Nature Valley, owned by General Mills, have launched a new cereal bar to their Nature Valley range, the Sweet & Nutty. This is great news for fans of US products as these bars seem to be identical to the US Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut bars. The packaging is slighty different but the bars look the same. On the subject of packaging, is it just me or do these look like they are being targeted to men? Maybe it's something to do with all the background hardwood and exposed nails!
The bars themselves are thankfully not as gooey as the picture on the front of the box would suggest. They do have a nice amount of chewiness but they are not overly sticky.
Each one is packed full of oats and crispy rice, which are chewy with a slight crunch. There is a generous amount of peanuts, which are quite soft in texture, and the whole bar has a fantastic peanutty flavour. The base of the bar is covered in a pale golden coloured layer, this has an almost maple syrup flavour. The whole thing made me feel as if I was eating a delicious peanut butter treat rather than a cereal bar.
I doubt I would eat this for breakfast but it's great as a replacement for chocolate or when I need a quick pick me up, as they are extremely delicious and satisfying. At 148 calories in each bar, they have more calories than the usual cereal bars I eat, and are much higher in fat, but they still have less calories than most chocolate bars.
These bars are currenty on a half price offer of £1.49 for a box of 5 bars in Sainsbury's, so it's a good time to try them out. I can't quite believe the normal price would be £2.99 though as that seems ridiculously expensive for cereal bars. They are also available in the Almond version pictured above.
Nutritional Information (per bar): 148 calories, 3.7g protein, 7.8g fat, 1.0g fibre, 0.10g sodium.
thanks for this. I was wondering if they were the same as the US Sweet & Salty - I'm just back from the States and I loved those there. Is there definitely a salty taste? I love sweet and salt together.
ReplyDeleteHaving looked at my (empty) US wrapper, there appear to be cashews in the US one, and much less of the boring rice.
Hi Elanor, I hope you had a fantastic holiday!
ReplyDeleteI would say they do have a salty taste but I don't know how it would compare to the US ones. Looking at the ingredients online they have a similar calorie and fat content but a lower salt content.
They also differ in their ingredients, the US ones are packed with artificial colours (Red 40 Lake, Blue 1 Lake, Yellows 5&6 Lake) and things like "Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil", which the UK ones don't have.
From this I would guess they will taste a bit different. If you try the UK ones please let me know how they compare!
Katherine
Eek! That sounds niiiice :(
DeleteYep, I'll try them and let you know. Actually, I just found one US one at the bottom of my bag...
SO, I bought some of these today. They are nothing like the American ones, sadly. They look similar, although the American ones are nuttier, but the taste is really different. There is none of the sweet/salt combo thing, and the UK ones are far sweeter. I don't like the taste of the stuff it's dipped in at the bottom, seemed very sweet and sickly compared to the US version.
DeleteThanks for letting us all know Elanor! That's a real shame but I guess once you've tasted the original these just don't compare. Luckily my hubby doesn't know any different so they are his favourite cereal bar at the moment!
DeleteI'm sure the UK version is fine, it just isn't the same as the American one. If I hadn't tasted that, I think I'd think it was fine.
DeleteMy husband loves Nature Valley bars and will be thrilled to learn about the Peanut ones! Thanks for this, I will have to pick him some up.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure he will love them Hannah, they are now my hubby's favourite. He's told me to stock up while they are half price!
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