I had very low expectations going into this one. Although nothing to complain about, I think Trader Joe's Brookie, with its nearly identical packaging and presentation, is a tad overrated. And I really wanted to like the Black Sesame Mochi, but its excessively earthy undertones overshadowed the sweetness of the ice cream by my estimation.
So I was skeptical, at best, of a blondie bar flaunting black tea as its primary flavor. I mean, I have nothing against Earl Grey. I like a London Fog once in a while. I'll even drink it plain if I just need an afternoon pick-me-up and don't want to add unnecessary calories. But I simply don't think of Earl Grey tea as a dessert flavor. Not by a long shot.
Trader Joe's Earl Grey Blondie Bars proved me wrong. There is, indeed, an earthy, slightly bitter essence at the core of these blondies, but it compliments the sweet vanilla caramel cookie flavors of the dessert quite well. The Earl Grey black tea adds richness and complexity without stealing the show.
They were perfect straight out of the plastic box, but Sonia discovered they're even better dunked in a piping hot mug of Earl Grey. The tea enhances the flavors and the liquid makes the soft texture even better. We plowed through the box very quickly making sure it was fairly divided equally between the two of us.
$3.49 for eight blondie bars, found in the baked goods section. Limited time release. Kosher. Would buy again. Sonia gives this product eight and a half out of ten stars. I'll follow suit with eight and a half as well for Trader Joe's Earl Grey Blondie Bars.
$3.99 gets you 10 sheets of soft potato flatbread imported from Norway. It actually tastes like potato. According to traderjoes.com about 80% of the bread is potato. There's also some wheat flour, milk, salt, and yeast.
Trader Joe's Lefse Norwegian Potato Flatbread is incredibly pliable and supple. It bends and folds any way you need it to. It's a little richer and denser than traditional flatbread, but we found it to be quite versatile. We made cold cut and cheese wraps with it. We filled it with chicken salad, tuna salad, and egg salad. We even dunked it in chili and soup.
Apparently, some folks use it for dessert applications, too. It might be interesting with Nutella and peanut butter. Some folks apparently fill it with whipped cream and fruit spreads. You can roll it up or fold it. Really interesting stuff.
It has that slightly sweet, earthy potato flavor that keeps it from tasting plain or boring. It's mild enough that it works with savory foods, but there's just enough sweetness there that dessert applications honestly make sense. We found ourselves reaching for it instead of regular sandwich bread a couple times just because it's different and kind of fun to eat.
I may or may not have used this lefse with the leftover salsa de queso, in lieu of tortillas, and made some Norwegian-Mexican fusion food—which is, apparently, already a thing. It worked extremely well, but don't tell Sonia. She kinda got upset when I mentioned I liked flour tortillas just as much as corn tortillas. I don't know if she could handle the truth about potato flatbread tacos.
The beautiful wifey and I would both buy this product again, found with the other breads. Eight out of ten stars from me on Trader Joe's Lefse Norwegian Potato Flatbread. Eight and a half stars from Sonia.
