Review: Raw Organic Cinnamon Raisin Food Bar

Maybe it's because of the negative connotation of raw meat, but it always makes me think twice when I see a product advertising that it's raw as if it's a good thing like these bars have done in prior reviews.  It clearly is in a lot of instances, but like I said, the stigma of raw meat just hangs in my head.  So, when I see a product like today's Raw Organic Cinnamon Raisin Food Bar, a very small part of me thinks twice about this before I dive in.  After the common sense kicks in though, I get myself all geared up to go.  Anyway, this bar was picked up at Marsh for $1.99 and each bar comes in at 1.76 ounces with 210 calories and seven grams of protein.  Before I dive into the review of this, I noticed on the ingredient list that this was made with "a lot of love" and yes, that was actually in the list.  I understand the attempt at humor, but for some reason, that just annoyed me.  Oh well, onto the review...

The very first thing I noticed about this soft and pliable bar after I took it out of the wrapper was how slimy it was.  Not exactly the most appetizing first observation, but in the long run, how a bar feels in your hands should really matter as it pertains to the taste.  As for the bar itself, it had a strong cinnamon smell straight out of the wrapper.  Within the date puree mix of the bar were several small raisins spread throughout the bar itself.  So, based on the smell and visual presentation, it was obvious that this bar had succeeded in presenting the look it was going for.

As I took my first bite, my initial observation came as no surprise to me at all...this bar was very chewy.  What was surprising was that there was some minimal graininess that bordered on crunchiness in the bar and I wasn't quite sure where it was coming from.  Perhaps it was the flax or the cashew butter was a "crunchy" butter, but I couldn't figure out and that bothered me for some unknown reason (I am a bit of a crazy person, as the name of the blog implies).  As for the flavor itself, the cinnamon in this bar was not nearly as impactful as I had expected going in.  I expected to be overpowered with cinnamon spice and instead, it was only a mild cinnamon flavor.  I appreciated that because I was fully expecting to be knocked off my feet.  As for the raisins, they brought a minimal amount of sweetness to counteract the cinnamon and what this ended up with was a pleasant mix of spicy and sweet that didn't really tilt in either direction.

Buy It or Fly By It?  If I had to compare the flavor of this, I would say that the mix of cinnamon and raisins was comparable to that of a Quaker Chewy bar in how it worked together and being that I'm a Chewy bar-aholic, that means that this gets a BUY IT rating from.  Clearly a Chewy bar is a granola bar, so the texture is a bit different, the the flavor was very comparable.  If you are a Chewy bar fan like me or just enjoy the cinnamon and raisin combination, this raw bar could be right up your alley.  It was mine.

BUY IT!!