Review of Nature Valley Oats & Honey Granola Bars

Do you find it challenging to come up with healthy snacks for your children? I care for seven school aged children, ages 7-12, and when they come home from school the first thing they ask me is “what’s for snack?”

Nature Valley Granola Bars are one of their favorite snacks, and they really like the Oats & Honey flavor. I buy these in the large boxes from Costco, as they are cheaper sold in bulk. They are also sold in the smaller boxes, with six packages to a box.

Each foil packet weighs 1.5 ounces, and contains two thin granola bars. I usually eat just one for a snack, but the kids eat both of them.

I feel these make wholesome snacks, since they do contain whole grains, rolled oats and crispy rice. And of course they are flavored with honey, which I believe is a more natural sweetener. In fact, Nature Valley calls these granola bars 100% natural.

When my husband goes out fishing or golfing, he often packs a few of these in his backpack for a nice snack in between meals. The front of my package says that these are the official natural energy bar of the PGA tour and the US ski team. They stay nice and fresh in the foil packets, and they are pretty sturdy and don’t crumble easy. They have a nice crunch to them and provide a satisfying snack. Many granola bars are softer or chewier, but these are VERY crisp and crunchy.

Nutrition Facts

(Per 2 bars)
Calories: 180
Fat calories: 50
Total fat: 6g
Saturated fat: 0.5g
Trans fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 160mh
Carbs: 29g
Fiber: 2g
Sugars: 11g
Protein: 4g

Ingredients

Whole Grain Rolled Oats, Sugar, Canola Oil, Crisp Rice with Soy Protein, Rice Flour, Soy Protein Concentrate, Sugar, Malt, Salt, Honey, Brown Sugar Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Baking Soda, Natural Flavor, Peanut Flour, Almond Flour, Pecan Flour.

Warnings for allergies: Contains soy, almond, peanut and pecan ingredients.

My Thoughts

I’ve been buying these for years! My daughter is 25 years old, but when she was in grade school, I used to buy them for her lunches. The bars provide fiber and protein, and contain zero cholesterol and zero of the bad trans fat. The sodium content is low in comparison to many snack foods, but the sugar count is still a bit high. These don’t taste overly sweet, however. The honey adds a nice compliment to the oats, and they help satisfy my sweet tooth cravings, and they’re a much healthier snack than a candy bar or a bowl of ice cream!

Living in Alaska, we need to be prepared for all kinds of weather, and all of our cars have an emergency kit in the trunk. We keep flashlights, batteries, candles, matches, water, space blankets, flares, handwarmers and these granola bars. They never seem to go stale, and are still tasty even if they happen to freeze. (I know this for a fact, because we change them out after every winter, and I don’t throw them away, I eat them!). They are the perfect size for adding to your cars glove box, a backpack or even a purse.

Nature Valley has been making healthy granola bars for years, and these are one of our favorite granola bars. The Oats & Honey is our favorite flavor, but they do come in Cinnamon and Peanut Butter as well. We recommend this snack! And it gets my daycare children’s endoresment as well!