Granola, cereal, magic cookie, pumpkin, lemon, Lara, Luna … if something is in a bar-like form, someone in my family will eat it.
Personally, I’m a fan of the convenience factor of wrapped, packaged bars: you throw one in your purse or diaper bag and you’re good to go. But they may not always be the healthiest option. While I’m not one of those strict “no processed foods” kind of people, I’ve tried over the past year to be more aware of what I’m buying when I go grocery shopping: reading labels more carefully and avoiding overly processed items or food products listing “high fructose corn syrup” as the No. 2 ingredient.
That’s why I was excited to try these B-Amazing! baked whole food vegetable and fruit snack bars. I’m always looking to sneak extra fruits and vegetables into all our diets (especially the kiddos), so these were definitely intriguing.
B-Amazing! snack bars are made with “real” ingredients, starting first with pureed root vegetables, like sweet potatoes and squash. Then they add the fruit (think lemons and apricot and apples and cranberries), and finally, the finishing touches: organic whole grains, nuts and seeds. So not only are they chock full of fresh fruits and veggies, but there’s also no high fructose corn syrup or refined white sugar. And they’re vegan, too.
The snack bars come in four different flavors and I ended up having two of the bars for breakfast this week: the apple coconut and apricot quinoa varieties. The first thing I noticed was that you can actually see the fruit and vegetables in the bar. I mean, the apple coconut bar had theses massive coconut flakes and the apricot quinoa has slivered almonds, chewy pieces of fig and chunks of apricots.
There were definitely some other things that really surprised me as well. First, they were more moist and chewy than I expected, considering they are a packaged food (and I hate the word “moist,” so the fact that I’m using it here is a really big deal). Also, they kept me full until lunchtime, which I guess it makes sense: the bars average about 200 calories, 5-6g of protein and 4-5 g of fiber each – enough to definitely get me through to noontime.
I also didn’t think I’d love the apricot quinoa flavor as much as I did! I’m not really an apricot fan, but these were so good, and the apricot/fig/nut combination worked really well. I still can’t believe I actually preferred it to the apple coconut!
For the other two bars (lemon cranberry and cinnamon raisin), I decided to recruit my assistant, Buddy. I was really curious about what he’d think of these because I’d much rather pack one of these bars for his snack instead of a bag of Goldfish crackers. He was a little skeptical at first (as he always is with new foods) and had to thoroughly inspect the bar, because it does contain a number of very visible different ingredients – something that always freaks him out a little. But he really seemed to enjoy his half of both the lemon and cinnamon bars (we split them). In fact, he said he liked the lemon cranberry bar best – a surprising choice, considering he generally likes lemon as much as I like apricot.
Unfortunately, because these snack bars contain nuts, they can’t go to school with either Buddy or Mimi, but these would be great for soccer games, road trips, you name it. I’m actually thinking of stashing a few in our car when we head down to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving in a few weeks. We tend to eat fast food on the way (ugh), so if I give him another Lemon Cranberry snack bar to munch on, at least I know he’s getting some fruits and veggies.
My final take?
- I thought the flavors rocked. They were all very tasty and packed a lot of punch in such a small bar.
- Big fan of the all-natural, whole ingredients.
- Of all the flavors, apricot quinoa was definitely my favorite.
- Overall nutrition seems good, although the sugar levels are slightly higher than I’d normally like. But I’m guessing that’s because of the fruit, not because of any added refined sugar.
Right now, B-Amazing! bars are only sold in select stores across the United States and in the Caribbean, but none in Massachusetts (tear); click here for locations. But thankfully, they can be purchased online, either individually or in a 12-pack. Although they are on the pricier end ($2.76/bar), it is pretty comparable to the price of similar bars found at Whole Foods and other health food stores.
I’m so excited to have the opportunity to share these yummy treats with you! Thanks to B-Amazing!, I am giving away a four-pack of snack bars in the same flavors I tried (Apple Coconut, Lemon Cranberry, Apricot Quinoa and Cinnamon Raisin) to one Keeping Mommy Sane fan. Don’t miss out on this one! Open to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends at 12:01 a.m. on November 18.
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Although I was provided these products for review, the text and opinions are all mine.
Mandy Clark says
The lemon cranberry bars sounds amazing!
Christine @random runner ramblings says
They all sound amazing and made me hungry just thinking about them!
PragmaticMom says
Lemon cranberry.
Ttrockwood says
The apricot quinoa sounds great!!
Kelly M says
Apple coconut sounds yummy
Billie Jean says
Quinoa Apricot!
Brittany @ Barr & Table says
I’d love to try the Cinnamon Raisin or the Apple Coconut!
Heather says
These bars sound really interesting! What awesome flavors!!
Laurel C says
Definitely apricot quinoa!!!