Ah the power of real food! Now that I’m not working at a traditional desk job, I’ve found my meal times and calorie requirements have shifted a bit. While I’m slowly learning how to compensate for these changes, it’s taken a long time to make good adjustments! All too often in the first month or two of my new schedule I’d find myself at 4:00 still running in and out of patients’ rooms, hoping they didn’t hear my stomach growling. My lunch had been devoured by 11:30, thanks to starting work at 7am, and I still had hours to wait until dinner. Not wanting to have another entire meal in the middle of the afternoon, and needing something quick and non-perishable (in case I wanted to leave it at work for my next shift), I usually wolfed down a bar of some kind. Zone, Clif, FiberOne, whatever was closest to the checkout line at Duane Reade was what I had to eat. Then along came the Bumble Bar. Cue the heavenly angelic choir!
I first saw these bars on another blog, and looked everywhere for them in stores, but to no avail. Thankfully, the owner of the company, Liz, was incredibly kind and sent me a selection of flavors to sample and review! I was completely intrigued by the Chai flavor, and even more excited about the nutritional stats and ingredients. There really aren’t too many options out there for whole-food, moderate-calorie, flavorful bar options, but this is no longer a problem for me. The chai flavor was amazing! I actually took it to class the weekend after these arrived and shared a bite with my classmates, who also loved the spiciness and mild crunch this bar had. And it kept me satisfied for over four hours, which is something no other bar has been able to do. I certainly don’t know for sure, but I imagine it has something to do with the fact that these bar, like Larabars, isn’t full of junk filler. These babies are gluten-free, wheat free, dairy free, and certified organic so not only do I get straight up real food, but it’s also the highest quality food possible. Yum!
Up next were the chunky cherry and chocolate crisp flavors. I LOVED the cherry flavor. It had the tart punch I’ve always loved from cherry pie Larabars, but the bar didn’t feel quite as dense, which I consider to be a good thing. (It also made it last longer!) I wasn’t quite as thrilled with the chocolate flavor, though. The base of the bar was just as delicious and nutritious as the others, but the chocolate taste almost seemed artificial. Since all the other ingredients are pretty consistent across flavors, I’m guessing the culprit was the type of non-dairy chocolate, but I’m very sensitive to flavors like that so others might adore this flavor.
Last on the list were the lushus lemon and original bars. I realized, midway through the bar, that I should have started my sampling with the original flavor. Oops! This bar really would have been the perfect introduction to Bumble Bars. Its ingredient list is outstanding and you can tell it’s the ideal base for many of the other flavors. As much as I love a good shot of flavor, sometimes it’s really nice to have a simple, mellow snack bar and the Bumble Bar original was exactly that. It also proved that these bars are made with incredibly clean ingredients. It’s easy to hide poor ingredients with strong flavorings, but the true test of a good bar is to get rid of all the fluff and get down to the basics.
As far as the lemon bar goes, I have to be honest. I didn’t get to taste it! I came home from class one evening to find its wrapper in the our trash bag. I guess The Huz got hungry and decided to dig in! Ah well, no reason I should be the only one to enjoy such delectable, and healthy, snacks, right? My only regret was not getting to taste this flavor for myself, especially since The Huz was so crazy about it. I’m pretty sure his one-word description was “Zesty!!” so you can bet I’ll be buying this flavor in the future.
And speaking of buying them in the future, I finally found them in a store near my apartment! Guess what’s going into my emergency snack bag for work this week 
What do you keep at work for emergency snacking?
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oooh these look so tasty! I normally have fruit and nuts on hand for when those snack attacks hit!
I tried these once a while ago (I don’t remember which flavor) and I didn’t like it. Maybe I should give it another go…that cherry flavor sounds really good!
love your blog! i (unfortunately) have those 100-calorie packs of popcorn. i hate popcorn, so it keeps me from snacking at work
otherwise, our company has Larabars upstairs for true EMERGENCIES 
Um, you work at a company that has Larabars?! Are they hiring in NYC??
Thanks for sharing this, going to see if I can try and find the chocolate crisp. They sound great! I am looking for an afternoon snack that isn’t a Cliff Bar.
I agree, Scott. Clif bars are pretty good, and relatively dense, but they get old after a while, and the ingredient list is a bit long for my liking. Still, in a pinch, they’re a great option. And I love that I can buy them at Costco
Bumble Bars are my favorite bars EVER, so I’m completely jealous you go samples! I found these a few years ago and used them as my mid-morning snack between early-morning work and class. However, they are way more expensive than Larabars, so I have to seriously ration to only one or two once in awhile. That said, they are so worth it every time I do.
P.S. If you warm the chocolate in the microwave for 10 seconds, it tastes like freaking heavenly dessert.
Abby, that might be one of the most brilliant ideas EVER!!!