Saturday, December 14, 2013

REVIEW: Nature Valley Apple Crisp Crunchy Granola Bars

On my latest search for some Nature Valley reviewing material, I wanted to review something new, but when that yielded fruitless results, I decided to try taste-testing a product that wasn't new per se, but a little more obscure. Like, EVERYONE'S had Nature Valley's Oats n' Honey granola bars, but what about their Apple Crisp variety? Nope, I hadn't had it either, until I picked a box up from the store to try. I quite like the sound of Apple Crisp- sooooo desserty -so I was pretty excited to try these out.
An 8.9 oz. box containing six 1.5 oz. bars costs around $3.24.

A 42g two bar serving contains 160 calories, 50 of them being form fat, 6g of total fat, 0.5g of saturated fat, 0g of trans fat, 0mg of cholesterol, 140mg of sodium, 26g of total carbohydrates, 2g of dietary fiber, 11g of sugar, and 3g of protein.

Nature Valley's crunchy granola bars are notorious for being rather brittle, so I wasn't surprised when I dumped a little pile of oats that had broken off from the two bars out of the recently-opened wrapper. The bars had a sweet, apple-y aroma, and the oats were packed in pretty nice n' tight to make fairly dense, flat bars.
I wasn't sure of just how close to apple cobbler these bars would taste like- I mean, they could've tasted like apples, they could've tasted like cinnamon -but could they really taste like apple cobbler? I am pleased to answer that question with a resounding YES. These bars had a warm and baked flavor, incredibly reminiscent of fresh apple crisp right out of the oven (Except these weren't HOT like they just came right out of the oven, of course). The flavors of both apple and cinnamon were very clear, even underneath the oatmeal-like, sweet "crisp" part of the equation that the granola mixture contributes. I was really surprised by the apple flavor- it was like I was eating sweet apple filling- only these bars were dry and not at all like cooked apples in texture. There was even an abundant amount of sweet brown sugariness to the taste- I could see countless little specks of deep-brown sugar ingrained into the bars. Anyway, to restate, I was very impressed by the taste. Nature Valley got the taste of apple crisp down to a "T" in these things.
As for texture, these bars weren't any different than Nature Valley's OTHER crunchy granola bars. If you've had them you know what I mean. Basically, these bars are very hard and very crunchy. That makes it hard to bite off just a little piece at a time. These bars are also fairly crumbly, dense, and dry. I don't mind the texture of these things, I just don't like it when all these stray oats fall out of the package or off the bars and get onto everything. But that's a minor complaint, really.
I very much enjoyed Nature Valley's Apple Crisp Granola Bars and was totally satisfied with the taste by the time I had finished my pack up. They were sweet, warm, and tasted baked- just like how actual apple crisp should. VERY impressed with the taste, especially for just an average commericial snack bar brand. I would certainly buy these granola bars again!
I give Nature Valley's Apple Crisp Crunchy Granola Bars an 8.5/10.
What flavors of Nature Valley's Crunchy Granola Bars are YOUR favorite? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!
Till' then, this has been RiRi ri-porting!

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