Core Bar

I tend to have a kinda love-hate relationship with snack bars.  I like them in theory, very convenient, good way to get reasonable snack or breakfast replacement with protein.  And I'm definitely drawn to the flavors ... again, in theory.  So many of them sound decadent and dessert-like: "chocolate drizzled cookie dough", "white chocolate macadamia indulgence", "coconut key lime pie", etc, etc.  But then ... I rarely actually like them.  The textures are odd, they rely too heavily on healthy replacements like dates for sweetness, or they include whey protein isolate to bulk up the protein, and my stomach really doesn't get along with that ... And yet, I keep trying different brands, because I really do appreciate them, when I find a good one.  My current favorites are still Perfect Bars, but I was pretty happy with the Core bars I recently tried.

"CORE Bars are the breath of fresh air those stale, old nutrition bars needed. We’ve pushed the limits of what a nutrition bar can do and designed a bar with fiber for fullness, vitamins for wellness and probiotics for gut health.

Plus, the only thing dry about us is our sense of humor. The fridge freshness provides the softest texture you’ve ever tried."

The bars are plant based, non-GMO, natural ingredients, etc.  They seem to have dropped the product line that I tried, and now offer 5 others: oat bars with probiotics, keto bars (also with probiotics), smaller keto bites, crunchy oat bites, and "truffles".  All are refrigerated products, bar form.  All but the oat bars require refrigeration for storage (due to lack of preservatives), but are fine for a week out of the fridge.

Peanut Butter Chocolate.

"Let’s hear it for this dynamic duo. A little bit salty, a little bit sweet, a lotta bit delicious!"

The flavor I went for?  Of course the one that sounded the most like candy.  Chocolate peanut butter.

This was a decent bar.  The chocolate and peanut butter elements were both fairly strong, unlike so many healthy bars where they put so little of those "decadent" items in, they are barely noticeable.  This had a clear peanut butter flavor in the base, and reasonably large chunks of dark chocolate studded throughout.  I didn't think I was eating a peanut butter cup, but, it was enjoyable.

The rest of the base was made up of oats that made it pleasantly chewy, dates for a touch of sweetness (but were minimal enough it didn't taste overly healthy), and, a surprise to me, almonds, cashews, coconut, and chia seeds, none of which I really tasted, but I assume added to the texture.  Overall, it ate well, reasonably true to the chocolate peanut butter promise, nice chew, no odd nor off flavors.  There was prebiotic starch and probiotics hiding in there, but I didn't notice those either.  At 230 calories, 7g protein, 10g fat, a pretty reasonable snack bar.

***+.

Peanut Butter Chocolate.
(2024).

"Our CORE Peanut Butter Chocolate Superior Nutrition Bar is our best-selling bar, a little salty and a little sweet, this classic combo will get you ready to take on any challenge."

I didn't realize I had tried this before, but I guess there is a reason it is their best selling bar - I too was drawn in (again!) to the peanut butter and chocolate combo.

Interestingly, my review is pretty different from last time.  This time, I lamented that I didn't really taste any chocolate.  The peanut butter flavor was great, but the chocolate did not deliver, so I had to pair it with my own piece of dark chocolate (I know, such a hardship).  It was a good peanut butter bar, don't get me wrong, but, not peanut butter *chocolate*.  The texture was decent, a bit chewy, a bit crumbly.  It seemed somewhat made of nut bits (which, it is).  

I enjoyed the bar, but if you are looking for a real peanut butter cup inspired experience, be prepared with your own additional chocolate.  ***+.