Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Review: SOYJOY Strawberry Baked Soy & Fruit Bar


In my first SOYJOY product review of the blueberry bar, I admitted that I went in to the review terrified because I had no idea how it would turn out.  The fact that I was eating a soy bar and a baked one at that, kind of made me skeptical of how everything would turn out.  Once I finished though, I was pleasantly surprised and actually enjoyed the bar.  So with that, I head into this second review without any trepidation and actually, I've built up some expectations for this Strawberry flavored bar (good ones) that I'm hoping can be met.  Quite a change, eh?  Anyway, I picked this one up at Meijer for $1.00 and it is 1.05 ounces with 130 calories and four grams of protein.



Being that this is a baked bar and also that I've eaten one of these before, I was not surprised by the "crusty" exterior of this bar.  By crusty (and consequently baked), you could say that this had an exterior texture similar to that of your garden variety pie that you pull out of the oven.  Not as flaky, but definitely as light as a pie crust.  The rest of the bar was interspersed with a plethora of mix-ins and when you look at the ingredient list of this bar, it really is surprising that they cram so many ingredients into such a small package.  Noticeably sized ingredients included raisins, strawberries, raisins, cranberries and coconuts.  According to the packaging, there was also pineapple in there, but it was one of the few things that I couldn't visually see.  As for the mix-in ingredients themselves, the berries were the most noticeably sized (read:  largest) in the grand scheme of things.

After my first bite the baked component carried through as well as this bar had a soft crunch as you chewed through it, again, much like a pie crust.  The strawberry flavor definitely brought a noticeable sweetness, which was aided also by the sweetness of the raisins in the mix.  The cranberries also brought some sweetness, but with an added element of tang at the very end.  All in all, this was a good tasting bar as the "baked" component brought a flat taste that mixed well with the sweet taste of all the mix-ins.  One complaint I do have that this bar was a bit more dry than I would have liked.  I understand that a "baked" product would tend to be more dry, but when you tagline on your packaging is "Moister and Fruitier", I don't think it's completely out of line to expect a decent amount of moistness.  This bar did not have that.  It wasn't completely dry, but it could have been better.

Buy It or Fly By It?  Minimal complaint aside, I have to give this bar a BUY IT rating.  It's not awesome and it's also not horrible.  What this bar really excels at is being a nice change of pace from the candy-like or granola-type snack bars that are so prevalent in the snack bar market.  If you are looking for something that is a change of pace and is also quite a low calorie treat in the grand scheme of things, this is not a bad option.  Compared to the blueberry flavor version though, I would choose blueberry before I chose this.

BUY IT!!

6 comments:

  1. Interesting to hear that you liked them because i have heard horrible things about this line! I'll try and pick one up now!

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  2. What!!!
    I've had SoyJoy a few times in my life, and each time I was severely disappointed by the taste (or lack thereof) and unpleasant, difficult-to-chew texture. I normally love weird health food, but I couldn't even enjoy the "healthy" aspect of the SoyJoy bar while forcing myself to ingest it :(

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  3. This sounds interesting..cant imagine what it would be like!

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  4. bleeech, i actually hate soy joy bars. i tried them a couple of years ago, but perhaps they have changed their formula after everyone wrote about how inedible they were. here's hoping!

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    Replies
    1. I do think they may have changed the recipe because I remember having this bar a couple years ago and being absolutely repulsed by it. Obviously I felt differently this time. Not sure if that is a result of the recipe or of my tastes changing.

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  5. I love these. You might need to try a couple. They don't have the aftertaste that, to me, nearly every other bar has.

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