I’m in full on infant care taking mode over here which leaves shockingly little time for eating so I’ve been hunting down the best and tastiest snacks I can find so I can actually get some calories in. For my first edition of Snack on This I’ve got a round up of all the granola bar-like snacks that I’ve been enjoying lately. 

I would LOVE to be the person who made their own granola bars for snacking on. I’d love to control every ingredient that would go into them ensuring maximum nutrient content and optimal organic standards. “It’s easy,” they say. “It’s quick and uses ingredients you already have in your pantry,” they say. HA. They’ve obviously not seen my pantry. My granola bars would be some stale rice crisp cereal, peanut butter, maybe a few cashews or cranberries, and probably more peanut butter – because I have a Costco amount of peanut butter over here. So ya, making granola bars would definitely require a grocery run and then after that, some how working in making them around an infant’s schedule? Not happening. With a baby, easy, one handed eating has become essential so I’ve been surviving on quick nutrient packed snacks. 

Thankfully, other people (who have more free time than me) have been able to produce these kinds of products for easy consumption to save time. The selection of snack items made with clean ingredients and less junk has been growing quickly so they’re not too hard to find nowadays. Even when you have a lengthy list of requirements for what can’t be an ingredient like me. If you also need something that is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, little to no added or refined sugar, and also tastes good (not like cardboard), or even if you don’t, then read on to see what I’m eating and why I like it:

Universal Bakery Organic Sunrise Energy Bars 

These bars are a great snacking size and are more on the chewy end of the granola bar scale. They are packed with omegas-3s: 570mg per serving! The ingredients are all organic and include: rolled oats, dried cranberries, raisins, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, quinoa, coconut, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and cashews. These have a mild flavor but they are really tasty. They are a little sweet and a little nutty and the cranberries and raisins throughout provide a nice burst of flavor. The only downside to these is they do have some added sugar. The only reason I give that a pass is because the rest of the ingredients are good and they are easy to eat. Because it’s a Costco product, there are of course a ton in the package too. I can’t really eat through these that fast so I put half of them in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer until I’m done with the first half to maximize freshness. It worked just fine and maintained the flavor and chewiness.  

Clay’s Chocolate Buzz WARRIOR MIX 

I like this mix because I need a chocolate fix sometimes. It’s kind of like granola bar chunks and it’s a little crumbly but still easy to eat on the go. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, no refined sugar and plant based. The ingredient list includes: almonds, honey, coconut, pumpkin seeds, cocoa powder and sea salt. You can eat this by itself, you can put on yogurt, or in a bowl topped with some kind of milk. It tastes

Autumn’s Gold Grain Free Granola Bars – Cinnamon Almond

This is a recent Costco find. They are made with just 10 simple, straightforward ingredients: almonds, pecans, maple syrup, organic honey, unsweetened coconut, pumpkin seeds, organic unrefined coconut oil, cinnamon, sea salt, and vanilla extract. I’d really prefer they were organic, but I like that a few ingredients are and as long as they don’t have funky preservatives or extra unnecessary ingredients they pass. These bars are NOT chewy, they are definitely on the crunchy side. I happen to like that, but if you prefer them softer I have a fix for ya. I brought one in the car the other day and it was warm so the heat softened it up. You could pop in in the microwave for a min if you so please. The flavor of these is mild and nutty, but leans toward cinnamon/vanilla for sure. 

WholeMe Almond Coconut Clusters

These are like little mini granola bars and are super easy to eat on the go. I definitely get the almond flavor in these, and I’m not just talking about how the nut itself tastes (because to me that’s a bit bland), but it has more of an almond oil flavor. Yum! They are full of healthy fats, only use natural sweeteners, are grain-free, gluten-free, Non-GMO verified and free from many common allergens. The ingredient list includes: almonds, coconut, honey, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut oil, almond oil and sea salt. I notice the pumpkin seeds in these, which adds nice texture and crunch, and I don’t feel like these are heavy on the coconut. For those that usually don’t like coconut, you might actually like these. My husband doesn’t usually and he thinks these are good too. These are also not organic but with simple and whole food ingredients, they pass the test as well.

Within/Without Chewy Cherry Granola

I just picked this up on a whim recently and I really like it! It’s nutty, a little sweet and a little tart. It definitely falls more on the traditional side of the granola scale – meaning it’s not as easy to eat one handed, but there are some bigger chunks too. However it’s different from traditional granola because it’s chewy, not crunchy. It would be delicious on top of some yogurt but I’ve just been eating it straight out of the bag. There are only 8, simple, whole food, ingredients including: almonds, honey, walnuts, almond flour, organic coconut oil, coconut, dried cherries and vanilla. 

So that’s the granola-like goodies I’ve been snacking on lately. Do you have any granola favorites to add to the list?? I’m always looking for new things to try!