Clif Bar Review... Eat This, Not That

Spring Break is going well so far :-).  I need to be more productive though... so I'm writing a blog post ;-).  When I received the Clif C Bars a while back, I was also sent some regular Clif and Luna Bars.  I'll review the Clif Bars below.  You can find out more information on Clif Bar & Company on their website http://www.clifbar.com/.

Blueberry Crisp:

Blueberry Crisp: 9 of 10. Very sweet and dessert-like!  But full of vitamins and other good stuff :-).  I also liked the little blueberry pieces and almond chunks, and the chewy texture is awesome.  Still a fairly "processed" bar, but definitely a great treat with a good combo of carbs, protein, and healthy fat.

Banana Nut Bread:

Banana Nut Bread: 8 of 10.  It smelled just like banana bread, and tasted like it too!  It had a very strong, fresh banana flavor and some chocolate chips too - those surprised me since I've never had banana bread with chocolate.  I also liked the soy rice crisps and the little pieces of walnut.  I would have actually rated this bar higher if it didn't have the chocolate and instead had more walnuts :-).

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut:

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut: 9.5 of 10.  Yummy!  I loved the sweet icing, white chocolate, and the wonderfully sized macadamia nut pieces!  This bar is dense, chewy, and crunchy.  I also thought it had a hint of caramel flavor that I liked :-).

For your reading pleasure, here's a clipping from ISU's student-run newspaper, the Iowa State Daily, titled "Eat this, not that on Campus."  I thought some of the choices were obvious, and I also thought that some of the "eat this" options could have been better, but I suppose they were looking for "better" not "best".  (You can click on the pics to enlarge)

Don't forget to enter my Glee Gum giveaway: http://foodfotosandfun.blogspot.com/2010/03/glee-gum-review-and-giveaway.html

There's also an Aurorae giveaway at Eat Oxygen: http://eatoxygen.blogspot.com/2010/03/aurorae-yoga-sweat-package-giveaway.html#comment-form

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Clif C Review!

The wonderful people from Clif Bar and Company sent me some samples to try and also review on my blog.  They are definitely one of my favorite companies, so this was an honor :-).  The first bars I tried were their new Clif C bars, similar to Larabars except they add a bit of sea salt to enhance the flavor.  Some of you may also be interested to know that the Clif C bars have fewer calories.  I personally think the Clif C bars are a little more pleasing to the eye because they have a crust layer of almonds, macadamia nuts, dates, and salt topped with a layer of fruit with toasted nuts on top.  It's truly beautiful!  The only downside is that the top layer is a tad sticky since it's pure fruit.  Here is a link where you can find more info. on Clif C: http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_clif_c/

Here are my ratings of the 4 flavors:

APPLE

Ingredients:Organic Dates, Almonds, Organic Apples, Macadamia Nuts, Organic Apple Juice Concentrate, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate, Organic Cinnamon, Sea Salt (Real Salt®), Natural Vitamin E (Antioxidant).

Apple gets a 9.5 of 10!  It smelled just like apple crisp and had a great touch of cinnamon.  I loved the green apple flavor that was complemented nicely by the almonds.  It was sweet but not too much!  A perfect treat :-).

RASPBERRY

Ingredients: Organic Dates, Almonds, Organic Cranberries (Organic Cranberries, Organic Apple Juice Concentrate), Organic Apples, Macadamia Nuts, Raspberry Juice Concentrate, Sea Salt (Real Salt®), Natural Vitamin E (Antioxidant).

Raspberry gets my 1st 10 out of 10!  I absolutely love raspberries and this bar got their flavor perfectly!  And who can have anything against almonds?

BLUEBERRY 

Ingredients: Organic Dates, Almonds, Organic Blueberries (Organic Blueberries, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice), Macadamia Nuts, Organic Blueberry Juice Concentrate, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sea Salt (Real Salt®), Natural Vitamin E (Antioxidant).

Blueberry gets a 9 of 10.  It was sweet and the blueberry puree was wonderfully smooth on the top layer.  The almonds added a great crunch, and the two layers complemented each other perfectly :-).

CHERRY POMEGRANATE 

Ingredients: Organic Dates, Almonds, Organic Cherries (Organic Cherries, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice), Macadamia Nuts, Organic Cherry Juice Concentrate, Organic Pomegranate Juice Concentrate, Sea Salt (Real Salt®), Natural Vitamin E (Antioxidant).

Cherry Pomegranate gets a 9 out of 10 too.  It was mostly cherry flavored with a hint of pomegranate.  Just great!

Overall, I think these bars were awesome (and they each contain one serving of fruit)!  The only complaint would be that the top layer can be just a tad sticky.  The flavor is right on par though, and I really think these bars are going to give the Larabars a run for their money.  Of course, the fact that there are only 4 Clif C flavors as of right now does mean that Larabar lovers won't be turning sides quite yet... 

Anyway, I'd suggest you give them a try for yourself and see how you think they compare!  For more Clif C facts, look here: http://www.clifbar.com/food/did_you_know/C331

Now, I really must resume my preparations for Midterms next week :-(.

Don't forget to enter my Zevia giveaway: http://foodfotosandfun.blogspot.com/2010/02/zevia-review-and-my-first-giveaway.html


P.S. The formatting of this post was supposed to look much better with photos side by side instead of one on top of the other, but when I published it, there wasn't enough room for that :-(.  I need to become more blog literate!