Anyway, this sounded like dessert, in a bar, for breakfast.  Yes!

It was ... ok.  Basically, apple-y oatmeal.  Which, it turns out, just isn't really my thing.  It wasn't bad, and I still liked the oatmeal aspect, but, apple just isn't really for me.  The spicing was nice.  Turns out, the original is my favorite flavor. 3/5.

Original Review, August 2015

You know I can't resist trying assorted bars, particularly when they are most soft, almost more like baked goods than granola bars.  And particularly not when they are delivered to my desk by a co-worker to try out.

I was pretty excited about the Bobo's Oat Bars once I saw them.  Cute packaging, but also, they pretty much looked like square muffins.  These are the types of bars I like most often, like the SuniBrite muesli bars from Australia that I recently reviewed, or the Nature Valley's Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares.

Bobo's Bars look very small scale production, so I assumed they were locally made.  It turns out, they are made in Boulder, and available nationwide.  They are more mainstream than I realized, sold at REI and Whole Foods in San Francisco, and, I even saw them at the grocery store in my hometown in New Hampshire.

The bars all have the same simple base of rolled oats and Earth Balance, and are sweetened with brown rice syrup and sucanat.  All are wheat free, non-GOM, and vegan, although only the specifically gluten-free bars use gluten-free oats.

The regular flavors start with the basic "original", and then expand to include just one or two other ingredients: coconut, almond, chocolate, banana, strawberry, apricot, peanut butter, cinnamon raisin, and cranberry orange.  The gluten-free options are peach, maple pecan, lemon poppy, chocolate almond, apple pie, and peanut butter and jelly.

Honestly, the GF flavors sounded the best.  Maple pecan! Apple pie!  PB & J!  Um, yes?  My selection was given to me by coworker to sample, so I didn't pick the flavors, and I think she (rightly so) picked the appealing flavors for herself.

Now that I know how delicious even the less exciting flavors are though, and how easy they are to find around San Francisco, I may need to seek out some of the more tempting sounding flavors sometime, you know, when my never-ending supply of products to review somehow runs out.

The bars are heavy and dense, a whopping 3 oz, which means the serving size listed on them is actually 2 servings.  I kinda hate that, who really only eats half?  What am I supposed do with the other half? And really, FDA, why do you think that 1.5 oz is the appropriate serving size?  (Side note: Bobo's also has a newer product, Bobo's Bites, that are only 1.3 oz.)

Anyway.  The bars.

Regular flavors

Almond.

"Bobo’s Almond Flavor has pieces of roasted almond in every bite."

I started with the basic sounding almond bar.

Almond shows up as both dry roasted almonds and almond extract.  The almonds were tiny little bits distributed throughout; they didn't really add much crunch, but you could see them.  The almond extract however was quite powerful, it flavored the entire bar in a really pleasant way.

The bar reminded me of a solid chunk of oatmeal, which, I realize doesn't sound good, but, it was.  The oats were soft, not hard like a typical bar.  The sweetness level was perfect.  It was a treat, but definitely not too sweet.  It really was as comforting and satisfying as a bowl of oatmeal, but in a convenient form, perfect for a grab and go breakfast alongside my coffee.  I was pleasantly surprised by this, and would gladly add it into my regular breakfast bar lineup. 3.5/5.

Gluten-Free

Peach (GF).

"Bobo’s Gluten Free Peach Flavor has pieces of delicious peach in every bite."

The peach bar I tried was gluten-free, so the regular oats were subbed out with gluten-free ones, but besides that, the ingredients were exactly the same, mostly just oats and Earth Balance.  Of course, it had bits of dried peach in place of the almond components.

I didn't notice any texture difference between the gluten-free and regular bar.  It again was basically just a dense chunk of oatmeal.  Which again, I realize doesn't sound good, but really was pleasing.

Grab-and-go oatmeal, who knew they made such a thing? The peach flavor was subtle and delicate, quite nice.  I'd get one of these again too, but I'd really like to try some of the other flavors. 3.5/5.

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