The company that brought America $4 lattes rolled out better-for-you breakfasts. While they may be healthier than its other food options, are they just as tasty?
By Mehgan Belanger
I have a confession -- I love Starbucks' muffins, be it blueberry, lemon poppy seed or my favorite, pumpkin muffins filled with cream cheese. Always moist, soft, sweet and utterly delicious, they are an indulgence I afford myself when the urge becomes unbearable.
But, with some packing 400-plus calories, it's a diet disaster, especially when paired with one of the chain's flavored lattes. Thanks to the company's rollout of six new better-for-you breakfast menu items earlier this month, I think my fitness goals may be salvaged -- that is, if they can live up to the tasty, not-so-better-for-you menu items I crave.
The six new items include Perfect Oatmeal, Apple Bran Muffin, Fruit Stella, Multigrain Roll, Chewy Fruit & Nut Bar and the Power Protein Plate. The following are my bite-by-bite thoughts on these new items:
-- Perfect Oatmeal: whole-grain oatmeal served hot in a cardboard to-go bowl for $2.45, with mix-ins including dried fruit, nuts or brown sugar. You may think that oatmeal isn’t a portable breakfast option, but Starbucks has it figured out. The oatmeal is sufficient for a meal, and the container is disposable. While I wouldn’t recommend eating it while driving, the oatmeal can be eaten while walking to the office, riding mass transit or at your desk.
-- Apple Bran Muffin: a $1.75 muffin with 330 calories, which is made with whole-wheat flour, oats, wheat bran, apples, cherries and honey. Bran frightens me. Its one of those things you know will not taste particularly good, although you know it's good for you. Kind of like taking cough syrup when you have a cold. So, I warily went into this purchase hoping that the apples, cherries and honey would mask any grainy bran taste or texture. I was pleasantly surprised. It was moist and the apples and spices made for a savory addition, while cherries sweetened up the whole package. The muffin was served warm, and it reminded me of warm apple crisp. It is smaller than the regular Starbucks muffins, though.
-- Fruit Stella: at $1.75, the bar began rolling out last month and is made from whole-grains and seasonal fruits. Out of all the new breakfast items, this was my favorite. The star-shaped treat was covered in real blueberries and raspberries, providing a lusciously sweet topping with real taste -- no artificial fruit flavor here. The cake-like pastry was moist and sweet, and included oats. All in all, a scrumptious choice for consumers with a sweet tooth. It was like having dessert for breakfast -- a great thing in my book!
-- Multigrain Roll: for $1.60, this roll has 280 calories and seven seeds and grains, and is served with almond butter or strawberry preserves. For the price, this roll is well worth it. Surprisingly filling (enough to ease hunger pangs until lunch) and tasty, with a crunchy exterior and chewy inside. The almond butter added a sophisticated flavor, but I was concerned about its nutritional content -- it is butter, after all.
-- Chewy Fruit & Nut Bar: made with oats, dried fruit, nuts, seeds and honey, the bar has 250 calories and sells for $1.75. Normally, I like these types of bars, but I found this one lacking. The dried fruit wasn't particularly flavorful, and the honey was overbearing plus it added a certain amount of stickiness to the equation. I expected a sweet and salty, convenient snack, but found it bland and messy, and not as convenient due to the honey. However, it was sizeable -- a plus over other bar offerings I've tried.
-- Power Protein Plate: for $4.95, this breakfast includes a hard-boiled egg from uncaged hens, a small whole-wheat bagel, a 70-calorie pack of peanut butter, cheddar cheese wedge, apple slices and grapes. This would make a great breakfast for office workers. Because it is a container of several food items, on-the-go eating is not an option. The bagel was certainly small, about three inches in diameter, but sufficient. The apple slices and grapes were fresh, and the cheese and peanut butter were tasty and wholesome complements. I couldn't tell the difference between this cage-free egg and normal eggs. The salt and pepper packets included to flavor the egg were certainly a plus. I was only left wanting something to top the bagel with, low-fat cream cheese would have been perfect.
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