Day 215- British Crumpets

Crumpets, for those Americans who have not had them, are AMAZING.  They are a breakfast bread, like an English muffin, but so much better (in my opinion).  They are less hard, and somehow tastier.  The HOLES in them are the very best part!  All bread products should have holes!  Holes are perfect for filling with good butter (try Kerrygold, reviewed on day 49 of this blog).  Holes are good for filling with Sunflower Seed Butter (look at day 96 of this blog)!  Holes are good for filling with jelly or jam (if you like those things, I do not).  And holes are good for filling with Dulche de Leche (check out day 182 of this blog).

Here is what they look like in the package, before you start loading them up with stuff.....

Crumpets are a nice base to build on if you have time to make a real breakfast.  Try this configuration:

a.        Crumpet

b.      Butter

c.       Cheddar cheese

d.      Thinly sliced avocado

e.      Fried egg (with salt and pepper)

See??  Doesn’t that sound great? 

This isn't the recipe above, but doesn't it look great?  Crumpet, butter, cheese, garden tomato, egg, and a side of mustard.

Or how about:

a.        Crumpet

b.      Butter

c.       Wasabi Mayo (reviewed on day 187 of this blog)

d.      Pieces of a nice lettuce

e.      Fresh slices of garden tomato

See???  Another good combo!  It’s easy!

Here is one more:

a.        Crumpet

b.      Butter

c.       Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce (5 star review on day 132 of this blog)

d.      Thin slices of banana

e.      Pieces of sliced almonds

DELICIOUS!

May I present - crumpet, butter, and Dulce de Leche!

 The package of Trader Joe’s crumpets holds 6 pieces and it is basically split into two groups of 3.  So you can open the package and only have 3 exposed to air and starting to go bad, the other 3 can stay sealed.  I like that packaging. 

TADA - just crumpet and butter.  See the big HOLES I was talking about???  They rock.

The worst part about Trader Joe’s Crumpets is that sometimes they are out of the original ones and all they have left are cinnamon flavored.  Maybe it is just me, but if I am going to have a bread for breakfast, I want it to be plain, then I will add whatever flavor I am in the mood for ON TOP of said bread, thank you very much!

Price – $2.99

Rating – 4.5

Day 54 - Whole Wheat British Muffins

If I am going to buy a “breakfast bread” at Trader Joe’s, I normally go for the plain crumpets.  Apparently other people do, too, because sometimes they are out of stock.  So one night when there were no crumpets, we went for these Whole Wheat British Muffins. 

Whole Wheat British Muffins

While they were not BAD, they were not GREAT.  The first thing you are confronted with is the fact that the muffins are not pre-split.  I guess I am spoiled by other brands, but when I pull an English (or in this case British) muffin out of the bag, I expect it to be split.  The second minor issue is the size – they are a wee bit too small to POP UP from our toaster, so when they are done you have to fish them out with a wooden skewer.  The third not so big issue is the lack of nooks and crannies for your butter to settle down into.  There are really no “holes” so the butter just sits on top.

And the fourth issue, which is the TASTE issue so most important, is that they are a bit GRAINY.  I guess it is a texture thing more than taste, but they are just too GRAINY for me.

I hope they have my crumpets in stock next time I shop, because I much prefer those.

Price – $1.69

Rating – 2.75