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

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

$4.99 (17.6 oz, 500 gr)

NEW ITEM (LIMITED TIME)

As I’ve mentioned before I’m actually not one of those people who goes nuts when Trader Joe’s comes out with all the pumpkin stuff every Fall.

However on occasion I do 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. I like that its actually made with some pumpkin puree, so you get a (subtle) hint of pumpkin. I like the fact that the amount of spice is very subtle. It’s not overly flavored with spices. There is just a hint of pumpkin spice blend (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg). Almost background.Pumpkin puree is the third ingredient listed (flour, water, pumpkin purée…) in the ingredients.The bread has a slight sweetness but just a little and tastes like bread, not dessert.

The bread has a nice crumb with some air holes and a little structure. It has a bit of little sourdough tang but think sourdough in quotation marks. I think of this as a “sourdough style” bread.

As is untoasted, I thought it tasted fine. However my first thought was I have to toast it. This is best for toasting or grilling. First I just toasted it and tried it simply spread with some good butter. Simple but delicious. Also excellent with butter and raspberry jam. Experiment and find your favorite combo for jam. Trader Joe’s APPLE JAM perhaps?

FRENCH TOAST? I didn’t try it yet but I know this Definitely would make fantastic french toast. Try that with this bread over the holidays?

Sounds a bit odd but how for a grilled cheese sandwich!? I saw somewhere on the internet to make a grilled cheese with this bread and for cheese, some gruyere. They were not wrong. I tried it. So good. We really liked the way these grilled cheese sandwiches came out and tasted (my “recipe” below)

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

Here’s how to make a grilled cheese sandwich with this PUMPKIN SOURDOUGH BREAD.

Slice up your Gruyere Cheddar Melange cheese, then spread the bread slices with a thin layer of your favorite mustard. I used a mix of Dijon and Regular mustard. Add a decent amount of cheese and carefully close up the sandwich. Grill in a heavy pan with a bit of butter on medium. Let it grill up for about 3-4 minutes per side 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