From sweet to savory, bagel flavor options are on the rise

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KANSAS CITY – Kansas City, Missouri, Meshuggah Bagels baker and owner Pete Linde grew up in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, where he enjoyed the simple pleasures of snacking on a New York bagel every day after school.

A brilliant student, he earned an engineering degree from Columbia in New York City and pursued a career in automotive engineering. Years ago Linde moved to the Claycomo plant in Kansas City, and that’s when it hit him.

“Moving to a place without New York bagels is like a little hole in your life,†he said.

His wife, Janna, who runs Meshuggah Bagels’ four retail stores, remembers how often they took an empty 27-inch suitcase on their trips to New York City to bring back as many bagels as possible. She is from Kansas City and met Pete over ten years ago. He often commented that Kansas City is a “bagel desert” and how he wanted to make his own. So, Pete started figuring out how to make the best bagels. He consulted with a bakery supplies merchant and a family friend who ran a bagel store in Maryland. Because of his childhood memories, he knew the taste he wanted. He would take his time and do it the right way.

“We’re doing it the old fashioned way,” he said, “only we burn natural gas and they burned wood 150 years ago.”

One notable thing is different, however. Like a growing number of bagel makers, Meshuggah Bagels now produces chocolate chip bagels as well as the traditional garlic, onion, salt, rye and, of course, bialys. Bialys are different from bagels in three distinct ways: they have a depression in the middle, not a hole; they are only baked, not boiled and baked; and they are typically not found outside of New York City.

National chains have fallen for bagels and similar products, such as Einstein Bros. did it a year ago with the introduction of the Chocolate Birthday Cake Party Bagel and the Churro Party Bagel. The new Churro begins with a donut, sliced ​​and coated in the middle of a sweet cream cheese buttercream frosting and covered with cinnamon sugar. Chocolate birthday cake begins with a donut, sliced ​​and coated in the middle with chocolate buttercream frosting, glazed with chocolate frosting and topped with confetti chips.

“We wanted to bring some fun to the breakfast table,†said Chad Thompson, culinary innovation manager at Einstein Bros. Bagels. “Party Bagels are a sweet treat, like the Einstein Bros. Bagels. I like to say that if bagels are having a family reunion, the fun cousin just showed up.

“We do it the old fashioned way, only we burn natural gas and they burned wood 150 years ago.”

Pete Linde, baker and owner of Meshuggah Bagels in Kansas City, Missouri.

True to the roots of the bakery

Almost 100 years ago, three brothers took out a $ 300 mortgage on their mother’s house to open a bakery in a shack in southern Illinois. Breads from Amos, Armold and Jack Lewis were delivered daily by Ford Model T trucks to nearby homes. By the 1950s, the family business had grown into a great regional bakery, in part thanks to the creation of a brand now synonymous with freshly baked bread in Midwestern homes, Bunny Bread.

Available at Martin’s supermarkets and other in-store bakeries, the Lewis Bake Shop family creates a real opportunity to bring variety and good taste to the table. From chewy and chewy bagels to healthy English muffins, these specialties are sure to please.

There are five bakeries: Evansville, Indiana; LaPort, Indiana; Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Vincennes, Indiana; and Murfreesboro, Tenn. Now based in Evansville, Lewis Bakeries is the state’s largest wholesale bakery and one of the few independent bakeries in the Midwest.

Customers can go online to www.martinsgroceriestogo.com to order six packs of Martin’s house brand bagels in a variety of options, including blueberries and cinnamon raisins. Other bagel choices include Bantam Bagels and Lewis Bake Shop.

Stuffed bagels

More than 500 Starbucks stores in the northeast offer cream cheese-stuffed bagel balls, according to several published reports. Priced at $ 1.75 each or $ 2.95 for two, bagel balls are plain stuffed with regular cream cheese or maple cream cheese French toast. According to the bakery that produces the bagel balls, New York-based Bantam Bagels, the product is available in most stores in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and New York City.

Bantam Bagels co-owners Nick and Elyse Oleksak, Columbia University graduates who spent years in their quick jobs on Wall Street, originally didn’t think a bagel business would be their next step. In fact, the idea of ​​stuffed mini bagel balls came to Nick in a dream. After completing hundreds of test batches in their Brooklyn apartment, the couple found the perfect recipe and the stuffed mini bagel ball was born.

Excited to start their own business, Elyse and Nick swapped their small apartment kitchen for their own store on Bleecker Street. New York bagel critics not only accepted their new take on the bagel, but after being open for less than a year, Bantam Bagels was named one of the top three bagels by the New York Daily News, according to the company.

With the demand for their stuffed mini bagel balls growing outside of New York City, Elyse and Nick started planning to share their stuffed mini bagel balls with everyone from coast to coast. Not stopping there, Bantam Bagels won the Seal of Approval from Oprah Winfrey, who included Bantam Bagels in her “favorite things†list in 2014. Bantam Bagels can now be shipped nationwide from its website, www.bantambagels. com. Nick and Elyse landed a successful deal after an appearance on ABC’s hit TV show “Shark Tank”, where big investors agree to fund promising ideas.

Sprouted grains

Bakeries love to throw out terms that make their bread look healthy. “Stone-ground†or “multigrain†breads, for example, might be a cut above your average bread – or not, as these terms are often defined loosely, if at all.

But at Alvarado Street Bakery, the business isn’t just throwing fancy words; they want customers to know what’s really in breads and what makes them special. For Alvarado Street, the heart of creating healthy bagels, breads and rolls is the use of sprouted grains.

Sprouted grains are whole seeds that have started to sprout. So while all sprouted grains are also whole grains, not all whole grain products are sprouted. To induce germination, Alvarado Street Bakery soaks the seeds at the right temperature and humidity levels. Then once the sprouts emerge from the germ of the grain, they take the sprouts and crush them into a paste and bake them in a variety of amazing breads and bagels.

According to the company, sprouted grains have many health benefits. The germination process breaks down the starch in the grain, which increases the relative amounts of vitamins and nutrients it contains. The levels of folate, fiber, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B are all higher in sprouted grains than in traditional grains. Sprouted grains also contain essential amino acids like lysine that you won’t often find in regular breads. And sprouting breaks down phytate, a form of phytic acid that decreases the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body. Finally, the germination process makes the grain easier to digest.

Ready to go

Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels are proud to announce the formation of Panera Brands, a powerful new platform in fast casual, the fastest growing segment of the industry. Panera Brands brings together three iconic fast casual brands: Panera Bread, the pioneer and market leader in fast casual, Caribou Coffee, a beloved regional café, and Einstein Bros. Bagels, the industry leader in bagels and bagel sandwiches.

With nearly 4,000 locations and 110,000 employees in 10 countries, Panera Brands is one of the world’s largest and most dynamic fast casual companies.

Anchored in the distinctive skills of Panera Bread, including its extensive omnichannel retail network, strong digital infrastructure, industry-leading loyalty program, strong food innovation pipeline, world-class supply chain and Access to extremely well capitalized franchise owners, Panera Brands will be in a unique position to supercharge the growth of Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels alongside Panera Bread.

Panera Bread, with more than 2,100 bakery-cafes, is a pioneer and leader in the fast casual market with leadership in the quality of its clean, transparent and sustainable ingredients, and in omnichannel access, digital convenience (45% of sales are e-commerce) and engagement.

Market leader in bagels and bagel sandwiches, Einstein Bros. Bagels operates 1,005 stores including Einstein Bros. Bagels, Bruegger’s Bagels, Noah’s New York Bagels and Manhattan Bagel.

“Our constant focus on delivering the most coveted breakfast experience to our customers and our efforts to transform the business in 2020 has enabled us to emerge from the pandemic as a stronger, more profitable and better business. agile.”

José Alberto Dueñas, CEO of Einstein Bros. Bagels

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