Gingerbread Spice Pancake Mix (ALDI)

I’m a savory type of guy when it comes to my breakfast.  Black coffee, bacon, eggs, roasted potatoes, sausage, and all that kind of stuff.  I don’t even own a waffle iron, simply because I wouldn’t ever use the damn thing.  So, as I was standing in front of pancake mixes at ALDI, I found myself contemplating if I would ever actually make these.  They might just sit on my cabinet shelf, collecting dust like that brain cupcake mix I was convinced I was going to make for Halloween.  However, this pancake mix was a little different.  It sang a siren’s song of ginger spice, and I knew I was going to break my savory breakfast regiment.  Sweet was going to take the place of savory for a few days and I was actually looking forward to it.  Here’s how it all went down:

The morning after my purchase of this holiday pancake mix, I dusted off my measuring cups and broke out a few ingredients that are rarely seen in my kitchen.  Powdered sugar was purchased, and would undoubtedly waste away in my cupboard after this early morning experiment was over.  An egg was cracked and slightly beaten, much like my pride after realizing that I was about to make pancakes for breakfast.  A cup of mix was measured out and placed in a bowl.  Then the beaten egg, a 2/3 cup of milk, and a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil were added and mixed to a point where there was still small clumps of mix remaining.  I greased a pan with butter and poured five circles in an attempt to construct a gingerbread man (looking at the pictures, I could use a little more practice on that).  The bottoms of the pancakes began to solidify and the edges were starting to round.  I made my first flip, successfully keeping all of the extremities intact.  After a couple more minutes, the gingerbread thing was finished and I tossed it on a plate and dressed it with brown sugar and cinnamon butter and powdered sugar.

My fork cut through the right arm of the gingerbread man pancake and to give it a taste.  With my fork on a collision course with my mouth, I paused for a second to prepare myself for the sweet shock that my body may not quite be ready for this early in the morning.  Gaining confidence, I loaded the sweet breakfast item into my mouth.  I expected a bit of twitching as it touched down on my tongue, however my mouth rejoiced this change.  There was a slight ginger flavor and the butter and powdered sugar made for some great additions.  I don’t know why I was evading starting out my mornings with sweets.

I could see myself sprinkling in a few more mornings that begin with sweets.  It would help to break the monotony of my daily ritual, and give that powdered sugar a few more uses.  FORK, it looks like I may just have to invest in that waffle iron after all.

Dark Chocolate Covered Triple Ginger Cookies (Trader Joe’s)

Trader Joe’s is at it again, and just in time for the holiday season.  Doing what they do best, they took one of your favorite cookies, and dipped that sugar filled treat into rich dark chocolate.  The triple ginger variety gets the dip this time in what is sure to be an instant classic lining the plates of every holiday party.  Since this is the season of ginger for me, and I have been pimping out my blog with just about every imaginable ginger product in sight, I had to scoop this one up off the shelf and give it a try.  Here’s how it went:

The first thing that caught my eye was the holiday packaging.  Trader Joe’s graphic design team has really been focusing lately on their boxes, creating something that you’d be proud to stuff in a stocking or wrap in a gift basket.  It’s a small sleeve of 15 cookies weighing 6 ounces and presented in a long sleeve.  I unwrapped the box and removed the plastic wrap.  I took a small sample size of 3 cookies (which is a serving size @ 170 calories per).  I bit into the first one, biting through a crisp ginger cookie with a rich artfully crafted dark chocolate dip.  The sweet, bitter dark chocolate hits first, and finishes with ginger cookie crumbling around the small chunks of candied ginger, filling your mouth with the spice of this chewy candy.  I could imagine this being great with eggnog to wash it all down.  It gave me the holiday cheer, and I polished off the remaining two cookies being careful not to dive back into the package as I just might deplete the rest of my stock.

Dark Chocolate Covered Gingerbread Hearts (ALDI)

Some people love the jolly Christmas that blares overhead at your local grocery store, and there are those that loathe it.  I fall into the category of the latter.  I can’t get out of a place fast enough, gathering all of my groceries as fast as I can in an attempt to escape the noise pollution that this seasonal barrage of jingles will surely bring.  However, as much as I hate to admit it, this strategy works, and when presented with these monotonous songs, I find myself craving the one concoction that’s synonymous with the season.  Gingerbread.  Deliciously spiced gingerbread anything, and there is one place every year I find something new and exciting from this line that brings me into ALDI to grab off of their shelves.  This year, it was their Dark Chocolate Covered Gingerbread Hearts that I whisked away and dragged home to add a little holiday spirit to my diet.  Here’s what I thought of them:

As per the usual, ALDI presented me with a low cost option and these sweet, heart-shaped treats were a steal at $1.99.  This was my first go at these guys, and I really didn’t know what to expect.  Would they be hard or soft.  One thing I was sure of, was that they were bound to be delicious either way, and the part that excited me the most about these cookies, was that apricot filling that would be mixing with the rich dark chocolate and the spiced gingerbread.  I tore into the bag, and grabbed the first one.  I sank my teeth in, revealing an incredibly fluffy cookie filled with small amount of apricot filling.  The ratios were just about perfect, and the tangy preserves gave an nice balance to the bitter chocolate and the spicy gingerbread as they danced around on my palate.  I reached in the bag, pulling out a few more and laid them on a plate setting the rest aside so I wouldn’t devour the whole bag in one sitting.  They were FORKing addictive, and quickly became one of my new holiday favorites.

These little hearts will surely make their way into yours.  Not only will your friends love the texture and flavor, but you’ll leave them impressed by their cute shape.  They’re great to bring over to a holiday party, or just to have around to entertain guests during the holiday season.  No Christmas party would be complete without these Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Hearts.  So, get into ALDI and throw these delicious cookies in your cart.  At that tiny price tag, why the FORK not?