Update Review, November 2023
Back when I first tried Made Good products, I think they only made the granola minis that I tried (and maybe standard granola bars too?). Now they offer a variety of other items, such as cookies, crackers, soft baked breakfast oat bars, and "crispy squares"
Granola Bars
"Everything you love about a good granola bar and more. Chewy and flavorful, loads of great taste combinations, perfect for breakfast, lunch, or a quick snack. Plus there are nutrients from vegetable extracts in every bar, but they are perfectly concealed by all the amazing ingredients. So your kids will never know."
I'd only ever tried the granola minis before, which frankly are a more interesting product to me than granola bars, but when I saw a birthday cake flavored granola bar, I couldn't resist trying. Granola bars come in a few other flavors as well: including some standard bars (chocolate banana, cookies & creme), and some drizzled with chocolate (cookie crumble, vanilla, or the aforementioned birthday cake).
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| Chocolate Drizzled Birthday Cake. |
"What’s this? A MadeGood Granola Bar drizzled and dipped in chocolate, that’s what. Vegan, organic, and free from the most common allergens including dairy. It’s as rich and decadent as it looks. Tastes like the best of a birthday cake, and still, there’s a serving of veggies perfectly baked inside. Make a wish!"
Well ... this was sweet. Which, yes, is to be expected. But it was really really sweet. I certainly did not taste any of the vegetables hiding within (spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets, mushrooms, sweet potatoes). It tasted like any other granola bar. Chewy style, bound by sweet goo. Add in additional sweet due to the additional sprinkles and chocolate drizzle. Chocolate also coated the entire backside. The chocolate wasn't particularly good.
Very meh for me, but, if you have kids who like granola bars, I'm sure this would be a winner. **+.
Original Review, April 2016
Granola. Not my favorite thing, and one I am rather particular about. I've certainly tried my share of granola, generally in cereal form or bar form, but, it has never been my "go to" snack. For cereal form, I want the right style of clumps, the right kind of mix-ins. For bars, I want the right kind of chewy/crispy balance. I'm rarely satisfied on the granola front, although sometimes I do enjoy a greek yogurt, fruit, and granola parfait, particularly if I make it with Worthy Granola (still my favorite!).
But, when I was visiting another office, I saw an interesting form of granola in the micro kitchens: granola "minis" by Made Good. They looked like little bite size nibbles. Since I'm such a snacker, this form appealed to me.
Of course, the market being what it is these days, they boast all the standard claims: non-GMO, whole grains, low sugar, dairy-free, nut-free, organic, gluten-free, etc. They add in an extra goodie: they contain a full serving of vegetables. Yes, vegetables in your granola. Just go with it for now.
In addition to the minis, Made Good makes regular granola bars. The bars come in four varieties (chocolate chip, mixed berry, chocolate banana, and apple cinnamon). The bites also come in four varieties, randomly replacing mixed berry with strawberry, but the others are all the same.
I tried two varieties, and, they weren't bad. I don't want more of them, but, they were certainly interesting to try. The aforementioned vegetables come in the form of a vegetable powder added to all varieties, containing spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets, and shiitake mushrooms. You can detect it, but, it is subtle, and I'm sure it helps trick some children into eating their vegetables, which I'm sure is some of the appeal.
"Sweet juicy strawberries and gluten free oats. These granola minis taste like strawberry season all year."
Given the variety, I was a bit surprised to find dried apples and apricots in addition to the strawberry bits. The base also contained oats and other standard granola fillers (sugar, agave, oil, brown rice, tapioca flour), and then of course, the vegetable powder.
They were ... fine. I loved the idea of mini, munchable granola bites, since I love snacking on granola, but, for some reason, I didn't love these. Lots of fruity flavor from the bits of dried fruit, but, they were a softer style overall, not as crispy as I like my granola.
Overall, fine, but, just not quite what I was after. I sorta wanted to put them on ice cream or something as a crumble top.
I tried these again years later to see if I, or the product, had changed.
I again thought they were fine. Just fine. The bits of dried fruit were nice chew, I didn't taste strangeness from the veggie in there, but, they were again just a bit too soft.
A concept I like though, I like snackable granola, and always go for the chunks in my regular granola.
"Rich dark chocolate and ripe bananas. These granola minis taste just like dessert and contain the nutrients found in one full serving of vegetables."
Next I tried the chocolate banana flavor. The base was standard oats, sugar, oil, crisp brown rice, tapioca flour, and agave, this time with banana and chocolate chips mixed in. I was much happier with this selection. They were crunchier, and tasted like chocolate chip banana bread, just in crunchy granola form. There was a slightly strange chew to them though, that I couldn't quite place. It seemed like there was dried fruit in them, but there wasn't. They weren't crispy or chewy, just, somewhere in-between.
But, when I was visiting another office, I saw an interesting form of granola in the micro kitchens: granola "minis" by Made Good. They looked like little bite size nibbles. Since I'm such a snacker, this form appealed to me.
Of course, the market being what it is these days, they boast all the standard claims: non-GMO, whole grains, low sugar, dairy-free, nut-free, organic, gluten-free, etc. They add in an extra goodie: they contain a full serving of vegetables. Yes, vegetables in your granola. Just go with it for now.
In addition to the minis, Made Good makes regular granola bars. The bars come in four varieties (chocolate chip, mixed berry, chocolate banana, and apple cinnamon). The bites also come in four varieties, randomly replacing mixed berry with strawberry, but the others are all the same.
I tried two varieties, and, they weren't bad. I don't want more of them, but, they were certainly interesting to try. The aforementioned vegetables come in the form of a vegetable powder added to all varieties, containing spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets, and shiitake mushrooms. You can detect it, but, it is subtle, and I'm sure it helps trick some children into eating their vegetables, which I'm sure is some of the appeal.
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| Strawberry Granola Minis. |
Given the variety, I was a bit surprised to find dried apples and apricots in addition to the strawberry bits. The base also contained oats and other standard granola fillers (sugar, agave, oil, brown rice, tapioca flour), and then of course, the vegetable powder.
They were ... fine. I loved the idea of mini, munchable granola bites, since I love snacking on granola, but, for some reason, I didn't love these. Lots of fruity flavor from the bits of dried fruit, but, they were a softer style overall, not as crispy as I like my granola.
Overall, fine, but, just not quite what I was after. I sorta wanted to put them on ice cream or something as a crumble top.
 |
| Strawberry Granola Minis. |
I again thought they were fine. Just fine. The bits of dried fruit were nice chew, I didn't taste strangeness from the veggie in there, but, they were again just a bit too soft.
A concept I like though, I like snackable granola, and always go for the chunks in my regular granola.
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| Chocolate Banana Minis. |
Next I tried the chocolate banana flavor. The base was standard oats, sugar, oil, crisp brown rice, tapioca flour, and agave, this time with banana and chocolate chips mixed in. I was much happier with this selection. They were crunchier, and tasted like chocolate chip banana bread, just in crunchy granola form. There was a slightly strange chew to them though, that I couldn't quite place. It seemed like there was dried fruit in them, but there wasn't. They weren't crispy or chewy, just, somewhere in-between.
There was also a slight strange flavor, sorta like when you have some kind of quickbread and find out someone snuck zucchini in it. This no doubt came from the vegetable powder (spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets, shiitake mushroom). It wasn't bad, and it was very subtle, but, slightly detectable.
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