Sunday, October 13, 2013

Delightful, But Not Terribly Potent, Special K Protein Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bars Are Worth Picking Up!


The Good: Delicious, Very healthy, Comparatively inexpensive
The Bad: I found myself wishing there were more in the box, Not as dark chocolate flavored as I like.
The Basics: Special K Protein Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bars are a healthy alternative to traditional chewy granola bars.


When it comes to Special K treats, I’ve been enjoying discovering the whole line of healthier foods. Today, it’s the Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bars that caught my attention. After devouring two boxes of them, I have to say that they are one of the few healthy bars that I am eager to keep buying than these! For sure, they are not exceptionally dark chocolate flavored, but they are quite good on their own!

This is a worthwhile snack product for Special K Protein to continue making and it is one that is easy to recommend to healthy consumers who like things that taste good.

Basics

Special K Protein is perhaps best known for making the breakfast cereal that is a classic, but a little bland. Special K Protein bars are part of Kelloggs’ expansion into snack foods. Their Snack Bars come in several flavors and I chose the Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bar because I love dark chocolate and this seemed like a pretty healthy snack to bear that flavor.

Each Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bar is in a .95 oz. bar that is foil-wrapped. Each bar represents a single serving and the Snack Bars are each 1 3/8” wide by 5/8” thick by 3 1/2” long Snack Bar that is unsurprisingly breakable or squishable. A box of Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bars contains only five bars. Each bar looks like a granola bar with a brown icing swirl on the top side of it and a chocolate bottom.

Ease Of Preparation

Eating Special K Protein Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bars is simple. After removing the foil wrapper, simply pull out the bar and stick it in your mouth. There is no particularly complicated equation to eating this snack; it is an entirely ready-to-eat food!

Taste

Unwrapping the Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bar, I was pleasantly surprised by just how strong the chocolate scent was. This bar smells like light, milk chocolate, as opposed to heavy, rich, dark chocolate. Despite that, the chocolate scent is strong and sweet and inviting.

Placing the Snack Bar on the tongue, one gets an instant hit of chocolate. As the light chocolate – it does not taste dark at all, it tastes sweet and milky – melts on the tongue, it gives way to a soft granola bar that is sweet and dry and lightly caramel flavored. The dry rice flavor blends with the caramel and chocolate and is good . . . for the three bites the bar possesses.

This treat has a strong, dry, aftertaste, without any real chocolate flavor that lingers.

Nutrition

Special K Protein Snack Bars are intended as a snack, but having a couple might fill you up in a pinch. These .95 oz. Snack Bar represent a single serving and they are surprisingly healthy. Made primarily of soluble corn fiber, soy protein isolate, and rolled oats, what surprised me was how there was nothing in these bars that was unpronouncable. This is a mostly-natural food product and these Snack Bars were produced on equipment that may leave the bar with traces of peanuts, wheat, almonds, soy, wheat and milk, so they are not Vegan-compliant.

Special K Protein's Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bars have 110 calories, 25 of which are from fat. A full serving represents 8% of one's RDA of saturated fat and these are cholesterol free. Surprisingly, they are fairly low in sodium with only 85 mg per serving and there are 4 grams of protein to be had by eating a full bar. These are not a significant source of vitamins or minerals, though they do have 10% of one’s daily RDA of Thiamin, Niacin, and Vitamin B6.

Storage/Cleanup

As a healthy snack, Special K Protein Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bar remain fresh so long as they are kept in their wrappers. Our box had an expiration date of February 5, 2014, so these last for a while. As long as the bars are not heated up, they remain fresh and the only real clean-up for them comes from wiping up crumbs.

If the Dark Chocolate Granola bars get hot, though, the chocolate chips in them will melt and cleaning that up can be a little more tricky, especially from light fabrics. Consult a fabric guide if the chocolate melts onto your clothes.

Overall

Special K Protein Dark Chocolate Granola Snack Bars are inexplicably being clearance locally, given how delicious and nutritious they are!

For other reviews of healthy food, please check out:
Peeled Organics Apricot-a-lot
Special K Cheddar Cracker Chips
Ocean Spray Pomegranate Craisins

7.5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please check out my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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