Review: Ozery Bakery Morning Rounds

Imagine my mirth when Ozery Bakery contacted me and asked if I'd like to review their bread. Moi? Bread?

I'm guessing they didn't know how tough a bread critic I am. Then again, sometimes I like other people's breads just because I didn't make it.

When they first contacted me, I had no idea what kind of bakery they were. A mom and pop shop moving to the neighborhood? A chain bakery?

But no, Ozery Bakery is neither of those. This is a brand of bread that you'll find in supermarkets. Now, there's an aisle that's foreign to me.

But what the heck, you want to send me bread, I'll give an honest review.

When the bread arrived, my husband wrinkled his nose. I could tell he wasn't going to be much help. Not that there was anything wrong with it  - it's just not the sort of bread he'd get excited about. The box was marked "Keep Frozen" but the bread was at room temperature. I tossed all of it in the freezer to keep it fresh - there were three bags, and if I was the only one eating them, it was going to take a little time.

If pita bread and English muffins had a transporter accident, this is what you'd expect. Called :"Morning Rounds," these were shorter and wider than an English muffin, but taller, puffier, and less floppy than a pita. I grabbed one of the cranberry-orange rounds and popped it in the toaster, still frozen.

It came out of the toaster nicely warm all the way through. I ate it as-is - no butter, no splitting in half. It was sweeter than an English muffin, and had plenty of flavor from the add-ins.

Bread snob that I am, I still have to admit that I liked it. It wasn't too sweet, which would have bothered me. It had just enough sweetness to make it interesting, along with the flavors from the cranberries and orange. If I was being indulgent, I might split it and put some butter on it, but it didn't need it.

Next, I tried the apple cinnamon. There were small chunks of apple and whole raisins. The cinnamon smell was pretty strong when I first opened the the box with the bread in it, so I expected the cinnamon flavor to be really strong. It was there, but not overwhelming. The apple flavor was good.

I haven't tried the last flavor yet, but after the first two, I imagine the third would be good.

I guess the question is whether I'd buy these. Honestly, probably not. Not because I didn't like them, but because I make all my own bread. If these were served somewhere, I'd eat them, and I'll finish off the ones I have. If I was out somewhere, or I couldn't make bread for some reason, these would be on the list of what I might buy.

Meanwhile, I might try to make something like these. Yup, they're pretty good. I'm surprised.

Yum