Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

Trader Joe’s Sliced PUMPKIN SOURDOUGH BREAD made with pumpkin purée & pumpkin spices

$4.99 (17.6 oz, 500 gr)

NEW ITEM (LIMITED TIME)

As I’ve mentioned a few times, actually I’m not one of those people who goes nuts every Fall when Trader Joe’s comes out with all the Pumpkin stuff. However on occasion I may see something that looks interesting and peaks my interest. Like this bread I saw in the New Items shelf while I was checking out:

Trader Joe’s SLICED PUMPKIN SOURDOUGH BREAD

After doing a little research I saw that some shoppers supposedly are raving about this bread and snapping it up. So I got one to try out. Here’s my honest review.

I liked this, in fact more than I expected to. I liked that the amount of spice in this is subtle. This bread is not overly flavored with “pumpkin spices”, there’s just a hint of spice blend (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg), almost background and what’s there matches well with the pumpkin flavor. This is actually made with pumpkin (puree) so you get a subtle taste of pumpkin. Pumpkin puree is the third ingredient listed (flour, water, pumpkin purée…) . The bread has a slight sweetness but just a hint-it tastes like bread, not dessert. Really well balanced. The slices are a perfect thickness. The bread has a little structure, not too soft, it has a nice crumb with some air holes. Just a bit of sour tang. As far as it being “real sourdough” well….I think of this as a “sourdough style” bread. I don’t think anyone is going to confuse this with a “real sourdough” but that’s OK for me. It lists “microbial enzymes”… not sourdough starter as a purist might argue. But its in the family.

As is untoasted, I thought it tasted fine, however my first thought was, I should toast this. It will be best toasted. My hunch was right. This is great for toasting and grilling. Doing that releases all the flavors and gets great texture.

First I just toasted up a slice and tried it simple – just spread with good butter. Simple but so delicious. Also excellent with butter and raspberry jam. Experiment and find your favorite jam combo. Trader Joe’s APPLE PIE JAM perhaps? This bread toasted with butter and their PUMPKIN BUTTER?

What about using this bread to make FRENCH TOAST? Try that with this bread over the holidays?

How about a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?

It may sound a bit odd, but try this for a grilled cheese sandwich.

I saw that suggestion somewhere on the internet about using this pumpkin sourdough with TJ’s Cheddar Gruyere melange cheese. So I made it. They were not wrong. This combo was So Good. We had these for dinner! We really liked the way these grilled cheese sandwiches came out (if you need a “recipe” see below)

Cheese: I saw the recommended one as Trader Joe’s GRUYERE CHEDDAR MELANGE. I used that and it was a perfect match.

Here’s how I made my grilled cheese sandwich with the PUMPKIN SOURDOUGH.

• Sliced up Gruyere Cheddar Melange cheese. Spread the bread slices with a thin layer of your favorite mustard. I used a mix of Dijon and Regular mustard. I like mustard so I did it on both insides.
• Add a decent amount of cheese and carefully close up the sandwich. Grill in a heavy pan with a bit of butter on low-medium. Let it grill up for about 3-4 minutes per side or until it looks nice and Golden Brown and Delicious (check occasionally after 2 3 minutes, it can get dark easily) Flip the over carefully, press gently with a spatula until the second side is done and the cheese is all melty and delicious. Serve with pickles.

I’m sure it would also be good with some kind of cheddar but I have to say, that Gruyere melange perfect, subtle and nutty and matched perfectly with the pumpkin sourdough.

My only complaint with this bread is they don’t give you enough for five bucks! Its kind of small, half loaf of bread which is just over a pound. Our loaf went pretty fast, in fact we were fighting over who would eat the last piece of toast.

1 slice is 110 calories.

Product of Canada

CONTAINS SESAME SEEDS

LIMITED TIME – you can always buy some and freeze it