Review: Larabar Coconut Pineapple Cake Bar

In my last Larabar review, I mentioned how delighted I was to see their products make a return to the blog after nearly a year's absence.  Today is the second part of the two bars that I picked up in that shopping trip at Kroger as I picked up this Larabar Coconut Pineapple Cake Bar for $1.00.  The bar itself comes in at 1.6 ounces and has 190 calories with a tiny two grams of protein.  If you are a big fan of health or at least attempts at health, this bar is also dairy free, gluten free, soy free and vegan.

It's pretty much a standard Larabar, as usual (isn't that redundant?).  Soft bar made of a date puree with mix-ins.  In the case of this bar, the mix-ins are the named shards of coconut and also some dried pineapple pieces.  Those pineapple pieces also carried a strong scent of pineapple straight out of the wrapper.  The other mix-ins cover the obligatory nut portion of the bar, which includes almonds and cashews.  I'll leave the rest to Larabar again because their description is kind of fun:  "Who can resist the sweet zing of pineapple topped with crunchy flakes of coconut? This LÄRABAR treat packs all the goodness of a layer cake into a convenient form for life on the go! Dense and moist with a tropical twist, Coconut Pineapple Cake mimics the sunshine of spring - all the while being gluten free, dairy free, soy free, vegan, and non-GMO."

Biting into this, I was met with the obligatory chewy bar with the graininess of the nut inclusion.  What I didn't get in this bar that I did get in the last limited edition cake bar was a texture that reminded me of a cake.  This one was softer than a typical Larabar, but not as soft as the Strawberry Shortcake bar that I had.  Texture aside, the flavor was semi-interesting.  At the front of each bite was the coconut flavor and while it was noticeable and permeated quite well, it was not potent.  After a bit of chewing, I was then met with the pineapple flavor and it's sweet tang and that flavor lingered for a bit.  This process repeated with each successive bite.  So, while I'm not sure how this was emulating the cake, it did provide the flavors of coconut and pineapple.

Buy It or Fly By It?  Despite the fact that this seems to be another attempt by Larabar to put a cute name on a product when it really doesn't taste like that product at all, it was still a tasty enough bar for me to give it a BUY IT rating.  It was a bizarre taste that I found oddly appealing because I enjoy coconut and pineapple flavor...actually, I never thought I'd say that...those are two flavors that I HATED for years.  Now, I enjoy them.  Forget about the flavor being bizarre, I'm bizarre.  Anyway, back to the review...if you enjoy coconut and/or pineapple, give this one a try.  If either of those are objectionable to you, I'd definitely stay away.

BUY IT!!