88 Acres

I live a fairly active lifestyle, so having a quick bar to grab for a snack or breakfast (particularly when traveling) comes in very handy.  But of course I am very opinionated, and I love to try new things, so I've tried a ton of different styles of bars over the years.

Which leads me to 88 Acres.  88 Acres is a very ... seed forward company (yes, I sorta made that term up, but, seeds are at the forefront of their products).  They have 4 main product lines: Seed + Oat Bars, Protein Bars, Seed Butters, and Seed'nola/Edge'nola, all of which focus on seeds as the base.  The later two product lines are newer, and I haven't had a chance to try them yet.  Everything is gluten-free and vegan. 

I enjoy their products, and will continue to purchase them.

Seed & Oat Bars

"Our nutritious gluten free whole-grain oats are an excellent source of high-quality protein and contain manganese, phosphorous, magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper – all necessary for healthy functioning bodies, young, old or somewhere in between. 

Our bars are crafted from familiar kitchen staples, combining oats, sunflower, pumpkin, flax seeds, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, and a variety of tasty additions like chocolate chips, vanilla, cinnamon, berry blends, and Australian sea salt."

Seed & Oat bars I believe were the first product line offered by 88 Acres.  They come in 2 styles, thin or regular, both in many flavors.  All use a trifecta of seeds (pumpkin, flax, chia) as the base. 

Thins

The first bar I ever had from 88 Acres was actually one of the thins, which come in fewer flavors.  I think I slightly prefer them to the regular size bars.

Cinnamon Maple Thin.

"Soft-baked for a chewy texture. Made with gluten-free oats and organic cinnamon swirled together for that comforting taste of fall every day of the year."

I find it interesting that they call these "soft-baked" and "chewy", as I find them harder than most granola style bars, almost crunchy.  I actually really like the crunch factor, but it is notable that it isn't how they are advertised.  I've had many of these bars at this point, and they are always this crispier style - you can snap them, not bend them.

Anyway, I really like these.  The signature mix of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, flax) makes it very crunchy, the oats round it out, and the brown rice and maple syrups give it a great sweetness level.  Nicely spiced with cinnamon and sea salt.  Pretty simple ingredients actually, but, well crafted.

I don't do this with any other granola/seed/oat bars, but I really like to dunk these in a bit of greek yogurt or labane (or I spread a layer on top).  Bonus points for also sprinkling on cacao nibs.  I'm not sure why I like them that way, but, the tang and creaminess compliment the bars perfectly.

I'll continue to get these, and would love to try other flavors.  ****.

Cinnamon Maple Thin.

I've had many many of these at this point, and always really quite enjoy them.  Just great form factor, crunch, and cinnamon spicing.  I still always feel compelled to dunk in yogurt though, which I truly cannot explain.  ****.

Regular

The thicker, regular bars come in 7 flavors: 3 featuring chocolate (dark chocolate sea salt, oatmeal chocolate chip, double dark chocolate), 3 with fruit (blueberry lemon, triple berry crumble, apple ginger crisp), and cinnamon maple.

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt.

"Soft-baked for a chewy texture. Perfectly balanced with chocolate chips and sprinkled with large flakes of sea salt for that taste of homemade chocolate chip cookies."

This was my first regular bar, not a thin like the others.  It is just over twice the size (45g rather than 22g), mostly just thicker.

The base is the same as the previous flavor: lots of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, flax) and oats, along with brown rice and maple syrups to sweeten, and sea salt to make the flavors pop.  It swaps in bits of dark chocolate in place of cinnamon.

I was let down a bit at first, as I expected more visible and substantial dark chocolate elements.  Without reading the description I assumed it would have a chocolate coating, but even once I realized it didn't have that, I thought there would be big hunks of chocolate.  There were not.  It was still a very seed forward bar, healthy tasting but somehow enjoyable.  Great crunch.  Just, very minimal chocolate.

I think I do like the thin form factor more, and slightly preferred having the stronger cinnamon spicing, but I enjoyed this and would gladly have another.  Lower ****.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.

"Soft-baked for a chewy texture, just like a cookie. With creamy chocolate chips and a hint of sea salt, it's the bar you'd make if you had the time!"

So, um, this was the same ingredients as the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, except it also had cinnamon and vanilla extract.  But otherwise, exact same ingredients, in the exact same order, and identical nutrition stats, except that the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt had 5 mg more sodium.  It did however look slightly different, with chocolate limited to the little chips.

This one reminded me a bit of kid's granola bars, or at least, my memory of them, although a thicker, more firm, less gooey version.  It still had the hints of being a healthier choice with the seeds in it that added a touch of bitterness, but the chocolate chips made it certainly sweeter than many of the others.  It was a fine granola bar, but didn't feel particularly unique nor special.  ***.

Apple Ginger Crisp.

"Packed with nutritious ingredients like oats, dried apple, crystallized ginger and maple syrup to recreate that nostalgic apple pie flavor in a chewy snack bar."

This is probably the least interesting, at least to me, flavor I tried.  Just the standard base of oats, pumpkin, flax, and sunflower seeds, brown rice syrup and maple syrup, along with raisins, bits of dried apples and ginger, and some warming spices (cinnamon/cloves/ginger).  It did not remind me of an apple pie as promised.  I actually wouldn't have known it had bits of apple in it, as I never really detected them.  I also didn't really taste the ginger in the way I'd expect from the crystalized pieces in it.

The bar was one of the more bitter flavors I tried, with so little to mask the flax and sunflower seeds in particular, it trended too bitter, and too healthy tasting for me.  The raisins did add a touch of sweetness and softness, but they too make it just taste healthy.  The texture was good, soft with a nice chew.  

Overall, a boring bar for me, and better enjoyed when I dunked it in yogurt to mask the bitterness a bit.  ***.

Protein Bars

"Myth: Protein bars are exclusively for people trying to bulk up.

Fact: Protein bars are good for everyone, especially those looking for healthier snacking options that satisfy the temporary hunger pangs when mealtimes are still far away!"

The protein bars still use seeds (only pumpkin rather than the trio) but have 12 g of protein, compared to the only 7 grams in the regular bars.  They come in only 3 flavors.

Banana Bread.

"Soft-baked for a chewy (never chalky) texture. Made with 12 grams of protein from pumpkin seeds, plus banana paste and a dash of cinnamon for that fresh-from-the-oven banana bread bite."

Hmm. I'm not quite sure how I felt about this.  

Given the description of "soft baked" and my own brain's interpretation of banana bread, I expected this to be a softer bar.  It wasn't entirely crispy, not as crisp as the regular bars, but it was a chewy style, and certainly quite firm.  It did have some banana bread flavors from the banana, cinnamon, and maple syrup, and crunch from pumpkin seeds, but that is all there is to it.  Very seed-forward, slight banana bread flavor.  Not too sweet.

I was more in the mood for something softer with stronger banana bread vibes however, so this wasn't quite right for me.  **+.

Chocolate Brownie.

"Soft-baked for a chewy (never chalky) texture. Made with 12 grams of protein from pumpkin seeds, plus large flakes of sea salt and chocolate for an indulgent boost."

Another soft-baked thick hefty protein bar.  This one was middle-of-the-road for me.  It was a fairly pleasant soft and chewy form factor, with lots of crunch from the plethora of seeds that make up the base.  There were hints of fudgey brownie, but the seeds did dominate.  The bar literally is made of just pumpkin seeds, maple and brown rice syrups for sweetness, dark chocolate and cocoa powder, and sea salt.  So, it tastes like exactly what it is, no more, no less.

***.  Finished it, but likely wouldn't buy another.