Why Don't More Mini Bagels Exist?
"A normal-sized bagel cut in half does not count.
What if normal-sized bagels stopped being the norm and mini bagels stepped up to replace them? The status quo for bagel sizes has reached massive carb-bomb levels. After finishing one, which is rare, I don't feel like starting a day. I want to blob into slumberland and never move again—at least for the next hour or so.
During our recent NYC bagel taste test we munched through wedges from various bagelries and the entire time I just kept thinking, how lame would it be to eat a whole one of these? Even if it was tasty enough for those three chews, sticking to that single flavor the whole time? Bor-ing. I usually stop tasting anything about halfway through.
The mini bagel is just the right size, has a good crust-to-chewy ratio, the hole looks proportional, and following the mini principle, it automatically inspires an "awwww, look at that! Just look at it!!" Maybe this is me fantasizing about more doll-sized food existing in the human world, but I just really support mini bagels. And a normal-sized bagel cut in half does not count.
Related
Serious Eats Finds New York's Best Bagel
Recipe Request: Mini Bagels
Making Your Own Bagels
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
15 Comments:
you can get mini bagel at Fairway UWS and I think Pepperridge Farm brand sell them by the pack?
gargupie at 8:39AM on 10/07/09
I couldn't agree more. Einstein Bros. Bagels has easily accessible nutrition information where you can see that one of their plain bagels (without cream cheese, of course) has 260 calories. If you would like an Asiago cheese bagel, that will cost you 330 calories.
I long for the day when American restaurants will start to serve appropriately sized portions.
danwalk at 8:41AM on 10/07/09
There could be some science involved regarding the ratio of the size of the air pockets in the inner bagel to the total surface area of the bagel, probably has to be a ratio equal to pi or something like that ... some of the kids at MIT should look into it, they can devise a formula for complete bagel perfection.
redfish at 8:48AM on 10/07/09
@danwalk -- couldn't agree with you more. All aboard for the mini bagel revolution!
avaryne at 8:54AM on 10/07/09
i lost interest in bagels after they invented "cinnamon raisin" .... that's like having cinnamon raisin pizza, to me.
i'm a bialy fan.... kossars are the best ones these days.... as far as i know. used to be that the bagels and bialy's were made by private bakeries.... there used to be a huge bagel/bread factory in williamsburg that was open 24 hours a day.... years ago. now they knew how to make a bagel. pre-cinnamon raisin days. they didn't look like tires off an 18-wheeler.
pooch at 9:02AM on 10/07/09
Well, I mean, if bagels stayed the size they're supposed to be and places didn't turn them into giant puffy rolls with a hole in the middle, they wouldn't be so bad.
Also, anything that comes packaged in a grocery store IS NOT a bagel.
BrooklynBaker at 9:24AM on 10/07/09
if only we know self-control. We can eat just half a bagel, but again, it's self-control.
gargupie at 9:25AM on 10/07/09
i've seen them tricked out at russ & daughters. given yesterday's discussion of the half-hour life of optimal bageliciousness, where else can i get a fresh one? preferably with lox?
sloppydelicious at 10:33AM on 10/07/09
I don't know... some of those big bagels are a bit excessive, but if I eat a mini bagel for breakfast there is no way I am making it to lunch unless I eat a second one, too.
Though maybe I am just feeling grouchy because my last two meals have been on the small side and now I'm kind of hungry.
tangledgray at 12:02PM on 10/07/09
Some places still make normal-sized bagels, as in slightly bigger than an English muffin. They're in the 200 calorie range, which isn't bad, and still big enough to make a sandwich, unlike true mini-bagels.
For those who like the storebought ones (can't imagine there are many here, but who knows) I've noticed a few companies making smaller versions as well -- Dempsters makes 3-oz "toaster bagels" that cut about 80 calories off the regular size without changing the flavour/texture, and a diet version called BodyWise that tastes like sawdust.
piccola at 12:24PM on 10/07/09
Like Bagel Bites!!! I love bagel bites! toasted mini bagel pizzas. you can buy them in the frozen food section and they are delic! These are truly the perfect size bagels. Maybe they should just sell the mini bagel, w/o the pizza!!
ch58ch58 at 12:57PM on 10/07/09
I'm on board. I love mini bagels. I always feel full and guilty about 3/4 of the way in, when eating a regular sized bagel.
LHSK12 at 1:07PM on 10/07/09
bagelsmith in williamsburg has minis!! even whole wheat everything ones--a godsend!
laurbelle2 at 1:40PM on 10/07/09
Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company in Astoria has mini bagels and they are the perfect size and delicious.
xsushix at 4:12PM on 10/07/09
I'd sign a "Yay Mini Bagels" petition.
But seriously, Erin, you must truly be a petit fleur if it's hard for you to polish off a reular sized bagel!
Kerosena at 6:55PM on 10/07/09