Thursday, August 2, 2012

Review: Larabar Apple Pie Food Bar


This is an emotional review for me.  A while back, I went on a major Larabar expedition and bought several of their flavors, all of which you've seen reviewed on this blog.  So my quest leads me to the final bar of that purchasing splurge, the Larabar Apple Pie Food Bar flavored fruit and nut food bar.  I picked this one up at Meijer for $1.09 and it is the standard Larabar size of 1.6 ounces.  In that 1.6 ounces, it packs 190 calories and minimal four grams of protein.  So, as I wipe the tears off my keyboard, let's get started with this emotional review to see if Larabar was able to replicate what some may consider the preeminent American classic food.  It's also dairy free, soy free, gluten free, vegan and kosher, in case you are into that kind of mumbo jumbo.



As you can see, this looks like your typical Larabar.  It has the typical stick date puree as the main component of the bar along with the nut(s) of choice (in this case it's large almonds and walnut bits) and then the necessary add-ins to bring the special flavor to the bar.  Since this is an apple pie bar, it also includes unsweetened apples, raisins (haven't seen those in many apple pies) and also after reading the ingredient list, I come to find out there is cinnamon in there too and since that is a necessary component of an American classic, it is probably a good thing it is included.

As I bit into this, it was soft and chewy like the typical Larabar which is not what an apple pie is like with its crisp crust.  In order to combat that, I imagine, Larabar added in the walnuts and almonds and they did a good job bring some additional crunch to the bar as I chewed through it and I appreciated that.  As I was chewing through, the first two flavors I tasted were the spice of the cinnamon and sweetness of the raisins.  Now, apple pies don't usually have raisins, but I was willing to look past that because these two worked well together.  As I was chewing, the tang of the apple flavoring hit me combining that with the sweetness and spiciness of the other flavors all provided a nice harmonious balance and actually did make me think I was eating an apple pie-ish product.  The one failure in this in terms of flavor (not texture), and I can't believe I'm saying this because of my love for them, was the almonds.  The dullness of flavor that almonds usually provide kind of cancelled out the apple pie flavoring and detracted from what was shaping up to be an excellent bar.  It's still a very good bar, but it had a chance to be a contender.

Buy It or Fly By It?  As I wrap up my initial Larabar purchase splurge, I'm happy to say that I've found another flavor that I can give a BUY IT rating too.  This bar was a reasonable enough approximation of an apple pie that I actually liked it quite a bit and could put this bar into the category of bars that could turn into an addiction due to my love of apples, cinnamon and raisins (three things that I eat at least four days a week).  If I'm willing to classify something as potentially being an addiction, you know its good and this Larabar Apple Pie bar is that.  Larabar has successfully redeemed itself in my mind and now I'm curious to start seeking out some of the other flavors to see if they are any good.  More to come!

BUY IT!!
Buy Larabar Apple Pie Food Bars at Amazon.com

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