Clif Builder's Vanilla Almond Bar Review

I have been a fan of all things Clif Bar since I had my first Carrot Cake one in 1998-ish. Besides the original bars, I also enjoy the higher protein, albeit slightly higher in calories, Clif Builder's bars. On a recent trip to Wal-mart, I noticed a new flavor - Vanilla Almond. I am a big vanilla fan (give me vanilla ice cream over chocolate any day), so intrigued by both the flavor and the low Wally-World price tag at only $1.49, I flung one of these in the cart.

Like all the bars in the Builder's line, the Vanilla Almond version packs a protein wallop at 20 grams per bar. One thing I really like about these is that, unlike most bars high in protein, there are no artificial ingredients or sweeteners. Everything on the ingredient list is recognizable and easily pronounced and 39% of the ingredients are certified as organic.As much as I wanted to like this, I wsan't terribly impressed with the taste. The vanilla coating was not very vanilla-ish, nor was the inside very almond-y (a quick glance at the wrapper showed roasted almonds in the middle of the ingredient list which is pretty telling). The whole thing was kind of dry and tasteless, not nearly as good as the chocolate coated Builder's bars I've had in the past. It also had a weird sort of aftertaste - something I would expect from a typical high protein bar packed with artificial ingredients, but not from Clif.

Clif Builder's Vanilla Almond Bar (68 grams) provides 270 calories, 8 grams of total fat (12% of the daily value), 4.5 grams of saturated fat (23% of the DV), 10% of the DV for sodium (240 mg) and 30 grams of carbohydrates which includes 3 grams of fiber (12% of the DV) and 22 grams of sugar (and 20 grams of protein as previously mentioned).

With so much sugar it seems like this thing would have more taste with all that, but alas NO. The price is right but I won't be blowing 270 calories on this again.

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