KIND Nuts and Spices [Review]

I love a good granola bar! Though I prefer to make my own granola bars, sometimes the convenience of packaged granola bar saves time and makes travel (running errands or going on a trip) much easier. Individually packaged granola bars can be thrown into a diaper bag or a work back pack to always have a snack on hand. When I look for individually packaged snack items, I scrutinize ingredients closely. After the ingredients pass my requirements (no preservatives, no artificial/synthetic ingredients, etc.), I look for delicious flavors and a good taste. KIND bars offer indulgent flavors without artificial ingredients and preservatives.

KIND Caramel Almond & Sea Salt           (12 pack, $19.99)
KIND Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond    (12 pack, $17.91)

Rating: total green check marks out of 5.

The Good	The Not So Good
Simple ingredients list	Unknown source of some ingredients
Delicious flavor combinations

KIND released two new flavors of their Nuts & Spices bars: Caramel Almond & Sea Salt and Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond. Caramel Almond & Sea Salt is made with sea-salt and sweet caramel drizzled over crunchy almonds. Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond is made with dark roast coffee and whole almonds blended with honey and drizzled in dark chocolate. Both flavors contain 7g fiber, 6g protein and 5g sugar. KIND bars are a low-sugar healthy snack. Each bar is 200 calories.

I opened up the KIND Caramel Almond & Sea Salt bar on our trip to visit the grandparents. I love that the bar is pretty much made up of almonds because almonds are my favorite nuts. The bar had a slight caramel taste, not too overpowering. Though, I could not really taste the salt. Overall, the flavor combination worked well together. I enjoyed the bar and received an energy boost after feeling lightheaded all afternoon.

The ingredients list is as KIND claims, no artificial ingredients. However, I would question the source of sugar, soy lecithin, milk powder and natural flavor. The labels states that glucose is non-GMO, but the other ingredients do not have the same indication, so I would assume that they are GMO. If you are trying to avoid GMO foods, I recommend digging a bit deeper to find out the source.

KIND Caramel Almond & Sea Salt Ingredients: Almonds, chicory root fiber, honey, palm kernel oil, sugar, non GMO glucose, crisp rice, soy lecithin, sea salt, milk powder, carob powder, natural flavor, annatto.

I tried the KIND Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond the next day with my daily 3:30pm coffee. I love that the bar is made with dark roast coffee. Maybe I do not need to drink the coffee with it after all! I really liked the combination of dark chocolate with almonds. Once again, the bar is mostly made up of almonds, which I love. The chocolate flavor was subtle. I would love the KIND Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond bar even more if it had more of a chocolaty taste.

Once again, I would question the source of sugar and soy lecithin. The labels states that glucose is non-GMO, but the other ingredients do not have the same indication, so I would assume that they are GMO. If you are trying to avoid GMO foods, I recommend digging a bit deeper to find out the source.

KIND Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond Ingredients: Almonds, chicory root fiber, sugar, palm kernel oil, honey, non-GMO glucose, cocoa powder, crisp rice, chocolate liquor, coffee, soy lecithin, cocoa butter, vanilla extract, Madagascar vanilla, salt.

If you are looking for a low-sugar healthy snack that will give you a lasting energy boost, look to KIND's new Nuts & Spices flavors. If you have sensitivities to ingredients or are trying to avoid certain ingredients like soy, non-GMO, etc., do some research before purchasing.

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All opinions are my own.