Since the company’s inception in 1992, CLIF has been creating plant-based nutrition bars, protein bars, energy gels and energy chews for endurance sports, recovery drink mixes with electrolytes, fruit and nut bars, and granolas. The CLIF Bar Company is well known in the food and nutrition world but has also made its mark as a brand focused on energy sustainability, community, nutrition, and employee well-being.
In fact, in the last few years the plant forward company has launched several initiatives including using renewal energy for production, environmentally friendly packaging, an employee owned stock program, and the company continues to choose more wholesome (often organic ingredients) for their products.
As the CLIF Bar Company evolves, they continue to launch new products. One of the latest product lines is the CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Vegan Nutrition Bars available on Amazon. The new bars are available in seven flavors: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Coconut Almond Butter, Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, Peanut Butter, Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter, Blueberry Almond Butter, and Caramel Chocolate Peanut Butter. All the bars are vegan with similar organic and non-GMO plant-based ingredients and a similar nutrition profile. The bars do not contain a clear source of gluten but are not certified gluten free and may contain wheat or traces of gluten.
Today, we (myself as vegan dietitian and my non-vegan omnivore husband) are taking a closer look at the Blueberry Almond Butter flavor. Let’s see how it stacks up…
Taste Experience
Do you like traditional CLIF Bars? If yes, you will also love the Blueberry Almond Butter CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Vegan Bar. The outer layer tastes like blueberry CLIF Bar with oats, protein crisps, and brown rice syrup. And in fact, when looking at the ingredient list, the CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Bars look like other plant-based vegan bars from the CLIF Bar company. However, once you bite into the heartier and dense blueberry muffin like layer, you’ll find a slightly salty, thick and creamy almond butter filling that complements the sweet blueberry oat layer quite well.
The texture is similar to CLIF Bars – chewy and dense and the almond butter layer is incredibly thick so it all holds its place without getting messy.
The almond butter layer is actually almond butter and cashew butter and honestly doesn’t taste like almonds as much as a nut butter blend.
The vegan plant-based nutrition bar smells sweet, like brown rice syrup with subtle hints of nut butter, oats, and blueberries and tastes just as sweet and delicious for an afternoon treat. I say afternoon treat because it’s too sweet for me in the morning but I actually like the CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Vegan Nutrition Bars better than the original CLIF Bars as the almond butter layer really helps cut the sweetness and balance out the overall taste. If you don’t want to take my word for it, check out the raving reviews for the Blueberry Almond Butter CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Bars here on Amazon!
Nutrition
The CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Vegan Nutrition Bars are smaller than the original CLIF bars but the Blueberry Almond Butter still packs in 230 calories 100 calories coming from fat (likely from the almond butter, cashew butter, and sunflower oil).
There are 11 grams of healthy plant-based fat with only 2 grams of saturated fat. The healthy plant-based fat can not only keep you full longer and prevent hunger pangs but can also support a healthy heart.
CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Bars have 27 grams of carbohydrate with 2 grams of fiber and 10 grams of sugar. This is an appropriate amount of energy for a snack but you can expect a higher blood glucose response with the limited fiber and sugar content. This may be helpful if you are looking for a quick boost of energy but it may be depleted faster than a vegan plant-based nutrition bar with more fiber.
Each plant-based snack bar has 7 grams of protein to help meet your protein needs but moreso keep hunger at bay. This is the same amount of protein in an egg and with the provided carbohydrates and healthy fat, CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Vegan Nutrition Bars are a great snack choice.
The CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Nutrition Bar does not have added vitamins and minerals but still does provide 4% calcium, 10% iron, 10% Vitamin E, 6% Phosphorus, and 2% Magnesium. This tells me that CLIF uses nutrient dense ingredients to not only create a great tasting sweet snack bar but a bar that helps boost your protein and overall nutrition status. Buy the Blueberry Almond Butter CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Bars on Amazon and enjoy this vegan goodness for yourself!
The Non-Vegan Review
Nut butter! Yum! Who doesn’t love a little nut butter filled treat? Not me! I love me some nut butter, especially when injected into a blueberry Clif bar. It was genius of Clif to start filling their bars with nut butter. I mean, c’mon, Clif was getting a bit stale with their original bars. They needed to evolve and come out with new products to stay competitive in the energy bar market. Squirting a little nut butter into a bar was exactly what they needed. Yes, these are a bit on the sweet side, but they are energy bars, not protein bars. They are great to have for breakfast or right before a hike or workout. The nut butter in the middle is nice and buttery and the blueberry flavor is not too overpowering. Clif did a great job on these Blueberry Nut Butter bars. Best place to get these is on Amazon, so go buy some now. Non-vegan husband out!
Parting Thoughts
CLIF Bars continue to create great tasting, readily available plant-based nutrition bars. The Organic Nut Butter Filled Vegan Nutrition Bars provide the same great CLIF bar on the outside but added a creamy, slightly salty, and ultra decadent almond butter filling layer to take the sweetness down a notch while boosting the protein intake in a small package. The Blueberry Almond Butter flavor tastes like a dense, hearty blueberry muffin with a power packed nut butter punch! I definitely like these more than other CLIF Bars and plan on buying them more regularly than traditional CLIF Bars. Buy the Blueberry Almond Butter CLIF Organic Nut Butter Filled Vegan Nutrition Bars on Amazon and see for yourself – you won’t be disappointed!