Suffice to say, it’s enough to keep me on the ‘gluten-free’ straight and narrow. Not that it’s particularly difficult: I genuinely cannot tell the difference between wheat and Doves Farm’s corn and rice pasta; I’ve perfected a great gluten-free loaf for sandwiches; I swear by Eat Natural’s Buckwheat muesli with homemade windfall (apples or pears) compote for brekkie and I wrote about my ‘go-to’ brands for snacking a while ago.
On that note, I do love a Nakd bar – my handbag, glovebox, desk are scattered with them and they’re pretty much a daily staple in my ‘gluten-free’ diet – but I was sent this little selection of 9bars this week to road-test and a change seemed as good as a rest…
This is the peanut 9bar. They are handmade in North Wales and a simple blend of super seeds – sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and hemp, peanuts and erm, golden syrup and sugar. That’s my only bug bear with 9bars, the dollop of refined sugar, because you see they are really rather good. But not good for the waistline with 266kcal, 16.7g of sugar and 5g of sat fats. Ouch.
They don’t actually taste tooth-achingly sweet (even more dangerous!). The pinch of salt balances the sweetness perfectly and I love the carob topping on the fruity one… I quizzed the PR on the sugar content and apparently they are essential as a bonding agent (admittedly they are sticky and chewy and delicious).
I think as an occasional treat, or for the bottom of a rucksack on big days out, they are great and of course, a bit of sugar is MUCH preferred to all the crap and chemicals in junk food – I’m just peeved that I can’t eat them everyday!