Nutrition Bars

Reviewed by Alicia MacLeay

Honey Stinger took its popular—and tasty—organic waffles and shrunk them down into a mini snack size in a convenient, resealable bag. Mini Waffles come in honey or vanilla flavor and provide the same fuel and flavor as the original thin wafer cookies. You won't have as many flavor options, nor any gluten-free versions in this size. However, a bag of Mini Waffles will probably empty faster than you expect on a hike or at home. Whether to go large or mini comes down to personal preference and how you like to eat and carry your waffles on the trail.

I already am a Honey Stinger waffle devotee, primarily for long runs. I also take them along hiking, skiing, and biking. If you haven't tried one yet (and you should!), Honey Stinger's waffles are made with a thin layer of honey sandwiched between two thin waffle cookies of various flavors. You'll also find these types of waffles called stroopwafels ("syrup wafer/cookie" in Dutch) and they can be filled with caramel, chocolate, or other fillings. Honey Stinger's waffles naturally use honey as their middle layer, so technically they are honingwafels ("honey wafer/cookie").

Read more: Honey Stinger Mini Waffles review (1)

Featured review by Alicia MacLeay

These soft little waffles, serve up tasty energy (160 calories each) that’s easy on the stomach for endurance athletes, and other active outdoor snackers. I’ve been buying and eating these certified organic Honey Stinger Waffles for years for my long-distance runs and races. My kids even ask for them by name and will run, hike, and bike just for the chance to eat them. Best For: Endurance athletes, long distance trail and mountain runners, bikers, and possibly day hikers who want some solid, but not too heavy, energy (if you're looking for seriously filling calories, look elsewhere). They're also good for people with children in tow (kids love these things).

What is it? Honey Stinger's Organic Waffles are two thin waffle wafers with honey sandwiched in between. Honey Stinger says the stroop waffles favored by cyclists in Europe inspire them. These versions are certified organic and kosher, come in single-serving wrappers of 160 calories each, and are available in several flavors (honey, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, strawberry, lemon, gingersnap), plus gluten-free/organic (salted caramel, cinnamon, vanilla chocolate, wildflower honey, chocolate mint).  2020 Update: They also now come in a Mini Waffle version in honey and vanilla.

Read more: Honey Stinger Energy Waffle reviews (4)

Reviewed by Shane

The Range Meal Bar is an excellent high calorie food that is perfect for backpacking and outdoor excursions. These bars are small but tasty and full of good ingredients.

As an avid backpacker, I'm always on the lookout for high quality, high calorie food that is easy to pack and eat on trail. I recommend Greenbelly Meal Bars and have reviewed them here. But there's another similar and even smaller alternative: Range Meal Bars. Range Meal Bars are made from all natural ingredients and have 700 calories in each bar. They don't weigh much and they don't take up much space in your food bag or bear vault. They are about the size of two decks of cards, give or take.

Read more: Range Meal Bar review (1)

Reviewed by Shane

Greenbelly Meal2Go bars are excellent, balanced, calorie-dense meal bars that are perfect for backpacking and hiking. They taste good, are satisfying, and are easy to pack.

I always look for the best, lightest, and smallest meal options for multi-day backpacking trips. The common dehydrated meals are fine, but not always my favorite. For the last few years i've been enjoying Greenbelly Meal2Go bars because they are relatively healthy, taste good, not too heavy, and don't take up much room in my food bag.  Lunch somewhere on the Ice Age Trail You can find all the nutrition info on Greenbelly's website. But basically, each packet contains two meal bars that are stuck together.

Read more: Greenbelly Meals Meal2Go review (1)

Featured review by Shenora1116

To keep it simple... these things taste way better than any of the other brands out there, guys.

You know what it's like to grab the new brand of bar, throw it in your pack and head out. What sucks is when you get out on the trail or in the bush, and you reach for a good energy boost only to find the melted remains of what looks to be a "floater". Or better yet, when you bite into your bar and find that trying to force it down passed your taste buds is as hard as the 8 miles you just trekked. CLIF bars are one of those items I always have on hand. They taste good, and always seem to stick with you longer than other snacks. They are cheaper than a lot of other bars, and can be found just about anywhere. You can get a box of 6 for around $5.50 at Wally World.

Read more: Clif Chocolate Brownie Bar reviews (4)

Featured review by David Link

These new bars from Skratch are a nice change from the overly sugary bars we usually encounter.

Most endurance athletes are familiar with Skratch Labs. Their energy and electrolyte drink mixes are the stuff of legend. The founder of the company, Alan Lim, was a nutritionist for several professional cycling teams (BMC, Radio Shack, Garmin), and developed his "secret drink mix" after fielding complaints from cyclists about the electrolyte drinks that they were forced to drink. Along with Chef Biju Thomas, he coauthored a cookbook for endurance athletes, which has become the "go to" for many athletes.

Read more: Skratch Labs Energy Bar Sport Fuel reviews (2)

Reviewed by Wolfed

Honestly amazing gluten-free (GF) bar.

  I have to eat gluten-free. Gluten will kill me and almost did.  I have been looking for a long shelf life food bar that is gluten-free and there are so few to choose from. This bar does not have an overly long shelf life but it is longer than average. I have avoided trying this bar because of its price. It is spendy as bars go. The other day though I was in the store and needed something to eat before I got home. This was on the shelf so I decided it was time to try it.  I cannot tell you my surprise with this bar.

Read more: ProBar Meal Bar review (1)

Reviewed by Alicia MacLeay

Kate's Real Food bars are among my favorite bars and the Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Tram Bar is the original. The bars come in eight tasty flavors—from classic combos like peanut butter and chocolate to lemon coconut and ginger—with clever names. The bars are made with organic, whole food ingredients, and are a standard size—easy to stow away in a backpack or pocket for snack time outdoors. I eat them skiing, hiking, and camping year-round.

  Kate's Flavors Kate's Real Food bars come in eight flavors and are made with organic, whole food ingredients that provide a good hit of long-lasting energy on the trail or mountain. The bars are made with sweet-and-savory recipes of ingredients like organic peanut butter and sea salt, organic almond butter and organic coconut, organic sesame seeds and organic raisins. The original bar and a favorite of mine is the Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Tram Bar. This classic flavor combo is always a tasty option.

Read more: Kate's Real Food Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Bar review (1)

Reviewed by B. Frost

Clif bar is part of a healthy need-protein-now lifestyle. It is an organic food for active people who do not want to eat a full meal and wait for 4 to 6 hrs. for digestion. Grabbing a Clif bar can boost your energy before going on a long hike or strenuous exercise. It fits right into your pocket or can be packed in a daypack for easy consumption, no hassle in the kitchen, just grab n go!

Ahhhh! Clif Bar. We're all familiar with the packaging. Each individual serving is packaged and has a flavor printed on the outside of the package. This one happens to be 'White Chocolate Macadamia Nut'... I like the guy hanging off the rock climber sketch, makes you think this is only for an athlete into epic rock climbing, which isn't true! This Energy Bar is just about for everyone. Before I opened the package, I turned it over & noticed the Nutrition Facts: Serving size 1 Bar, Calories: 260, Calories from fat 60, and the rest I need to glue my reading glasses on to see those little words.

Read more: Clif White Chocolate Macadamia Nut review (1)

Reviewed by Mike Mineart

This is a nice addition to the Clif Bar lineup of energy bars. The Peanut Butter flavored Nut Butter filled Clif Bar has an appealing softer consistency than the classic Clif Bars, which combined with a great taste, make these bars a nice option as a trail bar to throw in your pack for a day hike or a through hike.

Years ago I used to be a big fan of classic Clif Bars, but as other manufactures brought a seeming endless number of options to the market, I started shifting to other trail bars that had less of a tendency to become rock hard at cold temperatures like the original Clif bar options. Recently I noticed the filled variety of Clif Bars and decided to give them a try. So before a recent hike, I bought a couple of the Peanut Butter flavored Nut Butter Filled Clif Bars along with a couple of Strawberry Banana Fruit Smoothie Filled Clif Bars that caught my eye.

Read more: Clif Nut Butter Filled Bar review (1)