The Latest and Greatest Baked Granola Bars
Honest Food baked whole food bar/Photo: Honest-Foods.com
It turns out that Ms. Shaw is a quadruple threat -- in addition to being a talented singer, dancer and actress, she's a smart enough marketer to track me down and send me a few bars to try. Which were absolutely delicious, at least the one I was able to grab away from my husband, who ate one and snuck off with a second before I could catch him.
This excitement over granola bars made me examine whether we were in a granola bar rut. The Honest Foods bars were such a hit that I decided it was time for a new round of completely unscientific taste test of baked granola bars:
- Honest Foods Apple Ginger -- soft, chewy, a little spice from the ginger, a little tart sweetness from the apple. Good size, satisfying. Seemed more like an oatmeal spice cookie treat than a granola bar. Delicious enough to steal (or hide) from my husband.
- Bear Naked Baked Tropical Fruit Grain-ola -- they were sending out free samples, so I got to try the Tropical Fruit flavor. Since my husband was already involved, I split it with him. We liked the fun, sweet flavors -- mango and coconut -- but it was a little sticky and falling apart. Kid caution: you will need wet wipes after this snack, and car windows will be smeared!
- Kashi TLC Cereal Bars Baked Apple Spice -- For a mainstream "find them in the grocery store" brand, I had relatively low expectations, but Kashi TLC® (Tasty Little Cereal Bars) are pretty good. They're baked, and at 110 calories each, they have about half the calories of the Honest Foods and Bear Naked. It's not a whole food bar, but they do use whole and organic grains. My sister lives on these Kashi bars, so I grabbed one at her house, and was pleasantly surprised. The taste was pretty good, not too processed, and not too sweet. Also not too memorable, but still a better snack that a handful of Oreos!
- Luna Bar Cookie -- I have to give Clif Bar & Company props for calling this snack what it is: a cookie. One that is 95% organic, has whole grains and ingredients, just 130 calories, and is available at Walgreens. Soft, chewy, indulgent flavors, I go back again and again for the chocolate peppermint one and make believe it's for the flax.
Bottom line? We've come a long way since the days of hard, crunchy granola bars that cut up the inside of your mouth and tasted like stale sand. These days you can find tasty, whole food goodness, in loads of flavors. Sure, they're treats, not health food, but ones you can feel good about eating yourself, or giving to your kids.
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