Marks and Spencer Easter Chocolate Muffin

Happy Easter eve! I have to admit I've really not embraced it that much year, I haven't bought or eaten a single egg (though expect a couple tomorrow), haven't had a creme egg or even mini eggs. I didn't have my first hot cross bun until last week even though I love them and it's all kind of passed me by a bit this year.

In an attempt to get a bit of seasonal treatiness into my life, I found these Easter chocolate muffins at the in store bakery in Marks and Spencer for the pretty reasonable price of £1. They really do look something special and I love mini eggs so anything adorned with a colourful candy shell always looks pretty appealing to me.

I don't think I've ever had anything bad from an instore bakery in M&S and the muffins looked plump and perfect with a generous splodge of chocolate ganache on top and crowned with an egg. Muffins can be disappointing sometimes but M&S have nailed this. It's so moist, ridiculously so with a gorgeous dense, rich cocoa flavour and infused with more chocolate filling so you get a delicious rich, creamy burst of extra chocolatiness in every bite.

It's everything a good muffin should be, utterly delectable, not crumbly or overly airy bur rather gooey and creamy with a deep cocoa flavour rather than just being overly sweet. The chocolate egg on the top is a nice touch. These were reviewed on Kev's Snack Reviews and although I only got to try the one on top of my muffin, I completely agree they are nicer than Cadbury mini eggs and I will try and get a whole bag of these if there are any left after Easter!

Price: £1.00
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutriton per serving: 572 calories

Score: 9.5/10

Warburtons Protein Wraps

Generally I often find 'protein' branded products are all hype and whilst they may contain a little extra protein, they're generally not that good for you or that necessary. However, I have to say I was really quite impressed by these protein wraps from Warburtons.

Each one contains a pretty impressive 10g of protein - that's more than an egg and it's coming from plant sources as well. Wholemeal flour is a natural source of protein anyway but this then has additional plant based protein from pulses in the form of chickpea flour, pea protein and navy bean flour. Pulses are also excellent sources of fibre and as well as being protein, the wraps are high fibre with 5g each. They're not labelled as vegan but appear to be although are made in a factory that uses milk.

They definitely feel very different to normal wraps when both handling them and eating them. They're maybe a little stiffer, slightly less soft and feel a bit more wholesome. In some ways they remind me of the texture of gluten free wraps. But this isn't a criticism. I actually really like the flavour and texture of these - they feel more substantial, more wholegrain and I guess if you're after just a delicious wrap and not interested in health these might be a bit worthy but I think they're tastier than normal wraps due to the nuttier flavour and the texture the pulses bring.

Keeping it plant based I filled mine with roasted red peppers, onions, hummus and pumpkin seeds and it made for a delicious lunch and felt more filling yet also lighter than a normal wrap. I imagine these would be great for vegetarian burritos as well and something I will continue to buy.

Price: £1.27
Bought at: Morrisons
Nutrition per wrap: 184 calories, 3.3g fat, 0.8g sat fat, 2.4g sugars, 10.2g protein, 5g fibre, 0.67 salt

Score: 8.5/10

New York Bakery Cheese Bagels Review

I absolutely bagels but it is so hard to find good ones. As a rule of thumb, pretty much any prepackaged bagel is a let down - just breadrolls with a bland taste and a hole in the middle. Generally in store bakery bagels are better with that chewy, sweet and slightly sour taste with scratch made ones ruling the roost.

New York Bakery is the best known brand of bagels and to be fair they are probably the best of the prepackaged bagels but the texture still isn't as good as in store bakery bagels as they lack that firm, dense crust. But I do enjoy their bagels so was pleased to see they've launched a new cheese bagel. It seems a pretty standard flavour but one I think would work well with bagel.

Taking it out the packet, it looked the part with a nice golden cheesy topping. I decided to toast it and fill it with more cheese (why not?) and marmite. I have to say it was nice but I was disappointed. Something about a cheese bagel sounded so delightfully savoury and satisfying. The reality is that it tastes good but the cheese just isn't pronounced enough. At only 4% cheese, it's actually pretty low in the list of ingredients and this comes through in the taste. My bagel was delicious but the flavour was lost to the filling and it could have been any bagel I was eating or even a panini roll for the difference in taste.

I decided in the interest of fairness to also have one for breakfast, simply toasted with butter. This time I could taste the cheese as there was nothing else to distract but it is still very faint. Having said that, the bagel toasts beautifully with a lovely crisp and chewy texture and I very much enjoyed this.

The thing is I've bought in store bakery cheese rolls which have little pockets of cheese studded throughout and the flavour is so much more pronounced here. They use more cheese and it shows. I would actually buy these bagels again but they do taste good and even though the cheese taste is lost to fillings, the overall flavour is good. But if you're looking for a really cheesy bagel, you're likely to be disappointed.

Bought at: Morrisons
Price: £1 (on offer)
Nutrition per bagel: 248 calories, 3.1g fat, 1.4g sat fat, 4.7g sugars, 0.61g salt

Score: 7/10

Marks and Spencer Gingerbread Teacakes

Well my self control at not buying these until at least November lasted barely a couple of days. After seeing all the delicious new cakes and treats in M&S last time I was there, it was these gingerbread teacakes that really played on my mind. Gingerbread is one of my favourite things whether in the form of a spicy biscuit, sticky loaf cake or as a flavoured latte. It is a rich, warming, spicy scent, which is tied to Christmas and the cold for me so it seems a little odd M&S have launched this as an autumn treat as I'm sure they'll be even more treats coming out in a few months time for Christmas as well.

Like I said, these played on my mind ever since I saw them as I just love all those cinnamon, treacle, and ginger notes and I also love traditional stodgy, rainy afteroon, teatime British treats and so teacakes are another of my great loves. A wet day, snuggled up inside with a good book or film, a cup of tea and a teacake is a glorious thing.

 This teacake shuns the traditional currants and fruits instead opting for 14% toffee pieces as the only inclusion along with the cinnamonm,ginger and spices. Opening the pack, the lack of ginerbread scent conerned me. Yes, you can kind of get a faint glimmer of spice if you really sniff it but it's weak at best. The teacakes looked very attractive though with a glossy dome and they cut nicely in two with a good teacake texture.

As I toasted them, the gingerbread smell I wanted increased a little but it's certainly not strong. Cinnamon bagels have more warming scent to them than these. However, they toasted beautifully with a slightly crisp top with a soft, luscious bread underneath.

The texture of these is great but that is the best I can say as the gingerbread flavour is so weak it's barely there at all. You barely can detect any spice at all yet alone getting any hint of the sticky, gingery treat I wanted. The toffee is completely lost and I wouldn't notice it was there at all unless I was told. No cinnamon or ginger is identifiable. It's not sweet, which is what I want and expect from a teacake and as a teacake it's okay...except it's missing the fruit. In the end I had to put some banana peanut butter on it just to give it some flavour.

I am so disappointed with these - the base is right but this is no gingerbread teacake. I appreciate as a teacake it's not supposed to be sticky or sugary but there isn't even spice. I guess I'll have to wait until November for the proper gingerbread to come around. I've seen other people like Nibbles N Scribbles have really enjoyed this so maybe it's just me?

Price: £1.00
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutrition per teacake: 175 calories, 3.8g fat, 1.2g sat fat, 8.2g sugars, 0.33g salt

Score: 5/10

New Marks and Spencers Goodies

Oh M&S, how you always throw me off balance every time I go in there. With all the best will in the world I'll pop in just for some veg or one specific item and everywhere you turn there are tempting and naughty goodies trying to attack my waistline and my wallet. It looks like Spirit of Summer is being phased out and instead we're getting lots of naughty new sweet treats.

M&S instor bakery is definitely yhe most tempting in my opinion and as always they don't fail with new products such as this chocolate chip brioche - it looks buttery, soft, bursting with chocolate chips and probably lots of fats but you know it would be worth every bite.

And if that wasn't enough there were pastries that looked equally naughty. The cappuccino twist takes the classic flaky, buttery chocolate twist you see everywhere and adds one of my favorite things - coffee. Considering how well pastries and coffee go to together this looks like a match made in heaven.

As does the cinnamon danish.... this on a wet autumn afternoon with a coffee.. you know it makes sense. Just look at the three swirls joined together with a load of cinnamon filling and the crunchy sugary top

There were just as many goodies in the ambient bakery section as well. Gingerbread teacakes sound interesting although considering traditional teacakes are fruity I'm not sure how well this would pair with gingerbread. But I love gingerbread and I love teacakes so who knows. Gingerbread is pretty Christmassy for me so I might have to hang back on this.

Whereas as passion fruit is summery so now might be the time to give the new passion fruit yum yums ago. M&S yum yums are sugary, sticky masterpieces so this might be pretty good. They also had a new raspberry one

And biscuits are an M&S staple - they're actually one of the reasons I will specifically go to an M&S as I think they make better biscuits than anyone else - even branded biscuits. Their extremely chocolatey range are probably my favourite ever biscuits and when they say more chocolate than biscuits they mean it. They've added a new mocha version and again considering how much I love coffee, my favourite dark chocolate and ginger extremely chocolate biscuits might have a new contender

Someyimes you want a lighter, more sophisticated biscuit and that's where Viennese come in - buttery and melt in the mouth, an orange chocolate dipped version certainly sounds appealing

As do these double chocolate sandwich creams Viennese

Whilst I am sad to see Spirit of Summer go if this is the type of new product M&S have for us over the colder months, then we're in for a treat. It's a good job we need more calories in colder months because there's a lot of very naughty stuff here! But if you need something healthy, at least there's a new egg and avocado protein pot - how very on trend.

Waitrose 1 Wheat and Rye Sourdough Review

Anyone who’s shopped at Waitrose recently can’t have failed to notice the big push on the new ‘Waitrose 1’ range. This is Waitrose revamping their premium range (as if Waitrose could get any more premium!) and adding a load of new luxury products to this range as well. They’re currently running 25% off all Waitrose 1 products to MyWaitrose card holders so provided me a chance to treat myself to some luxury food.

The Waitrose 1 covers all kind of things from the most decadent treats like Tanzanian Chocolate Ice Cream with blood orange and Chocolate lava cake to wood fired pizza, ready meals you could serve to guests and also premium basic staples like high quality cheeses and bread.

I love a bit of sourdough anyway – it just has so much more flavour than standard bread and I like its dense chewiness. There’s also some claims that sourdough is slightly better for you as it’s given more time to develop but it’s the delicious taste that sells it to me. There are a few sourdoughs in the Waitrose 1 range, both packaged and from the in store bakery.  I bought this wheat and rye sourdough because I also enjoy the dark flavour of rye bread.

The ingredients list is exceptionally clean for this – various flours including rye flour, water and salt and that is literally it. It’s what bread is supposed to be with no sugar, no preservatives and no weird ingredients. I think there is so much bad bread around we just get used to it but this is what real bread should be.

The slices are attractive dark colour , soft and dense with a lovely chewy crust dusted in flavour.  I love the fact that this has come from a larger bit of bread so the slices are different sizes. Some might find this a bit annoying and the larger pieces didn’t fit in my toaster but this didn’t bother me, I just kept rotating them.

I tried the bread in a number of ways – both cold and toasted. Simply cold on from the pack by itself, it’s really nice and the quality and simplicity of the ingredients shines through. A dense, chewy, nutty taste with that sour tang so characteristic of sourdough. The rye flavour also comes through strongly with a really strong punch of that dark flavour you can in Scandinavian breads.

It worked well with tuna and sweetcorn as an open sandwich but frankly this bread is so nice, it seemed a shame to spoil its flavour by smothering it in a topping. I imagine it would go lovely with cream cheese and smoked salmon or even mashed avocado.

Toasted, it’s possibly even nicer but that’s not much to call between the two. Toasted lightly enhances the tanginess and adds a nice bit of crispness and also make it slightly less dense. It’s pretty versatile bread and would also be good toasted with sweet toppings like honey.

The £1.99 price tag is more than your standard cheap supermarket bread but worth every penny. Natural, real , proper bread with bags of flavour.

Price: £1.99

Bought at: Waitrose

Nutrition per slice: 113 calories, 0.4g fat, trace sat fat, 0.5g sugars, 0.39g salt

Score: 8/10

Marks and Spencer Butternut Squash, Feta and Spinach Muffin (In Store Bakery)

Marks and Spencer hands down have my favourite in store bakery. For me every item has the same quality you would get in somewhere like Starbucks or Pret but without the price tag. In spite of all the trends of gluten free and carb cutting, I absolutely adore baked goods and just the smell when you get near the instore bakery grabs my attention and seduces me into having a browse.

M&S always have such interesting items with unusual twists that appear seasonally for a few months and then disappear. I've always enjoyed their seasonal, savoury treats (a caramelised onion and feta scone one summer was a particular highlight) so this autumnal take on a muffin sounded right up my street.

It's certainly a pretty hefty looking piece, which it needed to be to warrant it's price tag at over £1. However, it is also pretty filling and makes substantial and delightful lunch. The muffin is packed with salty feta, sweet, creamy butternut and the inclusion of pumpkin seeds both in and on top of the muffin add some nice crunch for a perfect texture contrast to the soft, spongy muffin. The spinach adds a nice green hit of veggie goodness without no bitterness.

The muffin is absolutely delicious with a real savoury kick that is immensely enjoyable. My one criticism is that this is one crumbly little number and whether you try and cut it or bite into it, it does have a habit of breaking up. But this a small price to pay for something so delicious. It makes a really interesting change to standard bread or rolls and is so packed full of flaovur, it doesn't need anything else to accompany it

8.5/10

Rowan Hill Bakery Bagels (Lidl)

After the disappointment from the Vitasia wasabi paste I tried from Lidl, I didn't expect much from these bagels. In my experience, pretty much all store bought bagels are a waste of time and taste like ordinary bread rolls with a hole in the middle. Usually, if I want bagels, it's only the in store bakery ones that are adequate.

I did appreciate the packaging of these. Firstly, you get four rather than the usual five in a pack. Bagels are lovely but I try to have healthy breakfasts most days so they're not something I want too much of. Furthermore, they come in 2 sachets of 2 bagels for freshness so you don't feel the need to eat all of them before they go off.

I was a little concerned that the expiry date was in 3 months time rather than 3 days, which you find on most bagels. On the plus side, it means they make a good standby, although I did worry what was in them to achieve this.

Opening them up, they looked thick, plump and bouncy. They had a nice, soft, squigy texture although didn't smell overtly strongly and did have a slight roll like consistency.

They did, however, toast very successfully and smelt inviting and comforting. Nice and crisp on the outside, they were still dense and chewy with that lovely bagel texture on the inside.

There was a good balance of salt and sweet, which give bagels their malty characteristic. With hazelnut butter on one half and blueberry conserve on the other, this made a lovely treaty breakfast. At 79p for four, they're worth a go and are certainly no worse than other supermarket bagels.

Score: 7/10

Marks and Spencer Feta, Caramelized Onion and Tomato Scone

Salty, creamy feta. Sweet caramelized onion. Juicy, soft tomatoes. All lovely and a pretty well recognised combination but something largely restricted to quiches and tarts so I was intrigued to try this new scone from the M&S in store bakery.

I do love a good scone but I traditionally slather mine in jam making it a sweet treat so it was interesting to try a new savoury version. It certainly looks like a scone with a lovely even, golden bake that's just the right size. Slight and a little dainty but still substantial enough to feel you've had a treat. I also the crumbled sprinkling of feta on the top.

The scone cuts in half beautifully and has a lovely firm texture with a soft, yielding crumbliness as it enters your mouth. Funnily enough it still has the traditional scone smell that is slightly sweet but this is crossed with a faint feta smell that is savoury and very appetizing.

As said, I usually cover a scone in something, but as I expected this to pack quite a lot of flavour, I kept it simple with a faint spread of butter. That said, I'd imagine this would pair beautifully with some slices of cheese on top and a little chutney of some kind. It may be something I'll try in the future.

Luckily, this scone is so full of flavour, it really holds its own. It does have the standard scone flavour but one that is rich and buttery. Every mouthful delivers different combinations of flavours and textures and its jam packed with the added ingredients. It's a well known combo for good reason and the creamy cheese marries perfectly with the slow roasted onions and tomatoes.

It's all deliciously savoury and moreish and makes a nice alternative for lunch or afternoon tea.

Price: 60p
Available: Marks and Spencer

Pros: Good quality base scone that is buttery with great texture. Generous with ingredients. Something a bit different. Competitively priced.
Cons: Best eaten on day of purchase so short life

Score: 8/10

Waitrose Frozen 15 mini French butter pastries

As an indulgent bank holiday breakfast, I decided to treat myself to a leisurely morning of coffee and pastries, providing me with an excuse to try these frozen pastries from Waitrose I've had nestling in the freezer for a while.

I loved the idea of these little continental treats. It's an assortment of 5 croissants, 5 pain aux raisins, and 5 pain au chocolat, providing an eye catching variety and something for everyone.

Because pastries lose their allure so quickly after they've been baked or bought as they go dry and stale, these are perfect for those wanting freshness. What could be better than tucking into a warm, flaky pastry literally straight from the oven. They're also convenient as you only need to take out what you want and then can be stashed away for whenever you next want one at a moment's notice.

Taking them out of the packet, I chose a pain aux raisins and a pain au chocolat. Although small, you could see they were packed with plump little raisins and a generous filling of rich chocolate. All I needed to do was bake them in the oven for 12 minutes, making them quick and convenient as well.

In no time at all, the house was filled with a buttery bakery smell that had me salivating. The pastries were cooked to perfection. Rich and golden in colour, puffed up and crisp and with a lovely warm, fresh baked feel. You couldn't have had anything more fresh without going to a bakery. The pain au chocolat had lovely flecks of rich, gooey melted chocolate streaked throughout but was still intact rather than a splogy mess.

With a spot on aroma, feel and look, the only thing left to deliver on was taste and they more than met expectation. The use of Charentes butter was evident - the pastry was deliciously buttery, sweet and rich with the perfect texture. The pastry was flaky and crisp without being dry and so satisfying to eat.

The fillings were also done to perfection. The pain au chocolat had a deep, dark and silky chocolate inner that blissfully melted on the tongue. The pain aux raisins meanwhile was full to bursting with sticky sweet and juicy raisins.

I thought these were far better than the croissants and pastries you can get from the bakery aisle. They're convenient, quick and don't cause any waste. You get choice and variety and because they're so small, they're not too sinful. And yet they taste utterly decadent. Definitely worth having a stash of these in the deep freeze for when you want a French breakfast.

Price: £2.99
Available: Waitrose

Pros: Authentic, flaky pastry made with real Charentes butter. Something for all tastes. Quick, fresh and convenient. Can be stored in the freezer for whenever you want them. Mini so great for portion control.
Cons: Obviously not that healthy

Score: 8/10

Marks and Spencer Berry Bagels

Bagels are usually one of the biggest disappointments in the supermarket. A proper bagel is an absolute joy to eat - tangy, chewy, with a dense texture and a hint of sweet maltiness. However, what you usually get is just a bread roll with a hole in the middle. These new berry bagels from M&S looked the part so I thought they would be worth a try.

The bagels were not uniform in size, which appealed to me as they looked more homespun and interesting and the barley flakes sprinkled on top added to their wholesome charm. I loved the idea of bagels with blueberries and cranberries and they sounded like an indulgent weekend treat.

The bagels look absolutely stunning and M&S were really generous with their dried fruit. The blueberries and cranberries were quite subtle and you only really noticed them if you bit into one and got a brief explosion of fruity flavour.

However, the actual bagels were fantastic and probably one of the best packaged ones I've tried. They had a great soft but chewy texture with a lovely shiny glaze and the barley flakes gave a lovely bit of nuttiness.

I also really appreciated the salt level in this. It's quite faint but adds a savoury backbone that perfectly complements the sweetness of the bagel.

Price: £1.50
Available: Marks and Spencer

Pros: Fab texture, nice flavour twist, added barley flakes
Cons: Blueberries and cranberries not coming through as strongly as I'd like

Score: 7/10