Baked Chocolate Blend Granola, laden with chocolat chips and cocoa. Photography by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.
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STEPHANIE ZONIS is a contributing editor.
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January 2012 |
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Page 6b: Granola Gourmet
The Best Granola Brands Beginning With B
This is Page 6b of a seven-page-plus article on granola cereal, and reviews of 44 granola cereal brands and nine muesli brands. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.
Article Index
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Granola Reviews
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Baked (Favorite, Certified Kosher)
Photo above. Certified kosher by Young Israel of West Hempstead. All granolas list serving size as 1/4 cup. The House Blend Granola (per 1/2 cup: 280 calories, 100 fat calories, 20 g sugars, 40 mg sodium) uses organic golden raisins. The brown sugar and hazelnuts are a nice touch. This granola seems less sweet than most others. The Mountain Blend Granola (per 1/2 cup: 220 calories, 80 fat calories, 14 g sugars, 40 mg sodium) tastes slightly maple-y, and it contains maple syrup, but also “natural maple flavoring.” The big surprise here was the Chocolate Blend Granola (per 1/2 cup: 260 calories, 90 fat calories, 20 g sugars, 0 mg sodium). Thanks to both cocoa and chocolate chips, you can genuinely taste the chocolate. As a rule, I cannot stand dried banana chips, but they work beautifully in this blend, along with the dried blueberries (which I normally don’t care for in a chocolate formulation, either). There are no nuts in the Chocolate Blend, and it’s a favorite. Website.
The Baker
Certified kosher by The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations. All serving sizes listed as one ounce, but I can’t translate that into a cup measurement. The Honey Oat Granola (per 1 ounce: 150 calories, 70 fat calories, 8 g sugars, 5 mg sodium) has large and small clusters with a robust honey presence (in fact, you can smell the honey when you open the bag). There’s a touch of cinnamon, as well. No fruit, but there are almonds and walnuts. The Fruit & Nut Granola (per 1 ounce: 150 calories, 80 fat calories, 8 g sugars, 5 mg sodium) has raisins and dried cranberries, but not enough of either. Large and small clusters of an oat-based granola. Website.
Bear Naked (Certified Kosher)
Certified kosher by The Organized Kashrus Laboratories. The serving size given for all flavors is 1/4 cup. The Maple Pecan Granola (per 1/2 cup: 260 calories, 80 fat calories, 10 g sugars, 40 mg sodium) does have some maple flavor, and the praline pecans are a nice touch. No fruit is in this mix. Good. The Peak Oats & Honey with Blueberries Granola (per 1/2 cup: 260 calories, 60 fat calories, 14 g sugars, 0 mg sodium) has lemon notes that seem too harsh and heavy-handed to me, and I’d like to see more blueberries here. This mix contains no nuts. There are plenty of berries (but no nuts) in the Fit Triple Berry Crunch Granola (per 1/2 cup: 240 calories, 30 fat calories, 6 g sugars, 30 mg sodium). This granola has an unusual aftertaste I didn’t care for, perhaps from the lo han guo fruit concentrate. Website.
Bizzy Lizzy Bakery (Favorite)
No nutrition information provided. All granola formulations I tested use beet sugar. This is a flourless bakery. The Fresh Apple Granola tastes like autumn. You can smell apples as soon as you open the bag, and they’re the first ingredient. Extremely crisp and crunchy clusters with some apple flavor and a subtle spice presence. Another autumnal variety is the Pumpkin Granola, with its slight pumpkin taste and pleasant accents of spice and molasses. Good. A modest peanut butter flavor, big chocolate chips, raisins, dried cherries and cinnamon characterize the Munch-A-Crunch Peanut Butter Granola, which is also good (this is the only variety I tried that contained dried fruit and nuts). And the Red Velvet Granola is absolutely an inspiration! Beets are used for a somewhat red hue (instead of red food coloring), though the color of the product tends more toward brown because of the use of cocoa powder. |
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No wonder she’s so busy: Bizzy Lizzy makes great artisan granola. |
The crisp clusters of granola are interspersed with flakes of dark chocolate. A moderately sweet flavor with good cocoa presence. The Fresh Apple Granola and Red Velvet Granola are favorites. Website.
Bob’s Red Mill (Favorite, Certified Kosher)
Certified kosher by Kehilla Kosher. The raisins weren’t as soft/moist as I’d like in the Cinnamon Raisin Granola (per 1/2 cup: 190 calories, 50 fat calories, 10 g sugars, 40 mg sodium). The cinnamon presence in this granola, though strong, wasn’t overwhelming. The only “blueberry” in the Apple Blueberry Granola (per 1/2 cup: 170 calories, 15 fat calories, 11 g sugars, 5 mg sodium) appears to come from “natural blueberry flavor.” However, this mix does contain bits of dried apple, as well as something called “mixed fruit concentrate,” which likely contributes to the overall fruit presence. If you want a cereal without fruit or nuts, try the Honey Oat Granola (per 1/2 cup: 190 calories, 50 fat calories, 9 g sugars, 40 mg sodium). This consists of larger clusters of a very crunchy, oat-based mixture. You can taste the honey in it, yet it isn’t too sweet. How does something so simple end up tasting so good? The Natural Granola (per 1/2 cup: 170 calories, 20 fat calories, 11 g sugars, 0 mg sodium) has no fruit or nuts, either. While this also consists of larger clusters of an oat-based mixture, I didn’t find it as interesting as the Honey Oat variety. The Crunchy Coconut Granola (per 1/2 cup: 260 calories, 80 fat calories, 8 g sugars, and 0 mg sodium) is a “looser” style of granola (no large clusters), with a somewhat sweet, coconutty oat mixture. Good. The Honey Oat Granola is a favorite. See the review of Old Country Style Muesli. Website.
Breadshop Granola (Certified Kosher)
Certified kosher by KOF-K Kosher Supervision. The SuperNatural Granola with Almonds & Raisins (per 1/2 cup: 220 calories, 70 fat calories, 10 g sugars, 5 mg sodium) contains puffed corn and puffed rice, and doesn’t look or taste like a typical granola. This product is sweetened with a combination of agave nectar and brown rice syrup, and it’s rather boring. If you like strawberries in your cereal, you’ll find freeze-dried strawberries, as well as the dreaded “natural strawberry flavor” in the Strawberry ‘n Cream Granola (per 1/2 cup: 220 calories, 70 fat calories, 9 g sugars, 0 mg sodium). This cereal is a somewhat sweet, loose oat mixture, with small chunks of those berries. Curiosity: it contains soymilk powder. Website.
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