I am one of those annoying coupon shoppers that people hate to see heading to the check out. A few months ago there was a one dollar off coupon for the Skippy Snack Bars but when I checked the price at the store, they were selling them for over three dollars a box. I knew they’d go on sale so I held out. Not even two weeks later they went on sale, two boxes for $4.00. After rounding up more one dollar off coupons I was finally ready to stock up on them. The brood love peanut butter so I figured that they’d like having these around and with several different flavors to choose from, everyone could have something to choose from. They only had three of the four flavors available but that was good enough for me, at a dollar a box I didn’t hesitate to buy as many as I had coupons for. Initially the kids didn’t like them, they said that they were too hard but within a week they were down to the last box. Kids, you just can’t figure them out sometimes.
These bars are made up of granola, peanut butter, rolled oats and wheat flakes so there is a definite crunch to them. Each bar is 1.23 ounces and they come packaged six bars to a box. I fell in love with the peanut butter ones but they also come in PB & Marshmallow, PB & Strawberry and PB & Fudge but there are some rumors floating around that they will be adding more flavor combinations to the line up. The bars are made up of layers that are surrounded by a semi hard peanut butter coating, under that there are the ‘toppings [peanut butter, fudge, marshmallows, jelly] then the granola layer. When you bite into it the top part is soft but when you hit the granola it gets a little harder. If you have kids that are still losing their teeth consider cutting these into small pieces for them so they don’t have to bite into the bars. The peanut butter is the most prominent flavor that you’ll pick up on but if you get the ones with the fudge, marshmallow or jelly, you will be able to get a good mouthfeel from those as well.
The PB & Marshmallow and PB & Strawberry have chocolate outer coatings while the PB & Fudge and regular Peanut Butter ones have the regular semi hard peanut butter coating to them. These do fill you up between meals and because there is a lot of granola, you do spend a lot of time chewing it so you aren’t just tearing through them. There’s no bad after taste to them and one of them should be able to hold you over until your next meal. They are individually wrapped so you can pack them in school lunches, for after school programs or toss a few in your backpack when the munchies strike. In colder weather the peanut butter coating does get a little hard so give it a few minutes to come to room temperature before you eat it; likewise, in warmer months, you may want to store these in the refrigerator. In case you purchase different flavors, the wrappers are marked with the name of the product and which flavor it is so you’ll never to have to play the “which flavor is it” game.
From a nutritional standpoint these are better than chips or candy bars but that doesn’t mean you can sit there and eat the whole box. There are some slight differences between the flavors so I’ll use the Peanut Butter flavor one as an example. This bar has 180 calories, 10 grams of fat, 18 grams of carbohydrates [11 from sugar] and 4 grams of protein. These aren’t something that I eat all the time but I can sneak in half a bar here and there when I am craving something sweet, crunchy and peanut buttery. The brood will eat these if they are having a light lunch or want something between meals but if there is fruit or Jell-O around, they will go for that first. There are four flavors to choose from so even picky eaters will come across some combination that they like.
There are a lot of ‘new’ snack bars on the market that are targeted at kids. If you are concerned with what they are eating between meals these bars are a good choice but you have to remember that they aren’t supposed to down an entire box in one day. If you have food allergies you will want to read the ingredient panel closely since the bars do contain peanuts, wheat, peanut flour and milk. I am hoping that Skippy adds more flavor combinations to this snack bar line, they are a great choice for active kids who need a wholesome snack after school, before a sport practice or to hold them over until dinner. For more information about this or any other Skippy products, call them toll free at [866] 4SKIPPY. The Skippy parent company, Unilever, guarantees this product to be fresh or your money back. Please check the top of the box for the ‘best by’ date to ensure that you are getting a new box. You can also visit the Skippy website at www.peanutbutter.com.
