The Genius Way to Upgrade a Fan-Favorite Trader Joe's Freezer Section Find

Trader Joe's has a huge and very enthusiastic fan following. Shoppers head to the nautically themed grocery store every week in search of fun snacks, creative condiments, easy dinner shortcuts and sometimes to pick up a viral shopping bag.

One of the TJ's sections fans keep a close eye on is the freezer section. That's where you can find cool (pun intended) stuff like the viral kimbap and Brownie Crisp Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches. The freezer case is also the go-to spot for longtime fan favorites, like the Taiwanese Green Onion Pancakes, which social media fans love to wax poetic about. Folks eat them as a side dish, a snack and many folks like to use them as you would a tortilla to make a breakfast wrap with scrambled eggs and your favorite fillings.

But one TikTok video we saw recently has us rethinking what we thought we knew about these savory pancakes. Vegan Hacks Pod (@veganhackspod) decided to go in a different breakfast direction with Trader Joe’s Taiwanese Green Onion Pancakes and we love this idea!

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How to Turn a Trader Joe's Green Onion Pancake Into a Bagel

This creator turned the pancakes into a bagel! To start, they flattened a pancake by rolling it out on a cutting board. Next, they rolled the pancake up the long way, then twisted the rolled-up pancake into a bagel shape, squeezing the end together to create a ring (or a torus for you math aficionados).

Once the bagel was shaped, they brushed it with water and rolled it in sesame seeds. Next up? The air fryer. They baked it at a low temperature for about 10 minutes, then bumped the temp to 350° and cooked it for another five minutes.

The bagel looked great, but once they cut into it it still looked a little underdone, so it went back into the air fryer for about four more minutes to toast it up. They topped the bagel with vegan cream cheese, lao gan ma (a brand of chili crunch) and tomatoes to make a quick bagel sandwich.

It tasted like "a bagel crust-wise, but there was also the scallion pancake flavor shining through," they said. That sounds incredible! In a more recent video, they tried boiling the bagel before air frying it, as a few commenters suggested. The reported that the crust of the bagel was better, so keep that in mind if you want to give this fun recipe a try.

We love the creativity and are excited to give this a try. Bonus points for it being a delicious vegan option, which means that more people can enjoy this fun Trader Joe's upgrade.

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