Like Godzilla vs Kong, but less lizard and more frosting
Am I talking about Easter or Girl Scouts???? Read to find out >>>>
We’ve hit a huge milestone bun buds, the biggest milestone for anyone who runs an email newsletter or community, and that is our very first unsubscribe!
Obviously they are no longer reading about this, but I’m truly honored that just one hour after sending a very bad poem to the 72 subscribes I had last week one was so ashamed they said never again. I’m truly honored.
In other milestones, your boy celebrated his first dose of the vaccine last week with a post vax trip to Doughnut Plant for their PB&J donut, one of my favorites in the city. As the incredible leadership coach Lara Hogan writes, donuts are a great way to celebrate achievements - we all should do the same.
This week we have TWO lovely submissions from our fellow bun pals, we look at some HCBs, a Girl Scout Cookie throwdown, and in honor of the release of Godzilla vs Kong we have a battle of two equally outsized pastries. Keep reading to find out!
Hot Cross Buns
I don’t know if it was just me, or the fact that I’m on a bunch of bakery mailing lists now, or how the pandemic has made businesses go wild on Instagram, but I felt like Hot Cross Buns were EVERYWHERE leading up to Easter. I know they’re an Easter thing, but weirdly I’ve never participated and I don’t know if I’ve ever had one!??!!!?!
I didn’t this year, but I did want to share these lovely photos. Bourke Street Bakery in NoMad (who is very good and will get a review in an upcoming edition) kept shoving this in my face:
Mah-Ze-Dahr joined the fun, naturally:
And so many others. I would have gotten one, I promise, were it not for the rolls from the next section taking up space in my freezer that needed to be cleared, but these HCB’s sound super tasty. Fruit, spice, and ice, they sound so nice! Not to mention the incredible music about them (h/t Ayesha):
So yes that was a whole section about buns I didn’t eat. But maybe you did? If so tell us!!!!!1
Cinnamonster vs Cinnabon
This is it, the showdown you’ve all been waiting for since I brought it into existence not two weeks ago. As it turns out, Cinnamonster is very much still in business and their 2018 website still very much accepts orders, and they very much sent me eight rolls in their last week of deliveries before it gets “too hot” to mail orders.
I absolutely took the next step and mail ordered Cinnabon rolls to do the gooiest, stickiest, butteriest, and by far the most unhealthy taste test this year.
Both are delivered without any sort of temperature control, which I’m not sure if that’s how they always are or it’s just that time of year. The Cinnamonster rolls (at left) come in a group of 8 individually packaged in a plastic container, ready for resale if that’s your jam. The Cinnabon rolls (at right) come in a half dozen, just in a box lined with parchment paper as if you ordered them from the store. The box and wrapping is slightly fancier, but it’s not all that different from ordering from your local Cinnabon store and paying more and having it take several days to arrive. The Cinnabon rolls come with a little bonus frosting, which is needed as they don’t have a ton to start.
Both recommend placing in the freezer immediately (do not refrigerate), and then letting come to room temperature (or not) and microwaving for 30-90 seconds depending on frozenness. The Cinnamonster roll at left has no frosting added, and the Cinnabon at right had a couple spoonfuls of bonus frosting added. But now the picture emerges, and you start to see the differences.
Opened up and at an angle, the differences become that much more clear. The Cinnamonster dough is much more fluffy/pillowy - I’m fairly certain King Arthur stole their recipe of the year from Cinnamonster because they’re almost the same. The frosting is heavily butter and cream, and it tastes as velvety smooth as it looks. There isn’t a ton of cinnamon filling in the rolls, as you can tell in the photo. There’s enough, but the main notes of the roll are the butter and the frosting. The cinnamon is fairly mild with a slight sweetness to it.
Now let’s talk Cinnabon. The dough is a lot tighter and more firm - it’s dense, and while it tastes a bit sweet it’s really just there to provide structure for the aggressive amounts of cinnamon filling. And that filling, the perfectly engineered filling is much stronger and more bitter - the cinnamon flavor much more prominent and forward. Even with the bonus frosting I added for this one roll, there wasn’t quite enough to go around. The frosting tastes more saccharine sweet, although because there isn't a lot and the cinnamon flavor is so strong it kind of balances out. Also I felt more actively bad after this one, but that could just be because I ate it second.
The overall vibe of Cinnamonster is much more loving and caring than the name would suggest. It feels a bit homemade, or something that seems like it could be homemade, and leaning more into an overall smoother flavor. The Cinnabon, however, is much more aggressive and in your face, with a taste that seems more "designed" than "created". I think I prefer the Cinnamonster! I do really like a more prominent cinnamon flavor, but I think the Cinnamonster just executes overall much better than the somewhat one-note Cinnabon.
Unfortunately for you all, you’ll have to wait for the fall when Cinnamonster re-opens home delivery (or you live in Riverhead, NY or Colorado).
Girl Scout Cookie Showdown (ABC Edition)
Did you know there’s two Girl Scout cookie bakeries? And they have different flavors? I was aware of this fact, but it never really matter to me since I’ve always lived in Samoa territory serviced by Little Brownie Bakers.
Until this year, when they launched a French Toast Cookie that was only made by ABC Bakers. I found this out after I had already ordered several boxes in January, but luckily through the powers of Google and Reddit I found an order form for a troop in Ohio that could send me those sweet, sweet cookies. And I didn’t stop at just French Toast. If I was going in, I was going all in.
Going clockwise from the top left:
French Toast - I would not say this is french toast, or even loosely french toast inspired. The actual cookie portion kind of tastes like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, if it wasn't dusted and coated in all the sugar and shrimp tails, which is that chemically engineered flavor of toast that doesn't really resemble the actual thing. The frosting is more vanilla than maple, which I think is a clear miss. Honestly I think this cookie would be better named as cinnamon toast. Even if we're going with the breakfast cereal comparison, this tastes much closer to CTC than FTC ever did (FTC at least had a strong maple flavor). This cookie is good, but it’s a liar
Lemonade - it's a very lemony shortbread cookie with a creamy icing that cuts through the tartness of the citrus. Perfect for your high tea or when you want to obey your thirst but a Sprite isn't nearby.
S'mores - I like that the cookie is more graham, and the marshmallow cream taste more like marshmallow than the sandwich format from LBB. I'd say this tastes closest to a s’more of the two bakers, leaning into the marshmallow graham and less on the chocolate (which is surprising given the coating). I like them both but I think this one wins.
Caramel Chocolate Chip (GF) - has the weird texture you expect from a gluten free cookie, and the chocolate and caramel are more undertones to the flavor of the cookie that I can't quite place. It’s very dense, chewy enough, and if you're on a GF diet it's a good snack but if you have other options I'd go for those - although given Tate’s union busting this might be your most ethical bet.
Peanut Butter Patties - cookie inside provides a satisfying crunch, and the Pb is very smooth. The PB is more on the sweet side, but not overly so, and the chocolate helps round it all out.
Caramel deLites (center) - more coconut and caramel than a Samoa, not as much of a satisfying crunch though and a lot less chocolate flavor. Hard to say if I prefer Samoas or not, they're both good but slightly different. Lean these for the enhanced coconut flavor.
It was weird getting these - the packaging is different (LBB mostly come in boxes with sleeves and a couple varieties in plastic trays, ABC comes in soft plastic packaging in plastic trays) and the cookies are similar but not quite. But let’s face it - at the end of the day they’re all cookies and they’re good. I think my favorites are the S’mores and the Caramel deLites, and the Lemonade was surprisingly tasty (especially coming off the calamansi mookies from last week). You can read up more about the differences here, and come next cookie season try them yourself.
Small Bites
Bun Mail from Bonnie
My sister Fiona has always had ridiculously idyllic jobs on the island. She has tended grapevines with a water view at the winery by my parents house, milked goats, and organized a local parade. Currently, when she isn’t making soap at her side hustle, she works at Mukilteo Coffee Roasters in the Woods, a spot tucked away in the trees by a small-craft airstrip, well known to locals and less so to tourists. There are two ways to get there, and one is a dirt road.
This place has great brunch food and a variety of baked goods made by two women colloquially known as Grandma Julie and Mom Julie. I have no idea what their real names are. My sister sometimes gets the leftover pastries at the end of the day, and often hooks me up with what they call a “honey oat bran muffin”, but I would argue is actually a sticky bun. Because is it very sticky. And also, it is shaped like a bun.
Although it has a very unassuming appearance, this bun is a knockout. The ONLY way to eat this bun is heated, with melted butter in it. If you do it in any other way it is a clear signal to others that you are a psychopath. The crumbly, nutty, sticky texture of the bun can be attributed to the honey, oats, bran, and pureed raisins inside of it. It’s not overly sweet but is just the right amount of delicious and pairs perfectly with a cup of their coffee. It *almost* feels healthy, which gives permission for the consumer to liberally cover it in butter.
Like the almost-secret local cafe it comes from, this bun is guaranteed to surprise you and keep you coming back for more.
ed. note - i wholly disagree with you categorizing this as a bun, but wholly agree with how delicious it looks. keep it coming bun bb
Bun Mail from Kyle
Kyle also sends this review of his Easter bun, brought to you by Pillsbury’s anthropomorphic doughboy (honestly why don’t people go after him like they did Mr Peanut, hmmm????? Who’s out here canceling the doughboy?????):
It was "fine". A bit doughy and bland. Could have used a bit more frosting. Price was right at $3.49 for 6 buns.
TBH I’ve never been a fan of Pillsbury’s dough, for those stated reasons, but the price per bun/convenience factor is hard to beat.
But what if you put them in a waffle maker?????
That’s precisely what Lizzy T, of Tastes of Lizzy T dot com recommends (h/t to bun pal Erin for sending).
I’ve been inching towards getting a waffle maker (I much prefer them to pancakes, and specifically this kind and NOT the Belgian kind, which has too deep of pockets leading to a poor surface area/dough ratio) and this might be enough to put me over the edge, so to speak. Kyle, next time you’re going deep on Pillsbury don’t forget this ONE COOL TRICK.
Eeees eeeettttt
That’s a long post this week - next week I’ll be back with a review of the April cronut and the usual assortment of tasty treats. Stay safe bun buds 🤎