Sometimes, you just have to eat a granola bar. Maybe you want a rib-eye steak, but you're stuck on a wildernessy trail or just at your cubicle, and the rectangular snack is all you got.
There was a day when the Quaker Chewys were the leader of the pack. But the granola bar aisle has come a long way, expanding into bars with flax seed, exotic dried fruits (exotic as in, beyond just raisins), and pumpkin seeds (when it's not even October!).
We decided to open up the tasting to snack bars too-the kind that float somewhere in between granola bars and energy bars (but don't contain maltodextrin and other polysyllabic, scary-sounding protein supplements). We tried about 20 bars, in search of the most satisfying ones that didn't just taste like candy. No offense, candy, but this isn't your taste test. Here are the winners of the ones we tried, and notes on each:
THE WINNERS
Kashi TLC Trail Mix
Nature Valley Trail Mix
18 Rabbits
Kashi's Crunchy Pumpkin Spice Flax
Cascadian Farm Crunchy Harvest Spice
KIND Bars
Glenny's Fruit & Nut Energy Bars
BEST CHEWY
Kashi TLC Trail Mix: Though it's a "chewy" not a "crunchy," this one has a great crunch from all the whole almonds and sunflower seeds (but won't break your teeth). "It feels wholesome and pure...I like! Would eat!" said tasters. The sweetness comes from the dried cranberries and honey, so it's sweet in a Mother Naturey way. Great on-the-go snack that won't make you feel like you're eating a candy bar.
Nature Valley Trail Mix: "Nature" and "valley" can make you think, oh, this has to be good for me, but sometimes granola bars can be more like cookies than healthypersonfood. The Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey bars (that come two in a green wrapper-c'mon, you've had a few) is a perfect example, but their Trail Mix bar is a little less cookie-like. It's still pretty sweet-sweeter than the Kashi TLC Trail Mix bar we just mentioned. Part of that comes from the raisins and cranberries, the other part from the high maltose corn syrup. We appreciated the whole almonds and peanut flecks.
18 Rabbits: This San Francisco-based granola company got its name from all the rabbits that started multiplying like, well, rabbits, when the founder Alison Bailey Vercruysse was inside eating her mom's fresh granola. Poor Blackjack was left outside, so he got bored and busy. Or so the story goes. But back to the bars! They come in six flavors-Funky Figs and Cherries was our favorite, and the Belle Bananas Foster bar gets points for not having that fake-banana Runts taste. 18 Rabbits sources ingredients from farmers so the almonds come from Vista Farms in Central Joaquin Valley of California, and the dates from Desert Valley Date in Coachella, California. They're wheat-free, dairy-free, and sweetened with non-HFCS things like maple syrup and honey. It's also nice knowing that an actual person made these, not a big rectangle-forming machine in a factory.
BEST CRUNCHY
Kashi's Crunchy Pumpkin Spice Flax: Now this is what a crunchy granola bar should look like. And crunch like! Ka-runch. They come two bars to a package (pretty typical for crunchy bars). It's always kind of a thrill to consume pumpkin products outside of the autumnal months, and surprisingly, these actually taste like pumpkin. Nice pumpkin seed and flax seed bits in there too.
Cascadian Farm Crunchy Harvest Spice: "Too nutmeggy."..."Yum, cinnamon!" Tasters were split on the "harvest spice" levels in here. Some were all about it, others were a little overwhelmed. But we all agreed it had great crunch.
BEST FRUIT AND NUT BARS
KIND Bars: It's exciting to be able to pronounce (and see!) the ingredients listed on the back: nuts, dried fruit, honey, and in some cases coconut flakes. Disclaimer: they will stay wedged in your teeth for hours. Because of all those nuts-almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, and peanuts, depending on the flavor-each bar is higher in fat than the Kashis and Nature Valleys of the world, but it's happy fat! The unsaturated kind. All the sweetness comes from the dried fruit: the dates (in the Date and Walnut) and the apricots (in the Almond and Apricot). They're tasty and-oftentimes just as important when it comes to bars-filling. Even if you're not a "bar person" you might like these.
Glenny's Fruit & Nut Energy Bars: Like the KIND Bar, the Glenny's bars are low on filler and high on fruits and nuts (a.k.a. the good stuff). The only real in-between goo is honey (the third ingredient listed) which gives it a nice stretchy, but not sticky, quality.
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