Outside of CLIF products, I don't think I've been harder on a particular product manufacturer than I have in my Kashi reviews. Most everything I tried was downright horrible and I was quite upset to be eating it. That said, being the sucker for free samples that I am, I went ahead and decided to try out this Kashi Chocolate Soft-Baked Square and see if this what I consider to be a dessert product was similar to their "nutrition" products that I so genuinely despised. Like I said, this was a free sample of a new product and it comes in at 1.4 ounces with 160 calories.
Since I got this as a single serving free sample, I wasn't sure what to expect based on what I saw on the packaging. I knew it would be soft baked, square and chocolate, but I knew nothing else. Would it be a cookie, brownie or something else? Well, as you can see in the picture, it was definitely a square brownie and it was definitely soft and pliable like a well made brownie (crusty brownies are for losers in my book). It was a bit dry (I prefer my brownies very wet/moist), but that would be okay if the flavor was there. As for the rest of the brownie, there were no add-ins like chocolate chips or anything like that and while the brownie did smell of it's chocolate flavor, it was nothing to write home about.
After my first bite, I was a bit put off by the dryness of this brownie. It wasn't desert-like dry, but it was almost flaky as I chewed it and it just kind of sat in my mouth until I had some sort of fluid to watch it down. Outside of its dryness, the flavor wasn't really that bad. It was serviceable and had a nice chocolate flavor. The softness of the brownie was also quite nice, despite the fact that it was dry. All in all, it wasn't a bad product as the chocolate carried the day (as it should), but it just wasn't all that spectacular.
Buy It or Fly By It? Despite the fact that I found this to be particularly average, I'll give it a BUY IT rating just because it wasn't that bad. It did a decent job emulating a brownie and for something pre-packaged that you could grab in a pinch, this works. Slow and steady wins the race according to the tortoise and I think that's what the case is with this square. Not great, but it delivers in a pinch when you need it to. Just don't ever count on it being the star.
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| BUY IT!! |
They don't market it as a brownie so you comparing it to one isn't fair. Just because it is a square and made of chocolate does not make it a brownie.
ReplyDeleteIf it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
ReplyDeleteWhat is a "Soft-baked Square" supposed to be anyway? They should market it as something that makes sense and it looks more like a brownie to me than any other baked good.
LOL, love the duck analogy. Could not have said it better.
DeleteKashi isnt "chips ahoy" or "nestle chocolate morsels"; they simply try to be innovative and produce products that people will want to eat, but are more on the diet side and with lots of fiber. Duh there arent going to be chocolate chips and its not going to taste like a brownie. I challenge you to actually look at the nutrition facts for the kashi chocolate square and a little debbie brownie, and see which is healthier for you. Be fair would you, its not a horrible taste of chocolate or overall flavor for nearly 10 grams of fiber and minimal sugar!
ReplyDelete