A Healthy, Soy Free Breakfast-On-The-Go

When I first found out about my food allergies, one of the biggest adjustments I had to make was work-day breakfast. I'm not ashamed to say that I would rather get seven extra minutes of sleep than get up and eat a real meal before work. Worst case scenario, I always keep granola bars in my desk drawer, so if I don't have time to grab fruit out of my fridge, I have a back-up. However, finding an allergen-free option to replace my back-up bars was proving difficult. 

I literally stumbled into Lärabar at Target while looking for soy-free foods to put in my snack jars a la Khloé Kardashian's kitchen. After picking up my whole wheat organic Gold Fish (real), I hit the shelf with my cart and a box of blueberry muffin Lärabars fell on me. I now have two jars full of various flavors, but not the blueberry because even though they say they're soy-free and it was DELICIOUS, they made me really crampy so I pawned them off on people at work. 

Lärabars are the first allergen-free, widely distributed meal bars I've found that have enough variety to where I don't get bored. While I'm usually pretty good at grabbing one before I head out the door in the morning, there are always those time where I'll be too focused on getting to work on time that I forget. In these cases, being able to run over to Whole Foods or Target and pick one up mid-morning is reassuring. 

Being soy-free doesn't leave me with a variety of options when it comes to processed foods, so when I find a product that ticks all of my allergy boxes, I try to squeeze every bit of use out of their range that I can. I'll buy one of every flavor offered and see what sticks. With that being said, I've tried my fair share of the different flavors Lärabar has to offer.

Here's a look at the different soy-free options they offer!

I find these bars at Whole Foods and Target. Click here to learn more about Lärabars and where they're sold near you.

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Cashew Cookie

This bar tastes like a Fig Newton. It took me five bites to figure that out, but it definitely does. It's not too strong of a flavor, but sweeter than you'd expect. Usually when the name has the word "cookie" in the title, I go in already disappointed because there's no way it's actually going to be anything cookie-like, but this one is as close as can be. On the flip side, it was a little more oily than I like my breakfast.

R A T I N G :    ★★★★

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Coconut Cream Pie

I’m against going anywhere near something called “cream pie” and this is no exception. I was hoping this would taste like the Girl Scout cookie but it doesn't, so that's a let down. Texture is such a make or break for me and this is mushy, and not good mushy like the Peanut Butter Cookie. This one is okay. Definitely not my favorite. I was already 50/50 on coconut in general and this kind of just solidifies everything. The aftertaste is weird. I had high hopes for this one being good, but it’s kind of really bad? Sorry not sorry.

R A T I N G :    ★

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Chocolate Coconut Chew

The first bite is weird. I like that there are large chunks of coconut in there, even though it doesn't taste overly coconuty. I like the texture more than I do some of the others. Good, but not my fave.

R A T I N G :    ★★★

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Peanut Butter Cookie

THE. BEST. ONE. Honestly, this is my favorite. It tastes like you're eating the inside of a Butterfinger. I would eat this every day. Sometimes I do. It's definitely my go-to when I'm at Whole Foods trying to get breakfast before work or literally any time.

R A T I N G :    ★★★★★

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Lemon Bar

Meh. It's okay. I mean, I like the texture and the chunky bits of nuts in there, but overall, it's not my favorite. I'm kind of mad at myself for buying the box of these optimistically because now I have four more of these at my apartment that I have to eat at some point.

R A T I N G :    ★★

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Apple Pie

There are chunky bits of nuts in there which I really, really like. The texture is so great; it's not mushy like some of the others I've tried. The apple flavor isn't overwhelming, but it's still obvious that it's apple pie. It's really delicious and honestly would make a healthy substitute for dessert.

R A T I N G :    ★★★★

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Cherry Pie

I do like this one. It's a middle of the road bar for me. At first, the cherry flavor is a little shocking, but after a couple bites you get used to it. My biggest fear is that it would have that super artificial cherry flavor a la medicine but lucky for us, friends, it doesn't. This isn't going to be the first bar I go for in the morning when I'm rushing to work, but if I'm out running errands only to realize I am starving and I spot it in my purse I'm going to be really excited.

R A T I N G :    ★★★

Click here to learn more about Lärabar, their other products, and where they're sold near you.