Lender's plain bagels (non-frozen)

Sad days in PA -- the store had only 1 thing of Lender's bagels in the freezer case, so they were purchased, but when I got to eating one, I saw it was much bigger than normal, didn't toast well, and also, tasted weird and bad. Missing the "bagel" flavor that you expect, with a little bonus "weird plasticy bread" flavor. It didn't kill me, but what happened was someone put the refrigerator/bakery version of Lender's bagel into the freezer by mistake. They are indeed larger, 220 cals, and they sure tasted worse, although whether it was due to being frozen or just their essence, I couldn't say. Woe!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Lender's Plain Bagels (Frozen)

Gosh, my grocery store stopped selling all flavors of Lender's bagels, so I got to buy about 1 pack post-lockdown before they went away, and I'm so upset about it! These are really convenient, especially now that I have a good toaster. My bag did have a little bit of freezer burn going on, but I guess that's because they were selling off the bottom of the storage unit of bagels or whatever. Sniff. These are good, tasty bagels, and really good for little sandwiches too. I hope to find them again if I ever switch grocery stores!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Lender's Onion Bagels

I seriously appreciate the "nut free" label prose of Lender's. Big props. Anyway, these are good, although they do come out a little chewy in the microwave (as you'd expect). They're also smaller than your store-bought bagel, which is kind of nice. They make a really quick, convenient, filling snack when I'm super tired or in a rush. I do think the cinnamon raisin flavor is superior, though, even though I like onion bagels a lot in general (and they're kind of hard to find in a nut-free locale).




Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 7/10

Bagel Bites - Three Cheese

Bagel bites! What could be greater, than playing a game of golf with a bagel?

These are truly classic, although they really aren't that good, they are certainly better than pizza rolls. I think one flaw in my process is that I make them in the microwave, so they are chewy and sometimes cold, which obviously is not great. Otherwise, they have a nice mild flavor and are cutely bite sized, so you can eat 9 whole pizzas if you want to (I usually do). The ones with meat are really bad because the meat tastes weird, but the plain cheese is alright. A crowd pleaser for picky eaters.

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [4$]
Taste: 7/10

Thomas Plain Bagels

Here's the deal. Allergy-wise, these guys sketch me out. I used to get Thomas bagels, english muffins, etc fairly often, but last week at the store I saw that the English Muffins have a peanut/nut allergy warning. Where did it come from? Was it always there? Why don't the bagels have it? And their website is very un-reassuring (you may die, anyone, everyone). But I'll ignore that for now and focus on ~the product~.

These are plump bagels, and just what you want if you're making a bagel sandwich or any type of non-just-a-bagel concoction. They toast up nicely, and while boring on their own, do great with egg, avocado, jam, butter, etc (not all at once though). A good thickness and softness, and a very neutral flavor.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Lenders Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

First and foremost: these bagels have a "made in a nut free facility" notice printed on the bag, which is just delightful!

Anyway, I'm not sure if it's just childhood nostalgia talking, but these are my favorite store-bought bagel. They're frozen, which means they last way longer than fresh ones, and they're much smaller as well. I never manage to enjoy an entire fresh bagel without getting bored, so these are the perfect size. They're very fast to cook - either 25 seconds in the microwave or a minute or two of toasting. Chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside. They're good with butter or alone. These are great bagels! They have a decent amount of raisins and a good cinnamon flavor. (I also like the 'onion' and 'egg' flavors, if you're wondering).

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 8/10