Review: Zone Perfect Salted Caramel Brownie Nutrition Bar

I'll admit that I don't pay much attention to the Zone Perfect bars when I'm in the store.  Perhaps I've got it stuck in my head that I've exhausted all their flavors in reviews or I'm just bored by them...I'm not sure, although I'm guessing it's more of the former than the latter.  Anyway, I was prompted to take a look at them again recently when I was given a Free Friday Download digital coupon from Kroger and when I did look, I found this Zone Perfect Salted Caramel Brownie Nutrition Bar, which is one that I've never looked at before (or noticed).  This comes in at 1.58 ounces and has 200 calories with eleven grams of protein.

I was going to describe this on my own, but Zone Perfect's description on the website was just too good to pass up (or plagiarize):  "This protein-packed bar features a brownie base that’s bursting with chocolately goodness. And if that wasn’t enough, we’ve topped it all with pieces of pecan, layered on some salted caramel, and drizzled dark chocolate over it all. Nutrition never tasted so good."  I can confirm that while that description is a little poetic, it is accurate.  I will also say that the brownie base was much more soft than I would have ever expected.  It was kind of like a stale brownie...a bit hard, but still some give to it.  I was actually expecting something rock hard, so this was a very pleasant surprise that made this seem more appetizing to me from an observational perspective.

As I bit into this, I think that my stale brownie analogy held true.  It was soft enough to have brownie texture, but tough enough that it seemed stale as I chewed through it.  Still, any softness whatsoever was a bonus to me, so I was a fan of that.  After that, my next observation was the dark chocolate flavor in this was surprisingly sweet and decadent.  Frankly, I didn't even realize it was dark chocolate at all.  The caramel coating on top added to that sweetness and richness and this was so sweet, it was almost teeth chattering.  Personally, I like that at times and this was one of those times.  The remaining chocolate drizzle on top (there was some on the bottom too) just added to that richness.  Basically, there was a lot of chocolate and richness here.  One thing that wasn't overly noticeable with the exception of bringing additional sweetness was the caramel flavor as it just kind of got lost in the crowd of the chocolate.  Finally, the tiny little bits of pecan spread through didn't add a ton of flavor, but they did add a fun nutty crunch to each bite when I encountered them.  It was nice and definitely similar to a nutty brownie.

Buy It or Fly By It?  I felt this was absolutely delicious and after eating it, I was kind of upset with myself for not noticing this flavor for so long because it was that good.  If you are a fan of decadence and richness in your chocolate, this is right up your alley.  It certainly was up mine and that's why I eagerly give this a BUY IT rating.  Don't ignore this one like I did.

BUY IT!!