Wanna hear something crazy? I’m not really a huge fan of marshmallow. I know, there’s something wrong with me.
It may come as no surprise then that I have never really understood the hype surrounding s’mores. I mean, sure they’re good, but they don’t make my eyes roll back in my head at the mere mention of them like they seem to do for some people.
But, something about the drippy chocolate and barely toasted marshmallow “O” on the packaging for this Halo S’mores bar by Pro Bar caught my eye. It might have also had something to do with the fact that the graham cracker letters look more like shortbread to me with their golden hue and intentional dimples, and I am nothing if not a sucker for a butter-laden crumbly shortbread.
The ingredient list is a bit lengthy, but nothing too scary to be seen on it.
Surprisingly, although this bar is obviously trying to sell itself as a dessert replacement, the sugar content is lower than I would have expected at a mere 13 grams. And at 150 calories it stands no chance of making a dent in your healthy eating habits, or your hunger for that matter.
Appearance: The bar is about the size I expected from the size of the packaging. The look of it however, is nothing like what I expected. I knew it wasn’t going to look exactly like the cute packaging letters, but I at least hoped that it would be layered or have distinguishable graham cracker, chocolate, and marshmallow pieces. I guess it doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as it tastes good, right?
Taste: Well it doesn’t….taste good that is. Or I guess it tastes fine, but it doesn’t taste even remotely like a s’mores bar. In fact, it doesn’t taste even remotely like graham crackers or marshmallow and the chocolate is a bit off-tasting as well. I guess the flavor that stands out the most to me is brown rice syrup, followed by oats, not surprising since those are the first two ingredients.
Texture: Reminds me a lot of a chewy granola bar, lots of oat pieces and other unidentifiable bits of “healthy-tasting” things. There were approximately 3 chocolate chips, all of them on one side of the bar and some weird clump of sugar on the other.
Overall, this bar is hugely disappointing. I might have liked it if it were not marketed as a dessert because it set my expectations too high. There is no way in hell anyone would be satisfied with this as a dessert replacement, it is decidedly undessert-like and tastes nothing like the dessert it claims to imitate. It also didn’t do much to take away my snack cravings with such a low calorie count. 100% sure I won’t be buying again.
What dessert would you most enjoy recreated in bar form?
(Again, unless otherwise stated, these “bar exam” reviews are all unsolicited and reflect my true opinions of the product.)
