LUNA Bars

Update Review, 2022

It has been a while (9 years!) since I last had a Luna bar (see prior reviews), as they haven't ever been my favorites (but also, aren't *awful*).  So when I saw they had a product line I hadn't tried before, "Luna with Prebiotics", I had a Luna bar for the first time in ages.  

Luna with Prebiotics

"LUNA with prebiotics combines sweet, tart and fruity flavors with prebiotic fiber, which helps promote digestive health, for a snack that you can feel good about eating."

The prebiotic line I hadn't ever tried before.  Prebiotic bars are available in only two flavors: wild cherry or tangerine.  I guess they add in some form of prebiotic fiber?  But otherwise, they seemed like pretty normal Luna bars.

Wild Cherry.

"You'll go wild for the way this LUNA® Wild Cherry bar balances mouthwatering tart and sweet flavors. Plus, this craveworthy anytime snack has 2.5g of prebiotic fiber that feeds the good bacteria in your gut. Because when you feel good, you do great."

I could not distinguish this from a regular Luna bar, but that isn't a bad thing.  It had a good chew, but was very sweet, reminding me a bit of a rice crispy treat.  The base was the standard protein grain blend.  The first flavor I detected almost seemed lemon-ish, however, there was a light cherry flavor on the finish. Certainly subtle.

The bottom side was coated in a white substance, almost like white chocolate or yogurt, but I'm not quite sure what it was.  It was sweet, creamy, and I liked it.

Overall, this was pleasant enough, particularly for a bar with reasonable amount of protein and yay, prebiotics.  I think it could be good chopped up on ice cream or yogurt too ...

***.

Original Review, 2013

Often, when you are out and about, you need a snack.  It can be a good excuse to stop and check out a new place, but sometimes, you just want to finish up your errands, or get to your destination, and just don't feel like stopping somewhere.  For such situations, I always have some kind of bar, or stash of nuts, in my purse.  Over the past few years, I've tried all sorts of these things, ranging from classic granola bars, to chocolate covered dessert-like bars, to meal replacement bars, to nutrition bars, and everything in between.  It seems I'm not alone in my need for a quick snack, as the market for these things is huge.

Of sports/nutrition bars, CLIF is probably the most famous.  The founders of CLIF also made a spin-off, designed just for women: LUNA.  I think it means they have some special vitamins added, for women's unique needs?  Or, they at least have prettier packaging.

The brand is made up of three product lines: the classic LUNA bars, high protein bars, and new fiber based bars.  The names make them all sounds delicious.  But ... they aren't.

Classic LUNA Bars

This is the base product line, the originals.

"LUNA® Whole Nutrition Bars are crafted to help keep you nourished throughout your busy day and give you the energy to break through. Each bar is a delicious, gluten-free snack that’s perfect between meals."

Available in a slew of tempting flavors, many of which I have tried.  All use their "Protein Grain Blend" as a base, with soy protein isolate, oats, rice flour, soy beans, soy flour, and flaxseed, with brown rice syrup as a sweetener, and a slew of other flavors, oils, and syrups.  Ingredient lists are ... long.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut.

"A deliciously decadent combination of toasted coconut and chocolate."

This wasn't horrible.  The bottom was a fairly thick layer of chocolate, the base was oats and LunaPro balls with coconut, and the top was drizzled with more chocolate.  It still had some funk from the LunaPro mix, but it didn't overwhelm like happens in most bars.  The coconut flavor was there, but I'd like more of it.  The chocolate was mediocre.

I almost liked this, since I do like coconut and chocolate, but, at the end of the day, it was still a nutrition bar.  I didn't really want to finish it.  **+.

White Chocolate Macadamia.

"Naturally sweet macadamias meet white chocolate creaminess." 

The base of this was the standard LUNA soy crisps, sorta like rice crispies, but with a strange aftertaste.  I like the flavor of soy, but I really didn't like this flavor.  I didn't really detect the macadamia, I think they were chopped up and mixed with the crispies.  The entire thing was drenched in white chocolate that was flavorless.  Meh! *+.

Update review: And then I had another, and liked it more.  It, much like the chocolate dipped coconut, was *almost* good. The macadamia flavor was there, little bits of nuts were great.  The white chocolate coating was creamy and sweet.

But.  And the big but, and thing that ruins all these bars for me, is the underlying base of strange protein isolates, the taste, and texture, just ruin them for me, no matter how good of other flavors are peaking in. **+.

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• Caramel Nut Brownie: “Rich chocolate brownie drizzled with creamy caramel”. Tasting notes: Very chocolatey, subtle caramel, but sorta strange consistency from the soy crisps. ***.
• Lemon Zest: "Luscious zing of lemon and zest with a smooth, creamy coating".  Tasting notes: Very sweet, strong lemon flavor. Not bad, would be good with some tea perhaps? [ Sweet and fake, but not that bad. ] **+.
• Peanut Butter Cookie: "Peanut Buttery delight with hints of creaminess and a light peanut crunch."  Tasting notes: Nasty aftertaste.  Just dates and peanuts?  Meh. *+.
• S'mores: "Marshmallow nuggets swirled with graham crackers, topped with dark chocolate."  Tasting notes: it was slightly expired, so that may have effected it.   This was mostly just like a stale/not very good rice crispy with some chocolate on top. MEH! *+.

LUNA fiber

LUNA's latest line is fiber bars.

LUNA fiber, Chocolate Raspberry.

"Raspberries wrapped in a soft baked chocolate crumble, strewn with decadent chocolate chips."


The description made it sound great.  Spoiler: it wasn't.

It was also coated on the bottom in some fiber flakes and on top with sea salt.

I would not have known it was raspberry flavor.  I'm not sure where the raspberry was, but I did detect some grittiness that could have been raspberry seeds. [ Note: I looked it up online after, and found the secret.  The "raspberry filling" had a fun ingredient listed: strawberry seeds! Not strawberry puree or flavor, just the seeds.  I have no idea why they added those, as I thought the seeds were really off putting, but they did make you think there might be real fruit in there.  The filling also had apple, which I did think I tasted, and red cabbage extract for color.  Lols.  Natural ingredients yes, but not exactly what you'd expect! ]  There were chocolate chips that were very mediocre, I wouldn't call them "decadent", but as I only found a couple, I guess they were "strewn" throughout as promised.  The cake was subtle chocolate flavored, and reminded me of a dried out brownie.  The salt on top was a nice touch, as I love the contrast of salt and chocolate.

I would not get again. *+.

LUNA fiber, Peanut Butter Strawberry.

Another one of the new fiber bars.  Even though I didn't like the first fiber bar I tried, I gave this one a chance.  Who doesn't love peanut butter and jelly?  Or, as they say, "Peanut Butter smoothes the way for Strawberry in this delicious ode to a classic."

It was sprinkled on top with some appealing sugar crystals, and on the bottom with fiber flakes.  Both added a bit of texture.  The cake part was pretty similar to the first one, kinda dry, fairly flavorless.  I think the peanut butter may have been in there?  The filling was mildly strawberry flavored, but there wasn't much of it.  It again had strawberry seeds in it, giving it a slight grittiness.  If you just gave me this, I'm not sure I could have identified that it was supposed to be peanut butter strawberry.

Better than the chocolate raspberry, but certainly not worth getting again. **.

Update: Except, I had another.  I was at a fitness class, and they handed them out at the end.  I remembered trying the bars before, but I didn't remember what I thought of them, so I went into trying it without any judgement.  I liked it more.  The cake part was soft, a bit hearty tasting, better than a Nutrigrain.  I liked the bran (?) flakes on the bottom and the slightly sweet sugar crystals on top.  Unlike my previous try, this one was more generously filled with the strawberry ... goo.  It wasn't really strawberry jam, and it included all sorts of other ingredients like date paste.  The filling was a bit too sweet for me.  And again, I never found the peanut butter.  The ingredients listed peanut butter "chips" way near the end of the list, so I guess they are in there somewhere, but I never found them.  Anyway, I didn't hate it, and I enjoyed it even more once I threw it in the toaster oven for a few minutes.  The exterior got a bit toasty, the whole thing nice and warm ... but still, overall to sweet, and no peanut butter.  Not worth seeking out. **.

LUNA Protein Bars

The latest line, jumping on the high protein trend.

"The power of protein keeps you feeling satisfied, so go ahead—indulge in the decadent, nougaty goodness of LUNA® Protein. Delicious and sustaining with 170-190 gluten-free calories."

These ditch the classic Luna base, but still use soy protein isolate, whey protein, and other "wholesome" ingredients, to deliver up higher protein numbers.

Lemon Vanilla.

"Zesty lemon with a creamy finish, our first non-chocolate protein bar."

I laughed when I opened this.  Big wrapper, little bar.

I had no expectation to like this, but, it was given to me at a fitness class, so I figured I'd try it out.  The aroma coming off it as I opened the wrapper was unmistakable: lemon.

The texture of the bar was really strange, sorta like a nougat.  The coating was sweet and very lemony, with a hint of fake vanilla.  I shouldn't have liked this, but it really grew on me.

Made from soy protein isolate for the 12 grams of protein, I really thought it would taste nasty, but the sweet coating and overwhelming lemon ensured that the soy flavor was masked.

I won't seek another out, but I was pleasantly surprised.  ***.

Chocolate Coconut Almond.

"Toasted coconut and chopped almonds wrapped in chocolate."

It looks like a candy bar.  It sounds like a candy bar.  Although, like all the protein bars, it boasts 12 grams of protein and 4 core nutrients.

Like all products made from soy protein isolate, I was ready to hate it.

Chocolate Coconut Almond: Inside.

As I bit in, I still expected to hate it.  The consistency inside was odd, just like the Lemon Vanilla one.  Sort of like a soft nougat.  Yet ... I didn't hate it.  There was a slight coconut flavor to it, perhaps an even slighter almond flavor.  Decent chocolate layer on the outside.

Yes, it did somewhat seem like a candy bar.  A candy bar that I could eat totally guilt free?

Again, I wouldn't seek another out, and it wasn't amazing, but far better than most products in this space, and I'd probably eat more if they appeared. ***.

Chocolate Peanut Butter.

“Peanut butter meets soft nougat and adds a delicate crunch.”

This was not very peanut buttery. The bar had a strange consistency,  clearly fake processed protein.  Unlike the lemon vanilla and chocolate coconut almond, the peanut butter and chocolate couldn't make up for that. Meh.  *+.

Update review: I tried another, drawn in by the promise of chocolate and peanut butter.  I again hated it.  The texture, the soy protein isolate, are just so unappealing.  *+.