I’ve seen Larabar on the shelf for a while now, and when I saw the peanut butter cookie flavor, I knew the game was up and I had to give Larabar a shot. Here’s my honest review.
My Lara Bar Review- So delicious, but a little too much Sugar!
Now I know I typically stick with pure ‘protein’ bar reviews, but as I start to modernize the blog and start to review all sorts of natural foods, I have to open my mind to different brands and their products. One such product that has caught my eye a few times before at Whole Foods was the Lara Bar. I’ve seen these bars around before but was never really tempted until I happened to read one of the flavors- ‘peanut butter cookie’. Those of you who know me know that I am so completely in love with Peanut Butter cookies, and, well, anything peanut butter. But a peanut butter cookie bar? I will buy you every single time. I grabbed the Lara Bar faster than you could blink an eye.
I purchased the Lara Bar on one of those nights when I was completely famished. I hit my Whole Foods on my walk home from work, which I do rather frequently (at the absolute horrification of my bank account), and went through the hot bar, loading up my customary 1.5 pound, $29.00 dinner box. I was weaving my way towards the checkout area and ended up in the protein bar aisle- which is not where you want to be if you are as hungry as I was.
Now it may have been that Larabar, and specifically peanut butter cookie Lara Bar was the first thing that I saw, and maybe it was just the fact that I was starving, but it was probably the first time in my life that I made a decisive and confident decision when selecting a bar. After checking out, and kissing four hours worth of my workday’s pay goodbye, and dug the Larabar out of my bag and almost choked on it as I inhaled it down. This would be a good time to discuss the flavor:
Lara Bar Peanut Butter Cookie Flavor: 10
I couldn’t have been more satisfied with both the texture, and the flavor of Lara Bar peanut butter cookie. The density and texture was solid, striking a nice balance between chewy and crumbly. There was also a good moisture to this bar. You know how some of them can dry your mouth out faster that the Saltine game? (Lookin at you Zone Perfect!). The thing about Lara Bar that you notice right away is that it’s a straight up sugar rush. I could’ve eaten four of these in a row, both because of how I was almost starving to death, combined with the sugar triggering the ‘feast’ hormone and telling me to consume as much of this delicious sustanence as possible. I obliged by wolfing down my actual dinner- but hey I saw the Lara Bar as a great way to spike my insulin so that my carb-bomb dinner went straight to my liver and muscle glycogen stores, therefore clearing my blood quickly before having a chance to convert to FAT. (that’s how it works, right? 🙂 ). #whateverYouNeedToTellYourself.
Anyways back to the flavors of this delicious Peanut Butter cookie Larabar. As far as the flavor itself- I wouldn’t necessarily say that it tasted exactly like a peanut butter cookie. I mean, how could it if it’s made primarily of dates? What they probably could’ve called this bar is ‘peanut butter and date mashup’ and that would’ve more accurately captured the essence of the flavor. that being said- I still would buy it, because peanut butter – date mashup is one of the most satisfying flavor combinations that I can recall sampling. I think there might be a peanut butter and date flavor trend after this. Seriously. I loved it. There was enough peanut butter to give you that salty and sweet sensation, and that’s why this flavor Lara Bar works out so well. So the taste is out of this world- but can it really be all that healthy?
Lara Bar Ingredients Profile: 6
My Dad once told me that something too good to be true usually isn’t- and that’s pretty much what happened here with Lara Bar. Yes, it has a minimalist label, and a ‘granola-y’ name ‘Lara’, and yes, it actually is very ‘natural’ in the sense that it is free of all kinds of artificial flavors, sweetners, chemicals, and the lot. However, you can’t really get over the stats on this bad boy. Let’s go through it line by line.
- 220 calories: Ok that’s pretty standard. I can live with that all day.
- 2 grams sat fat: who cares nobody is afraid of fat anymore
- 4 grams fiber: I get plenty but sure I’ll take another 4 g’s
- 23 carbs: hm, ok what
- 18 grams sugar: O shit!
- 7 grams of protein: That’s more than I thought there would be in here, but I still can’t get over that sugar!
This was my exact train of thought when I finally flipped over the empty wrapper (see pic) and read the facts on the Larabar. The highlight being the sugar. Do I get that it’s all ‘natural’ sugar from the dates? Ya of course. Is 18 grams of sugar going to kill me? No. But it’s right at that level where, for me personally, I’m feeling a pretty serious blood sugar rush (after all – it’s the equivalent of dumping 9 sugar packets into your coffee. You’re going to feel a sugar spike and then the matching crash- especially when it’s from a relatively high GI source. (dates and other dried fruit is relatively high GI as far as fruits go).
So I’m not totally in love with the amount of sugar in Larabar, but as you know from my other reviews, I’m not going to leave you on a negative note! I would, and totally will, grab more Larabars for a post-workout snack, when my muslces will welcome the quick blood-sugar spike. I’d also consider crumbiling up a larabar and using that as a sweetner in a dessert with some low-salt cottage cheese or greek yogurt. I will totally try some more flavors of Larabar because they really are like a dessert- give one a try, and don’t let that sugar rush getcha!
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