Larabar says: Just like mom’s… satisfying as well as nourishing. Spiced with cinnamon and paired with juicy raisins, the apples deliver 3 grams of natural fiber. Almonds contribute Vitamin E and protein while the dates add 14 essential vitamins and minerals. Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids come from the walnuts. With all this goodness occurring naturally, you can eat Apple Pie every day!

Abi says: After a disturbing experience with the Cashew “Cookie” Larabar I’ve decided to stay away from mild/nut-based options & stick to strong flavors in my Larabar purchases.

Looks like a homemade energy bar. This Larabar exhibits recognizable chunks of fruit and nut. I like being able to tell exactly what’s in the bar. Or at least that there are a lot of things in the bar and not just a paste made from who knows what.

Smells like apple pie that somebody made with a recipe from Cooking Light. Not exactly that homemade apple pie smell. More like the sort of apple pie smell you get what you make a recipe titled Vegan Cinnamon Apple Pie Bars. Because that’s what this is.

Feels like a bunch of mush. Even with the nuts and the somewhat large chunks of ingredients, this bar is not a textural wonderland. I don’t even like eating bites from this bar. Instead, I break off little bits and form them into balls of apple-pie-energy and then pop them into my mouth. Yes, I play with my food.

Tastes like a healthy version of apple pie that doesn’t involve crust or gluten. This apple chunks and healthy dose of cinnamon really shine and I don’t mind so much that I’m also eating dates and raisins.

So far this is my favorite Larabar. I’m also one of the lucky people who is surrounded by multiple Trader Joe’s, meaning I can try all of these bars for just $1.19. For those of you unfortunately distant from a Trader Joe’s, you can buy these on Amazon.com for just $18.79 per 16-pack. Plus the $7.00 shipping, which seemed like a great deal until gas prices dropped by half overnight.

Ingredients: Dates, Walnuts, Unsweetened Apples, Almonds, Raisins, Cinnamon

Lara says: Two ingredients, one incredible flavor! The unprocessed, creamy cashews are rich in iron, zinc and B Vitamins. The chewy dates have more potassium than bananas. Together they form a bar rich in fiber with 2 grams of heart-healthy Omega-6 fatty acids and 15 essential vitamins and minerals. So much sustaining nourishment in such a simple recipe.

Abi says: The energy bar section of Trader Joe’s is always good for an interesting snack or two. Tired of searching for the elusive Fiberful Bar and refusing to toss half a package of Fiberful ends and pieces, I decided to take a chance on the Larabar.

After scanning the shelves and seeing the words “Cashew” and “Cookie” I knew I’d found my perfect energy bar match.

Or had I?

Initially looks were promising: the bar was studded with cashew pieces and featured a distinctly cookie-like appearance and texture. Mmmmm, cookies. But looks aren’t everything. I’d learned that lesson the hard way in Italy, realizing that while Italian bakers made some pretty incredible tarts, they uniformly sucked at producing delicious cookies.

But this isn’t a cookie, it is a energy bar masquerading under the name ‘cookie’. I’m used to it by now, the bars with ‘cookie’ and ‘pie’ in the names. I’m just waiting for Belgian Waffle and New York Cheesecake flavored bars. They probably already make those flavors and carry them at my local GNC alongside enormous tubs of what amount to legal steroids. And I avoid GNC like the plague.

SnackLounge.com isn’t about body building or poorly informed supplement salesmen. Rather, we are all about helping you avoid about an energy bar that tastes like an old brown couch. You know, one of those dismal ones in a Craigslist ad that is updated every day for two weeks before the owner realizes that nobody is going to buy that couch and finally it appears in the free section.

My mouth was not happy. First, this bar contains only dates and cashews. While I like those things and understand that they can be part of a delicious and healthy energy bar, on their own they DO NOT EQUAL CASHEW COOKIE. In fact, they’re sort of like those no-bake cookies that you make once in awhile because you forget that they’re just not that great. Yeah, like that but with even less flavor. I suppose that if the folks at Larabar added a dash of salt and a drop of vanilla to this snack then it would finally approach flavorful cookiedom. Until then, we’re sticking with Clif Chocolate Chip Cookie ZBars when we want an actual, cookie-like energy bar.

P.S. We have since then tried a couple of other LARABARs that are tasty and delicious (and not boring, like this one) and we’ll report on those in November.