It seems like every time I turn around, Enjoy Life has reformulated their snack bars or added new flavors. The most recent upgrade to the Enjoy Life Chewy Bars line includes three newer flavors formulated with their Pure Life Balanced Dry Blend. They join three of their original flavors, made with their classic grain blend.
Tasting Notes for Enjoy Life Chewy Bars (Pure Life Flavors)
Enjoy Life’s Pure Life Balanced Dry Blend is a mix of sunflower kernels, cassava flour, white pearled-grain sorghum flour, and quinoa flakes. It makes the first three bars below tender to the bite, but only lightly chewy with a slightly dry finish.
The three latter “old-timer” flavors are made with Enjoy Life’s classic rice, buckweat, and millet flour mix. Overall, they are true to their namesake. Each soft and chewy bite has little bits of crispy goodness randomly scattered throughout. We found them a little sweet for breakfast, but they do provide a nice little afternoon energy hit.
Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed
Of the Pure Life bars, this was Tony’s favorite. In case you hadn’t noticed, he tends to like the fruity ones best. It is bright with bold lemon zest, mild but notable little blueberry bits, and ample poppyseeds for that muffin-ish vibe.
Ingredients: pure life balanced dry blend™ (hulled sunflower kernels, cassava flour, white pearled-grain sorghum flour, quinoa), tapioca syrup, date paste, safflower oil, palm oil shortening, vegetable glycerin, poppy seeds, cultivated blueberries, ground flaxseed, natural flavors, salt, vanilla extract, citric acid, rosemary extract.*
Nutrition (per 1.15-ounce bar): 170 calories, 9g fat, 17g carbs, 1g fiber, 8g sugars (includes 0g added sugar), 2g protein.*
Carrot Cake
My taste buds received a warm kick from the rich spice in this flavor. But alhough the spice is ever-present on its own, the overall flavor of this bar could be a little more well rounded. Perhaps a pinch more salt and some more raisins would perfect it. Nonetheless, I do love the pumpkin seeds though – they add a crunch just like walnuts!
Ingredients: pure life balanced dry blend™ (hulled sunflower kernels, cassava flour, white pearled-grain sorghum flour, quinoa), tapioca syrup, date paste, safflower oil, palm oil shortening, vegetable glycerin, dehydrated carrots, raisins, roasted and salted pumpkin seeds (pumpkin seeds, safflower oil, salt), spices, flaxseed, salt, vanilla extract, natural flavors, rosemary extract, citric acid.*
Nutrition (per 1.15-ounce bar): 160 calories, 9g fat, 18g carbs, 2g fiber, 8g sugars (includes 0g added sugar), 3g protein.*
Caramel Blondie
This flavor was just a touch chewier than the other two, but still not sticky. It has deep caramel-like undertones, but isn’t very sweet. I liked the bar portion on its own for a pleasant snack, but something about the added chocolate chips just didn’t work for me with the underlying flavors. Tony, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind them!
Ingredients: pure life balanced dry blend™ (hulled sunflower kernels, cassava flour, white pearled-grain sorghum flour, quinoa), tapioca syrup, date paste, chocolate chips (cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter), palm oil shortening, safflower oil, caramel pieces (organic sugar), vegetable glycerin, ground flaxseed, natural flavors, salt, vanilla extract, rosemary extract.*
Nutrition (per 1.15-ounce bar): 160 calories, 8g fat, 18g carbs, 1g fiber, 10g sugars (includes 1g added sugar), 2g protein.*
Caramel Apple
It doesn’t ooze with caramel, but this flavor has a nice warm sweetness and just the right amount of chewy apple bits.
Ingredients: flour and starch blend (rice starch, rice flour, buckwheat flour, millet flour), tapioca syrup, vegetable glycerin, date paste, cane sugar, safflower oil, quinoa, brown sugar, flaxseed, sunflower seed spread (roasted sunflower kernels, cane sugar, salt), dried apples, rice crisps (rice flour, rice bran, raisin juice concentrate, honey, salt), amaranth, natural flavors, cinnamon, salt, xanthan gum, leavening (baking soda), malic acid, vanilla extract.*
Nutrition (per 1.15-ounce bar): 140 calories, 4g fat, 26g carbs, 1g fiber, 13g sugars (includes 5g added sugar), 2g protein.*
Cocoa Loco
Although I’m not usually a big fan of chocolate snack bars, these have a nice flavor blend that I quite enjoyed. Both Tony and I would rate these as our second choice.
Ingredients: flour and starch blend (rice starch, rice flour, buckwheat flour, millet flour), tapioca syrup, powdered sugar (cane sugar, tapioca starch), vegetable glycerin, semi-sweet chocolate chips (cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter), natural cocoa powder, date paste, safflower oil, brown sugar, sunflower seed spread (roasted sunflower kernels, cane sugar, salt), flaxseed, natural flavors, leavening (baking soda), xanthan gum, gum arabic, vanilla extract, salt.*
Nutrition (per 1.15-ounce bar): 140 calories, 5g fat, 23g carbs, 2g fiber, 13g sugars (includes 7g added sugar), 2g protein.*
Sunseed Crunch
Of the original flavors, this is the lowest sugar option with just 5 grams. It’s also my favorite in terms of taste. It’s pleasant and has a nice sunflower seed butter flavor that isn’t overwhelming in the least bit. And for a special treat, it works great in DIY Candy Bars.
Ingredients: sunflower seed spread (roasted sunflower kernels, cane sugar, salt), vegetable glycerin, tapioca syrup, rice crisps (rice flour, rice bran, raisin juice concentrate, honey, salt), flour and starch blend (rice flour, rice starch, buckwheat flour, millet flour), date paste, quinoa, cane sugar, amaranth, brown sugar, flaxseed, xanthan gum, gum arabic, salt, vanilla extract, natural flavors, leavening (baking soda).*
Nutrition (per 1.15-ounce bar): 150 calories, 5g fat, 23g carbs, 1g fiber, 11g sugars (includes 3g added sugar), 3g protein.*
More Allergen Notes*
According to the company, all Enjoy Life products are free–from wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, soy, egg, sesame, casein, sulfites, lupin, mustard, fish, shellfish & crustaceans. These cookies are made in their dedicated facility, but they use an outside facility for their baking chocolate, which is used in some of their bars. Here are some further details from Enjoy Life.
Most of our products are made in a dedicated dairy-free facility. Our baking chocolate is produced in a facility that also processes dairy and soy, however, they are produced on a dedicated dairy-free and soy-free line. All ingredients are additionally tested to ensure strict allergen control standards are met.
More Facts on Enjoy Life Chewy Bars
Price: $4.29 per 5-pack
Availability: Enjoy Life Chewy Bars are sold Kroger stores, Whole Foods, and other natural food grocers. You can also buy them online direct from the Enjoy Life website (below) or via Amazon.
Certifications: Enjoy Life Chewy Bars are Certified Gluten-Free, Certified Vegan, Non-GMO Verified, and Certified Kosher Pareve.
Dietary Notes: By ingredients, Enjoy Life Chewy Bars are dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, and vegetarian. Select varieties are vegan (some contain honey).*
For More Product Information: Visit the Enjoy Life Foods website at enjoylifefoods.com.
*Always read the ingredient and nutrition statement prior to consumption. Ingredients, processes, and labeling are subject to change at any time for any company or product. Contact the company to discuss their manufacturing processes if potential allergen cross-contamination is an issue for you. No food product can be guaranteed “safe” for every individual’s needs. You should never rely on ingredient and allergen statements alone if dealing with a severe food allergy.
Sweetly pleasant and chewy
These pleasantly chewy bars are tender, but not sticky, with a slightly dry finish. The flavors are sweetly pleasant – our favorites were the old-school Sunseed Crunch and Mixed Berry. Truthfully, they aren’t something we would crave, but they do fill the hunger void nicely when convenience is needed. Plus, I love that they are a true “snack” size with just around 150 calories each, and are made in a top allergen-free facility.
7 Comments
Those all sounds so good. The blondie is definitely the one I would go for. Shame that they use some of my allergens, I guess they are a look and smell kind of treat for me 😀
Our favorite was actually the carrot cake chewy bars. I really thought I’d choose caramel, but in the end, carrot won.
we love everything Enjoy Life, and these new bars are great! they were perfect for road tripping this summer.
I really like all three of the new flavors, but the carrot cake is my fav! So good.
Nice! Thanks for sharing Chrystal.
The new line of Soft Baked Bars from Enjoy Life !!! Woohoo! The one thing that I really missed from my days of eating gluten, were the soft and chewy granola bars I used to love. Now that I am gluten free (and have been for nearly 5 years now!!) and have severe TMJ issues (note: I can barely eat baby carrots without pain and therefore I don’t), I barely eat anything that has a crunch anymore. So, these bars were a life saver for me Not only is the texture fantastic, but the taste is on point!
That is so great Shana! Glad you found a new food love.