Nii Bars!

Y'all know how I feel about smoothies, right? Well, bars don't get as much love on my blog, but they're a crucial part of my life. Every morning, I wake up around 5:30 or 6 a.m. and feed the six cats, two dogs, and a squirrel. And then I have a bar.

Sometimes, they're raw fruit and nut bars. Other times, they're granola bars or even homemade date balls. But before every workout, whether I'm running outside or staying indoors for cross-training or yoga, I must have a bar. I'm the kind of person who wakes up hungry, and bars keep me full until I'm done working out. Then I have a smoothie or a real sit-down breakfast.

Raw fruit and nut bars are probably the best bet on running days. Since they're made with mostly dates, they break down as fuel fast and they're easier on my tummy. And I'm always trying new raw bars, like these Nii Bars that were sent to me for review.

Somehow I failed to photograph the Almond Chocolate Chip bar, but there was one of those too.

And they sent me some new flavors that didn't even have their own packaging yet. These were Cacao Coconut.

These organic, gluten-free, vegan, soy-free bars are made with dates, cashew butter, dried fruit, rice protein, hemp seeds, and quinoa sprouts. Lots of good stuff! And each bar has around 7 to 10 grams of protein.

The (not pictured) Almond Chocolate Chip was actually my favorite bar. It contained the teensiest bites of chocolate chips and little crunchy almonds. And the texture of all the bars is chewy and soft. Imagine a Larabar with a but more chew.

My next fave was Peanut Butter because peanut butter. The flavor reminded of a peanut butter cookie, and there's a bit of dark chocolate in there too.

Cacao Coconut was great as well! It has crunchy cacao nibs and just the right hint of coconut without lots of fibrous flakes.

Berry Cashew was the first one I tried. It was flecked with dried berries. I didn't get much cashew flavor from it, but that's probably because dried berries are so tart that they overshadow everything.

And finally, there's Cherry Coconut. This one had chunks of cherry and walnut. Reminded me of cherry pie in bar form.

Love these bars! At around 240 calories, they're a big snack. But I typically halve them since I like to keep pre-run snacks down to 150 calories or less, unless I'm going on a long run. If I see these at the store, I will most certainly buy them again.