Betty Lou’s is a company that offers a little something for everyone, while still only using all natural, premium ingredients. Her snacks range from being gluten free, wheat free, vegan, dairy free, corn free, and more! No matter what you have to avoid, you will be able to find some snacking comfort with Betty Lou’s products.
Betty Lou’s sent me some of their snacks to try, and today’s review is on the Jumbo Fruit Bars. They come in Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, Cherry, Apricot, and Strawberry. These bars in particular are vegan, wheat free, soy free, corn free, and dairy free.
Before I start, don’t be fooled by the word “jumbo“- they are not huge. In fact, even though they may be heavier in weight (57 grams), I would say they provide only a bit more of filling/crust like when compared to a nutri-grain bar (37 grams) or Kashi TLC bar (35 grams). They are also square in shape, rather than rectangular like the other bars.
John, from Betty Lou’s wrote to me about the bars- “Taste like a little piece of pie & are only sweetened with fruit”. Did someone say pie? and only sweetened with fruit?
Cool- no refined sugars, and still tastes like pie. I dig it 8)
I decided to try the Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, and Apricot flavors. All of them had a decently thick crust (about the size if you stacked 2-3 quarters), filled with gooey and sweet fruit filling.
Blueberry- this one was good. It had actual chunks of baby blueberries in it, which made the fruit filling thick and sweet, but not too sweet. It also had a bit of tartness to it. The crust was graham-cracker like (delish!!), and crumbly. I actually like this better than the Nutri-grain variety!
Apricot- well, I would be lying if I said I didn’t like this one. I expected to “sort of” like this flavor- as apricots aren’t my choice of fruit. However, this one was my favorite of the three! Really sweet and delicious- the filling reminded me of a marmalade. It was light and fruit, worthy of dessert. Ahh, delicious.
Apple Cinnamon- Irony again- I expected to like this one the best, and it was my least favorite of the three. It seemed to have less filling than the others, but it was still pretty good. A nice blend of cinnamon and apple flavor for the filling, providing a sweet and chewy center. What disappointed me was the crust- I figured the crust should taste the same on ALL of the bars, but this one tasted off. Perhaps I got a bad bar? It just tasted a bit stale. But- nothing a little action in the microwave couldn’t handle. I warmed it up and voila! warm apple pie! 8)
Overall, I give these 4 stars. They really are delicious- and I love that they are gluten free and sweetened with fruit instead of sugar. They really hit the spot warmed up, and went good with an ice cold glass of moo juice. However, they are 180-210 calories each, and are a bit too small for my likings. I would say they are about the size of a make-up compact. I could easily eat 3 of these in a sitting (but the 5 grams of fiber per bar might prevent me from doing so!! ;) ).
(*** last day to enter NATURE’S PATH giveaway! winner picked tomorow!)
Each bar is 180-210 calories, 3 grams of fat, 39-44 carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.
Blueberry- Blueberry Fruit Filling (Fruit Juice Concentrate [Peach, Pear, Pineapple, Apple], Blueberries, Apples, Inulin, Tapioca Starch, Apple Powder, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, Pectin, Locust Bean Gum, Organic Rice Flour, Red Cabbage Extract for Color), Fruitrim® (Fruit Juices, Natural Grain Dextrins), Gluten-Free Oats, Gluten-Free Flour Blend (Potato Starch, Brown Rice Flour, Stone Ground Sorghum Flour, Tapioca Flour), Safflower Oil, Inulin (dietary fiber), Water, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Sea Salt, Cinnamon, Baking Soda, Ginger.
Apricot- Apricot Filling (Fruit Juice Concentrate [Pear, Pineapple, Apple, Peach], Apricots, Inulin, Tapioca Starch, Apple Powder, Natural Flavor, Apricot Juice Concentrate, Water, Turmeric and Annatto Extract for color, Citric Acid, Pectin, Locust Bean Gum), Fruitrim® (Fruit Juices, Natural Grain Dextrins), Gluten-Free Oats, Gluten-Free Flour Blend (Potato Starch, Brown Rice Flour, Stone Ground Sorghum Flour, Tapioca Flour), Safflower Oil, Inulin (dietary fiber), Water, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Sea Salt, Cinnamon, Baking Soda, Ginger.
Apple Cinnamon- Apple Cinnamon Fruit Filling (Fruit Juice Concentrate [Pear, Pineapple, Apple, Peach], Apples, Inulin, Tapioca Starch, Natural Flavors, Apple Powder, Zante Currants, Citric Acid, Pectin, Water, Cinnamon, Locust Bean Gum, Annatto Extract and Turmeric for color), Fruitrim® (Fruit Juices, Natural Grain Dextrins), Gluten-Free Oats, Gluten-Free Flour Blend (Potato Starch, Brown Rice Flour, Stone Ground Sorghum Flour, Tapioca Flour), Safflower Oil, Inulin (dietary fiber), Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Sea Salt, Cinnamon, Baking Soda, Ginger.