Larabar - Banana Chocolate Chip bar - Jan. 18, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Larabar 

(Distributed by Small Planet Foods, Inc.)

Banana Chocolate Chip bar

Good - Good + 

Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in 1 bar / 8 oz. (226 g.) in total box of 5 bars

Calories: 190 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $2.99 for 1 box of 5 bars

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week.

Today's Larabar Banana Chocolate Chip bar was distributed by Small Planet Foods, Inc.--a division of General Mills, (Minneapolis, MN). Larabar fruit and nut snack bars were created by Denver, CO, native Lara Merriken. 

These bars had a soft chewy texture with natural-tasting fruit (date, banana) and nuts (almonds). Chocolate chips contributed subtle chocolate flavor, and helped round out this blend. There was no need for added sugars and, thankfully, none were added. Dates and bananas both have plenty of concentrated sweetness.

Non-GMO Project Verified, gluten free, vegan and dairy-free, this bar had no preservatives* and "just four ingredients." Not bad for a mass-produced snack bar, especially when compared with similar packaged snack bar offerings a few decades ago.

*Ingredients: dates, almonds, unsweetened bananas, semisweet chocolate chips (unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla extract).

Manoa Chocolate - Flavors of Hawaii, Mai'a Banana Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) - Jan. 17, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Manoa Chocolate

Flavors of Hawaii - Mai'a Banana Dark Chocolate 70% (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar (check this)

Calories: 360 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar - part of a 3-bar Flavors of Hawaii set for $28.50 (+ discount)

Purchased from: Manoa Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week. 

Today's Mai'a Banana Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) was made by Manoa Chocolate (Kailua (Oahu), Hawaii), and was part of a "Flavors of Hawaii" Collection. (I will be featuring the Haupia coconut 60% bar from this 3-bar set in the near future.)

This dark chocolate had an aroma with green chocolate, green banana and sugar cane notes.

The well-tempered bar broke with a snap and had a creamy melt and mouthfeel. 

The flavor was very similar to the aroma notes mentioned above, with luxe 70% dark chocolate flavor and authentic green (banana) notes; a natural sweetness (organic cane sugar, freeze-dried banana powder); and a lightly perfumed banana floral finish.

Manoa (a Hawaiian word that translates to mean "solid, vast, depth") suggestions for beverage pairings read as follows: wine: beaujolais; liquor: rye whiskey; beer: nitro stout.

Ingredients: Cacao, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, freeze-dried banana powder