It's True, I Krave You!

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Quest Nutrition Bars… and whenever I see a bar that is nutritionally comparable I just have to try it. No bar ever lives up to the Quest Bar, though. That is until I tried Krave Bars. Ever since I heard of Krave I was dying to try the bars. However, I am living the stereotypical "poor college kid" life and never have leftover money after a run to lulu lemon the grocery store. The kind folks over at Pure Fitness Nutrition (Hi Steven!) announced that once they reached 2000 instgram followers that they would give a sample box away to a follower… and I happened to be that follower!

@kravebars posted:
"…we at krave wanted to shout out @eatburnbalance for winning our crave variety box giveaway. It was very close but her interaction and love for helping other really won us over." I was ecstatic to be the winner! Thank you, Steven, for such the kind words. What you preach about the health, fitness, and wellness world is what I believe and strive to preach as well.
Before I start making you crave these Krave bars, let me tell you about their company. Krave's philosophy is to use real and and natural ingredients to produce high quality products that will ensure results. Each bar has 20 grams of protein, no more than 7 grams of non-fiber carbs, and they are all gluten free.

When the bars came in the mail… I dropped everything and ran for my scissors..

I have never opened a package so quickly.

An ear-to-ear grin took over my cheeks.

IT WAS TIME TO DIG IN!

The first bar I tried was…

Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch. When I first opened this bar I thought I was dreaming. Seriously. The smell and look of the bar made me want to scarf it down in one bite. But I practiced self control and allowed myself a small bite to savor before I scarfed the whole thing down. Obviously, I couldn't contain myself enough and slipped a little nibble before the picture was taken.

The texture of this bar won me over immediately. Soft, chewy, and easy to break little pieces off. You know how Quest Bars get when you pop them in the microwave for about 10 seconds? Yeah.. that was the texture of this bar, without being microwaved. There was also a nice crunch factor with a few peanut pieces in there… look at them! Those peanut pieces were perfectly complimented with chocolate swirls. The taste was on point as well. I definitely like this chocolate peanut bar more than the Quest version. It was almost like a cookie dough Quest bar but with thick swirls of creamy peanut butter and rich chocolate. There was a perfect balance between the chocolate and peanut butter, which I think Quest messed up on… with too much chocolate. Krave nailed it on this one. Delectable.

I had a tough time deciding which bar to try next… I stayed on the chocolate route and went for the Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

Fudge-y and chocolatey goodness complete with walnut chunks and chocolate chips. The texture was just as soft as the peanut butter chocolate crunch. The smell… a rich, deep chocolate scent with a nutty undertone. I was stoked to bite into this one. Don't get me wrong… it was delicious. However, I do like Quest's version of chocolate brownie more than I liked this one. But I would eat either any day! I would say this was my least favorite flavor of all the bars but the flavor and texture was still there. Just not my favorite.

I wanted to get off of the chocolate route for just a moment (I know you're thinking… chocolate is always the answer!  What is wrong with you?!) so I went for the French Toast bar. 

And I am so glad I chose to go with this one. I mean LOOK AT THOSE PECAN CHUNKS! French toast is a difficult flavor to nail. But holy cow. Krave nailed it straight on the head. Not only did it taste better than any french toast I have ever had, but it also smelled like heaven filled the room once I opened the wrapper. It was quite an experience getting such a sweet scent from just barely opening the wrapper. The texture was perfect, of course, and the chunks of pecan made it fun to chew. There were hints of cinnamon and butter-y goodness that tied it all together. This, for sure, was my favorite so far.

My mouth was ready for chocolate again… so next up… Banana Nut Chocolate Chip.

When I took the first bite out of this baby, all I could say was "oooooomf". The perfect amount of banana. I love how this bar had chocolate in it along with the banana and nuts. Yes, banana nut is always a great flavor, but can you ever go wrong with adding chocolate to something, right? Smart move, Krave, with taking the extra step (compared to Quest) on this flavor. It was marvelous :). There were dried bananas in there along with chocolate chips. It was almost like a banana split. But better. The texture was amazing, too, as you would have guessed.

I wanted to save Cookie Dough for last so next up was Baked Apple Pie. 

After smelling and biting into this bar, I was convinced it was just my Grandma's apple pie morphed into a rectangular shape. The dried apples in the bar were the perfect touch. It seemed as if the apples were dunked and coated in a thick caramel. Pair those dried apples with the crunchy pecans and hint of cinnamon and you're smelling, tasting, and experiencing perfection. If you put an apple pie Quest bar and a baked apple pie Krave bar in front of me… I honestly don't know which one I would choose. Both companies have perfected this flavor.

As always… I save the best for last. 

I just had a gut feeling that Raw Cookie Dough would be the best… my gut (and tastebuds) did not lie to me. This was definitely my favorite. I mean… look at how pretty it is! So swirly. So chunky. So soft. So cookie-y. When I opened the wrapper, smelled the bar, and broke a chunk off, I honestly thought it was real cookie dough. I had to double check the ingredients label to make sure Krave wasn't punking me. They weren't. What I loved about this bar was the texture (of course) and the balance of chocolate flavor to dough flavor. The chocolate was just rich enough to balance out the butter-y tasting dough flavor. So delicious. Same situation as apple pie here though… put a Quest cookie dough bar and a Krave cookie dough bar in front of me and I don't think I'd be able to choose one over the other. Both are great healthy remakes of cookie dough.

Overall, these bars were out of this world. I thoroughly enjoyed them. The nutritional value is great and the ingredient list makes you feel good about what you are eating. I only tried them raw and can't wait to try them microwaved or baked or even chilled! If I had to rate the bars from favorite to least favorite:

1. Raw Cookie Dough (favorite)

2. French Toast

3. Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch

4. Baked Apple Pie

5. Banana Nut Chocolate Chip

6. Chocolate Fudge Brownie (least favorite-but still delicious)

You can find more information about these bars (ingredients and nutrition facts), the company, and their story on Krave's website: purefitnessnutrition.com.

Now for some exciting news!!! I am going to be doing a giveaway of two Krave bars to one of my blog readers/instagram followers (US residents only)! Check instagram in the next few days for details on the giveaway!