Friday, November 11, 2011

Review: Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Fruit & Nut Bar

As if you couldn't tell already, I eat a lot of these granola and/or snack bars.  It's not just because of the blog either...I ate a lot of these varieties in my pre-blog days, but since I felt that other people might want to know what each bar tastes like or if it is any good, I started this blog.  Anyway, this leg of my granola/snack bar adventure was imparted on my by my mother who gave me a box of these Nature Valley Chew Trail Mix Fruit & Nut bars that she got in a 48 pack at Costco because she was not a big fan (I will go into why later).  Just because she's not a big fan doesn't mean that I wouldn't be a big fan and being that I love trail mix to begin with, let's see how this one turns out.



First the basics, this bar is 140 calories per bar and is made up of traditional granola, almonds, peanuts, honey, cranberries and raisins.  All things that I like on their own, so this is a good start when you combine them all together.  As for the texture of the bar, this picture does not do it justice because all the aforementioned components are quite large in the context of a rather small bar (think about five inches long and 1.5 inches wide).  What is interesting about this bar is that it is quite sticky on the outside (from the honey), so this is one of those foods where you really should pay attention to when it says to store in a cool, dry place on the packaging.  If you don't, you are basically going to have a bar superglued to your hand (you almost do anyway even when you do store it in cool, dry place since I keep mine in the refrigerator).

In terms of taste, this is delicious.  Raisins and dried cranberries seemingly last forever and their sweet flavor definitely does not fade in this bar.  The large almonds and large peanuts are also quite crunchy and when you contrast that crunchy and somewhat salty taste with the chewiness of the raisins and cranberries, it's a delightful mix.  What is odd about the bar, and is the reason that my mom didn't like it, is how sticky it actually is.  I don't mean just the exterior either.  Due to the inclusion of honey, the interior not surprisingly ends up sticking to your teeth as you chew through it.  It doesn't really bother me all that much, but it obviously bothers some people as she was more than willing to unload these as quickly as possible because of that.

Buy It or Fly By It?  Absolutely BUY IT.  These bars are delicious and when you mix the crunchiness and chewiness together with the sweet and salty flavors, you are hitting nearly every single taste profile that exists (where is the vaunted umami?!).  Nature Valley has a definite winner here and I would recommend this to anyone.  Just remember to store it in a cool, dry place though!  :)

BUY IT!!

2 comments:

  1. The new packaging of my fave trail mix bar unfortunately brought with it a new taste...not as great as the bar that I loved so much. The new taste is sweeter and the nuts seem smaller. I think the honey was increased. Please Nature Valley bring back the former taste we loved so well!

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  2. It's the single most expensive granola bar on the market, thanks to the $1645 dental bill required to repair the crown that broke off when I bit into the so-called "chewy" snack. It is not as chewy as the Quaker bars that I have eaten for many years. If you have a crown on any of your teeth, you should have second thoughts about biting into a Nature Valley "chewy" trail mix bar.

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