Clif Bar: Crunchy peanut butter

Product name: Clif Bar: Crunchy peanut butter
Purchase details: £1.28 for a 68g bar (tesco.com)
Calories: 254 per bar
Country of origin: USA

I bought this Clif Bar: Crunchy peanut butter at the same time as the White chocolate macadamia nut that I’d previously reviewed. Despite my love of peanut butter, I had actually been more excited about the concept of white chocolate, although I did still hope that this variety would be better than the other peanut butter energy bar I’ve tried: Lenny & Larry's Muscle Brownie.

Understandably, this bar had the same history and features of the White chocolate macadamia nut version. The packaging was also identical apart from the mountains being brown instead of white.

Described as an ‘oat and peanut butter energy bar’, it contained 15.2% rolled oats, 6.3% peanut butter, as well peanut flour and peanuts. It was the same shape as the other variety but was darker in colour (even more akin to a flapjack), had no drizzle decoration, and was sticky to the touch.

The aroma was different but still slightly strange. The waxy element remained, and it didn’t smell natural, but there was the subtlest hint of nut and no floral aspect.

Thankfully, the flavour on offer here was also nicer. The peanut butter wasn’t as strong as I’d have liked but there were hints of it and, every now and then, I hit a ‘clump’ of it which felt like a nice treat and had a toasted nut aspect to it. However, I did find each mouthful had a bit of a journey – it started off nice and relatively nutty, then tasted a bit weird and artificial just before the swallow, but had a pleasant aftertaste to follow!

The moist texture remained good and was actually improved. There was still a chewy/crispy combination but with an added starchy feel, as well as the odd crunchy nut, and thick flake of oat.

There is no doubt in my mind that this Crunchy peanut butter bar was nicer than its White chocolate macadamia nut sibling, as well as the Lenny & Larry's Muscle Brownie: Peanut butter competitor. As I’ve come to expect by now, I do prefer more general snacks than these functional ones, but I definitely wouldn’t complain if I was given one of these as an energy boost! 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 6.88/10

Clif Bar: White chocolate macadamia nut

Product name: Clif Bar: White chocolate macadamia nut
Purchase details: £1.28 for a 68g bar (tesco.com)
Calories: 263 per bar
Country of origin: USA

As a huge fan of Subway White Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies, I’ve had my eye on this variety of Clif Bar for a while. However, I did wait for it to be reduced before I took the plunge since I was a bit nervous about the fact it was an energy bar, following my not-so-great experience with the peanut butter Lenny & Larry's Muscle Brownie – proof that my favourite ingredients don’t always taste amazing!

The Clif brand was named after the founder and owner’s Dad, Clifford, who was his ‘childhood hero and companion through the Sierra Nevada mountains’ – this description didn’t half make me feel bad for munching on my bar as I sat on my bum in front of the telly! Anyway, it was clearly designed with active people and adventurers in mind, which is why the wrapper featured an illustration of a man climbing on a cliff. Despite the wrapper’s beige background colour, the blue from the sky and red from the logo really prevented the product looking boring.

On reading the description of the ‘oat, macadamia nuts and white chocolate flavour energy bar’, I realised the word ‘flavour’ didn’t sound great. The ingredients did list 16% rolled oats and 5.2% macadamia nuts, but the ‘white chocolate’ came in the form of ‘soy cocoa butter chips’ (6%). In fact, I’d never seen so many soy-containing ingredients listed on one product, but I was pleased to see lots of vitamins and minerals in there too.

The rectangular bar was quite a dark syrupy colour and looked like a knobbly flapjack with a white chocolate drizzle and visible macadamia nuts. The aroma was a bit unusual – it was like a waxy, floral vanilla scent which didn’t seem to match the bar that was sat in front of me.

As for the flavour, I wasn’t convinced at first. It almost tasted of alcohol which, as I’ve mentioned before, is not something I like. However, I found the flavour improved as I went on. The nuts tasted good but, overall, the bar was a bit bland and I couldn’t pick up on the white chocolate element at all. It certainly wasn’t a match for the Subway cookie, although I did like how it was sweet without being sugary.

Texturally, the Clif Bar was like a really dense and substantial cereal bar. It was chewy and crispy which made me think of cornflakes, at first, but then I realised that it contained rice crisps instead. I was also pleased that, despite being bitty and grainy by nature, it wasn’t dry.

On the whole, I’d say the Clif Bar: White chocolate macadamia nut was great in terms of what it was designed for – a filling boost that didn’t taste too shabby. As a ‘treat’, though, this didn’t quite work – the flavours on offer didn’t live up to my expectations and, for the calories, it just wasn’t worth it. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 6.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 6.75/10