Clif Bar Review: Crunchy Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Macadamia
I'm definitely a sucker for 'health bars'. Whilst I still prefer eating fresh fruit, veg and nuts, they're really convenient for packing on a day trip or to bulk up a lunch bag. I've tried everything on offer at my local supermarket, but they recently started selling Clif bars, and, after staring at them like a weirdo and considering buying them for a few days, I decided to commit.
Compared to others, I wouldn't really consider Clif bars the healthiest option: whilst it's far better than indulging in a brownie or muffin, the main ingredient in the bars is brown rice syrup, a sugar. There's 20g of sugar in the peanut butter bar, which is a considerable amount. It's worth considering however that an actual brownie could have 40g, and the Clif bar here has 11g of protein. It's quite a small amount in comparison to a few other protein bars on the market, but, if we're considering these bars as a treat, a fair compromise.
I'm not trying to scare you off them, though! There are plenty of other benefits to Clif bars: they're vegan, made with rolled oats and have 40% of your daily B12 (which is quite hard to get as a vegan!).
That ended up being quite a hefty introduction... surely by now you must want the reviews?
Crunchy peanut butter: This was really nice. It definitely tasted of peanut butter, but not to the point that it was overpowering. It was perhaps sweeter than the peanut butter I'm used to, but again, not overwhelming. Despite the fact that the bar was very dense, I didn't really feel filled up by it, though. If I was offered it again, I'd take it, but it's not something that I would buy.
White chocolate macadamia nut: I was excited about this flavour, and it turned out to be my favourite of the two. It was very sweet, perhaps too much for some people, but I definitely liked it. It was relatively substantial, but not exactly filling.
Final verdict: Clif bars definitely taste good and I would recommend them as a healthier, vegan replacement for brownies and desserts, but if you're looking for a nutrition bar, you could get something more substantial and with better macros for your money.
