Just as the Cronut fad seems to be fading, Jack In the Box has jumped on the bandwagon to offer their version of the pastry.

The Cronut was originally created by pastry chef Dominique Ansel in 2013 for the Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City.  The name Cronut is trademarked, thus Jack In The Box’s decision to use the innocuous, descriptive name Croissant Donuts.

The Jack In The Box website describes their Croissant Donuts as, “The perfect hybrid of two delicious sweet treats – croissants and donuts; this pastry is a donut made with buttery croissant dough rolled in cinnamon sugar to create a decadent pastry treat.”

Perfect? They are most definitely not.

The outside of the pastry is chewy and tough.  The inside has a nice, soft texture but the overriding flavor is that of artificial butter.  If you’ve ever had real butter before, you’ll notice something fishy.  Also note that these Croissant Donuts are much smaller than you’d probably assume from ads.  They’re just a little bigger than a golf ball.

In short, thumbs down to the Croissant Donuts from Jack In the Box.

Since I’m giving the Croissant Donut a pretty hard time, I thought I’d mention two new items from Jack In the Box that are actually pretty good.

The Meat Lovers Breakfast Burrito from Jack In The Box is a straight-up loaded breakfast burrito with the right amount of everything so you taste each element:  bacon, sausage, ham, eggs, cheese and salsa.  It’s satisfying and filling.  There’s nothing new or fancy.  It’s just some of the best flavors of breakfast wrapped together.

The Grande Sausage Breakfast Burrito from Jack In The Box is unique due to a combination of Cheddar cheese sauce and a creamy Sriracha sauce.  The flavorful sauces are apparent in every bite of the burrito which contains sausage patty pieces, scrambled eggs, hash brown nuggets and bacon crumbles.  I didn’t notice the bacon.  But that was okay with me since I bought the burrito as a self-proclaimed ode to sausage.

To sum up… I didn’t “go nuts” for the “cronuts” – but the burritos were neato.

In this post, I’m recreating Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal from Jack In The Box. They charged me $2.49 per serving at the restaurant.  I calculate the price to make it at home to be about $0.60 per serving.  Their version tastes good.  I’m fairly confident that my version tastes better.

When you order this oatmeal from Jack In The Box, the first thing you’ll notice is that it’s not so much a serving of oatmeal as it is an oatmeal kit.

When you open the bowl of oats, you might be dismayed to find that it’s barely half full.  It may also be disheartening to discover their “blueberry blend” is a combination of blueberries and raisins.

When you assemble the oatmeal, the result is visually pleasing and the taste is actually quite nice. The flavor is vaguely reminiscent of a blueberry muffin. All in all, I liked their oatmeal, but there wasn’t much of it and it left me wanting more.

I analyzed the Jack In The Box components in preparation for my recreation (aka improvement).  The oats were unflavored except for sweetener.  They appeared to be quick-cooking oats (compared to larger Old Fashioned oats).  Due to their tiny size, the “blueberries” softened quickly and added a decent amount of flavor.  However, more blueberry flavor would have been preferable.  The crumble topping was the major component of distinction.  It added a welcome crunch and tasted a bit like crumbled oatmeal cookie.

Before I show you the wholesome homemade version, get a load of the ingredients in the fast food version:

Jack In The Box Oatmeal: Water, Whole Grain Rolled Oats and Sugar. Contains
2% or less of: Coconut Oil, Salt, Modified Food Starch, Mono and Diglycerides, Tricalcium Phosphate, Soybean Oil, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caramel Color.

The Blueberry Blend: Dried Blueberries (Wild Blueberries, Sugar, Sunflower Oil) and Zante Currant Raisins (Raisins, Sunflower Oil).

The Crumble Topping: Brown Sugar, Oats, Butter (Cream, Salt), Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Natural Flavor, Salt, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Cornstarch, Monocalcium Phosphate).

For my version, I opted for all blueberries. (Whoever heard of raisins in a blueberry muffin?) I also thought I’d be best to leave out any ingredients ending with “glycerides” or “phosphate”.  I created a crumble topping specifically for this oatmeal, but a quality granola works almost as well. Since store-bought dried blueberries are bigger than those in the fast food packet, I decided to stir them into the oats early in the recipe so they would have a better chance to re-hydrate.

Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal Recipe

• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 and 2/3 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt,
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup dried blueberries
• milk – for consistency

In a medium saucepan, bring the water, oats and salt to a boil.  As soon as it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer.  Stir in all remaining ingredients and let simmer (stirring occasionally) for 3 or 4 minutes or until dried blueberries have softened.  Stir in milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until you get the perfect consistency.

Top with crushed granola or try this recipe for a crumble topping made specifically for oatmeal.

Makes 4 servings.

Now that we’ve successfully recreated the oatmeal, let’s make it even better.  Throw a handful of fresh blueberries on top for Double Berry Deluxe Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal.

For 155 other homemade oatmeal ideas, visit the Oatmeal Recipes section of MrBreakfast.com:

Taco Bell recently started testing a new breakfast product in 3 select outlets in California… The Waffle Taco.  I haven’t been able to try their version myself, but I’ve been fascinated by the product ever since I saw a photo circulating around the internet.  Unable to get my hands on the real deal, I decided to try making it at home.

Above, you can see the version I made.  Below, you can see Taco Bell’s version.

My advice on making homemade Waffle Tacos is this… don’t do it.  It’s a huge pain in the butt.  For home use, the Pancake Taco is much easier to make and just as tasty.

It sounds extraordinary easy:  Make a waffle, fry some sausage, scramble some eggs and throw it all together.  Not so fast.

The first problem was that my waffles kept breaking. (You can see the Waffle Taco Test Kitchen above.)  My first inclination was to use square waffles, but those weren’t big enough to hold the fillings.  Next, I went with a round waffle.  In the end, they worked pretty well.   The serving size was way too big, but I wasn’t complaining about that when I was eating it.  I solved the breaking waffle problem by using a spatula handle to help curve the waffle and ease the rip-pressure on the natural seam of the waffle.  Again, I’ll stress that pancakes are much better to work with.  They fold easily and you have absolute control over their size.

The next hurdle was the sausage.  To make it like Taco Bell does, the sausage patty had to be large, thin and flexible.  The thing with sausage is that it shrinks in the pan.  Make your patty about 50% larger than you think you’ll need and you should be alright.

The final obstacle was getting my Waffle Taco to stand up straight for photographs.  I tried making a homemade taco rack out of a wire hanger.  No go.  Waffle Tacos have more weight and girth than traditional tacos.  I finally settled on using part of an egg carton to support my creation.  And I eventually realized – as everyone will – the best holder for a Waffle Taco is the human hand.

Now that you know the road ahead, here’s directions to make your own Waffle Tacos:

1) Fry a large, thin sausage patty until browned and thoroughly cooked through.

2) Make some waffles. (I used a recipe for Quick and Crispy Waffles that I’ve had success with.)

3)  Scramble some eggs.  I used 2 eggs for each Waffle Taco.  (For tips on scrambling, here’s my go-to method.)

4) Place the sausage in the waffle, fold and top with scrambled eggs.

5) Drizzle with real maple syrup and dig in.

Now that you know how to make Waffle Tacos, forget everything you just read.  Pancake Tacos are so much easier.  Trust me.

Incidentally, Taco Bell’s official Waffle Taco is selling for only 89 cents.  Here’s hoping that it goes nationwide soon.

The ad showing Del Taco’s new breakfast burrito being hauled by a forklift is pretty spot-on.  The new Grande Scrambler is heavy.  When the Del Taco drive-thru kid handed me a bag of two, I almost dropped them.  I was expecting the weight of a couple cheeseburgers, not the heaviness of a honeydew melon.

A Grande Scrambler consists of eggs, shredded Cheddar cheese, hash brown sticks, pico de gallo salsa and your choice of sausage or bacon, all wrapped in a flour tortilla.

The Sausage Grande Scrambler In Reality

The Bacon Grande Scrambler In Reality

This is no breakfast for the diet-conscience. The bacon variety has 1130 calories and the sausage variety has 1100 calories.

Of the two kinds, I much preferred the sausage burrito.  The sausage had a decent, mildly-spicy flavor that paired well with the pico de gallo salsa.  The bacon burrito was somehow too rich.  It’s not bacon, per say, but rather bacon bits.  In my burrito, the bacon bits were clumped together and it looked more like ground beef. I love bacon… but if you grind it up and serve it in its most concentrated form, it’s just too much.

At $3.49 per burrito, you get your money’s worth.  Unfortunately, that’s not such a great thing. The Grande Scrambler is so big that you might get disgusted with it before you’re done.  By the end, you start to take more notice of the drawbacks like the concentrated bacon and a slight sponginess to the sausage.  If you’re like me, you’ll also feel fat and wish you’d stopped after the first 1/3.

The best part of the Grande Scrambler is actually the pico de gallo salsa.  It tastes garden fresh and adds a brightness to the heavier flavors.

And now for the report card…

Sausage Grande Scrambler:  B

Bacon Grande Scrambler: C-

See you later.  I’m leaving now to take my big burrito butt to the gym.

According to the company’s director of menu marketing and promotions, Tracy Dunn, “Jack in the Box is combining three popular breakfast choices – waffles, egg and our new country-grilled sausage – to create a distinctive, craveable sandwich that is easy to eat on the go. Our new Breakfast Waffle Sandwich is the perfect balance of sweet and savory.”

Visit jackinthebox.com for more details.

Important Update: I just tried the new Breakfast Waffle Sandwich.

Something about that promotional picture haunted me all afternoon.  I couldn’t shake the craving.  Luckily, Jack In The Box serves breakfast all day long.  Breakfast for dinner, baby!

My verdict:

It was alright.  It was a little smaller than the promo picture and placards in the store might have you believe.  I’m not a pig, but I was expecting more of a deluxe-sized sandwich, especially based on the $2.79 per sandwich price tag.

I liked it better than the McGriddle (the competing sandwich from McDonalds that uses maple “griddle cakes” for the bread).  The maple flavor in the waffle sandwich tasted more authentic.  All in all, it was decent sandwich.  Don’t let that first picture get your hopes up too high.