Starbucks now serving Bantam Bagels
Up for grabs at Starbucks: Bantam Bagels, bite-size and filled with cream cheese. Credit: Newsday / Joan Reminick
Now sharing the showcase space with the full-sized bagels at Starbucks are Bantam Bagels, mini bagel balls filled with cream cheese. Back in 2014, these little bites (which originated at a Greenwich Village shop) were named one of Oprah’s Favorite Things. Recently introduced at Starbucks, they're being offered in three flavors: The Classic, stuffed with whipped cream cheese (100 calories), the Everything, stuffed with vegetable cream cheese (100 calories) and the French Toast, filled with buttered maple cream cheese (110 calories).
I tried all three at the Starbucks in Melville and all I can say is, sorry, Oprah, I have to disagree with you on this one. Served warm, they were gummy-textured and way too heavy on the cream cheese, which spurted out at first bite. The worst of the three was the overly sweet French Toast bagel.
Perhaps some weight-conscious consumers will like that two of these little balls add up to only 200-210 calories, making for a lower-calorie breakfast than a regular bagel. Then again, where is it written that one must consume an entire bagel? Or, for that matter, a Starbucks bagel?
Bantam Bagels are $1.75 apiece or $2.95 for two.
