CLIF Kid ZBaR, Chocolate Brownie, 1.27-Ounce Bars (Pack of 36)

My kids love these. They are sweet but not too sweet. The texture is just right. They are just crunchy enough, not too hard. They are just chewy enough. My kids love to put them in their lunchboxes. The bars are just the right size to be a snack or a lunch treat. Also good if you are going hiking and need something quick and prewrapped.

I'm also pleased that Amazon has them so reasonably priced. The grocey stores here charge twice what Amazon does.

Let's face it, there are times when hermetically sealed, pocket-size kid's food is just the ticket. Keep a bar in your purse for emergencies; toss a bar into the backseat during the 10-minute ride to ballet lessons; add a bar to fill out a skimpy lunch. When those bar moments come, it's nice to at least feel good about the ingredients. Yes, ZBars are a little sugary. But I can cope with some organic cane sugar and fig paste -- it sure beats the ingredient lists on Nutragrain bars. Plus the decent fiber and protein content makes for a nourishing snack. One caveat: the texture is a little unusual, so try to serve your kids a single bar to make sure they like it before committing to a big pack.

Now, I will put you in the hands of my 8-year-old daughter for the eater's perspective:

All of the flavors of ZBars are pretty good. I'd say that chocolate chip is the 3rd best. #1 is peanut butter, but we can't take that to school because peanuts aren't allowed. #2 is chocolate brownie. #3 is chocolate chip, because it's really tasty but a little messy because the chips fall off.

This is a snack that anyone (child or adult) can feel good about. They are USDA Organic and use whole grains. They are also fortified with an impressive amount of B-vitamins (including B1, B3, B2, B6 and B12). Each bar is individually wrapped and the consistency is firm enough not to make a mess but not so firm that they are hard to chew.

I removed a star because the wrappers are somewhat difficult to open and because the chocolate drizzled on each bar will melt on your fingertips. It doesn't make much of a mess but it will be noticeable on white fabrics.

We liked these bars so much, we actually subscribed to the CLIF Kid ZBaR, Variety Pack of Peanut Butter, Chocolate Brownie, and Chocolate Chip, 1.27-Ounce Bars (Pack of 48) and get one of these delivered to us every month.

This is the one-flavor option and choco chips is my girl's favorite. The bars are just about the right size - not too small but small enough for the kids to get 2 of them in one day, if they earned them. I sometime take a bar myself, after exercising or I take one or 2 with me to office and have them with tea in the morning as breakfast.

After 3-4 months of ZBaRs subscription it would be fair to say that we enjoy them very much. I like them because they are made with good-quality (organic) ingredients, they are chock-full of vitamins, don't have a lot of fat and contain zery hydrogenated oils, fructose, corn syrup or the artificial preservatives and flavor enhancers that just about anything we buy these days seems to have in abundance. The kids like them because they are tasty.

To summarize:

- the size is right
- tastes great
- kids love it
- with 36 bars in one box, a monthly subscription would probably make sense if available (you get 15% off)

One note of caution. The all organic, no artificial preservatives, environmentally friendly packaging seems to cause the bars to get progressively drier as time passes. If you want a chewy, fully satisfying experience, do not plan to store them for months. One month seems to be okay though.

Go for them (I went) :)

I tried to get these bars as part of the Amazon Vine program but evidently they are no longer shipping them out. I never got any notice on that. Plus I'm no longer 'required' to write a review but this product is still registered as being part of my account which says I have to write a review. Here's my review which is a review of the faulty process whereby a product which is no longer available is still my responsibility to review. I hope Amazon will address this problem.