Kind Breakfast Bars Double Down on Gluten-Free Whole Grains

Move over Nutri-Grain. Kind is tackling morning sustenance on-the-go with a purely dairy-free product line. Kind Breakfast Bars come with two, hearty, somewhat flat bars per package. I love that they are portioned this way, for true snack sizing. But eating both bars only sets you back about 220 calories. Together they are just hefty and filling enough for a mobile breakfast.

Tasting Notes for Kind Breakfast Bars

Kind Breakfast Bars are heavy on oats, with crispy bits of millet, buckwheat, amaranth, and quinoa scattered in the mix.  Since we first reviewed Kind Breakfast Bars, they have dramatically increased the product line. Now they offer several “Protein” and “Probiotic” varieties in addition to their core line. Below are full details on the ones we’ve tried, followed by a quick list of the other Kind Breakfast Bars available.

Dark Chocolate Cocoa

A pleasant, sweet, underlying cocoa flavor permeates the whole bar and is amplified by a generous smattering of chocolate chips. Although I thought they could have cut the sugars by a few grams, the flavor was undeniably good. But the texture was a bit stale. It was a little chewy, but not really, and a little crispy, but not really. By the time I’d finished both bars, my jaw was seriously worked out.

Ingredients: oats, cane sugar, brown rice flour, canola oil, semi-sweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), water, gum acacia, raisin paste, at flour, cocoa powder, millet, buckwheat, honey, amaranth, quinoa, cinnamon, natural flavor, sea salt, vitamin E (to maintain freshness). Contains soy. Made in a facility that processes peanuts, tree nuts, soy and sesame seeds.

Nutrition (per 2 bars / 1 package): 210 calories, 8g fat, 32g carbs, 5g fiber, 11g sugars (includes 10g added sugars), 4g protein.*

Peanut Butter

This one has a spot on flavor for PB lovers like me. It was perfectly sweet, but not sugary, rich with peanut butter and even had whole peanuts throughout. The taste was very well balanced, and I loved that it was the lowest sugar of the lot. Unfortunately, the texture still had that slightly stale crispy, chewy bite.

Ingredients: oats, cane sugar, peanuts, canola oil, brown rice flour, oat flour, peanut butter (peanuts, salt), gum acacia, water, raisin paste, peanut oil, peanut flour, sea salt, millet, honey, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, vitamin E (to maintain freshness). Contains peanuts. Made in a facility that processes tree nuts, soy and sesame seeds.

Nutrition (per 2 bars / 1 package): 230 calories, 11g fat, 27g carbs, 5g fiber, 9g sugars (includes 6g added sugars), 5g protein.*

Honey Oat

This sounded like the perfect breakfast bar flavor, but sadly, it fell pretty flat. The stale texture was quite profound and the flavor lacked well-rounded oomph. The sweetness didn’t really smack of honey. Sure enough, when I looked a the ingredients, dried cane syrup was second, and honey was down at seventh on the list. I think this flavor would pop with a pinch of salt and a bigger honey focus.

Ingredients: oats, cane sugar, brown rice flour, canola oil, gum acacia, water, honey, raisin paste, oat flour, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, cinnamon, natural flavor, salt, vitamin E (to maintain freshness). Made in a facility that processes peanuts, tree nuts, soy and sesame seeds.

Nutrition (per 2 bars / 1 package): 220 calories, 8g fat, 33g carbs, 5g fiber, 10g sugars (includes 8g added sugars), 4g protein.*

Blueberry Almond

My first thought when I bit in was “blueberry, really?” There didn’t seem to be a bite or essence that beckoned to this summery fruit. The flavor was pleasant, but it wasn’t impressive enough to overcome the textural issues.

Ingredients: oats, cane sugar, brown rice flour, canola oil, water, gum acacia, raisin paste, blueberries, cranberries, sliced almonds, oat flour, millet, buckwheat, honey, amaranth, quinoa, natural flavor, sea salt, vitamin E (to maintain freshness), natural flavor. Contains almonds. Made in a facility that processes peanuts, tree nuts, soy and sesame seeds.

Nutrition (per 2 bars / 1 package): 220 calories, 9g fat, 32g carbs, 5g fiber, 10g sugars (includes 7g added sugars), 3g protein.*

More Kind Breakfast Bars

Kind released two other lines within their Breakfast Bars category: Protein and Probiotic. Both contain the same general ingredients as their classic line, but the Protein flavors have soy protein isolate added and the Probiotic flavors have the popular, shelf-stable GBI-30 6086 probiotic cultures added.

• Almond Butter Protein
• Dark Chocolate Cocoa Protein
• Peanut Butter Banana Dark Chocolate Protein
• Orange Cranberry Probiotic
• Apple Cinnamon Probiotic
• Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Probiotic

The Facts on Kind Breakfast Bars

Price: $4.49 per 4-pack

Availability: Kind Breakfast Bars are sold at Target, Whole Foods, and other grocers in the U.S. They’re usually sold in the boxed granola bar section. You can also order them online from the company’s website below, on Amazon, or on Vitacost.

Certifications: Kind Breakfast Bars are Certified Kosher Pareve.

Dietary Notes: By ingredients, Kind Breakfast Bars are dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, and vegetarian. They are not strictly vegan as they do contain honey.*

For More Product Information: Visit the Kind website at www.kindsnacks.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. 

What Others Are Saying ...

Kind Breakfast Bars hold a great deal of promise

4.0 rating

February 11, 2020

Boasting a couple spot on flavors, Kind Breakfast Bars hold a great deal of promise. If they could improve the consistency a bit, then my rating for our top picks would easily bump up to 5 stars. The Peanut Butter was breakfast perfection, while the Dark Chocolate Cocoa was a wonderful afternoon treat. The other flavors were pretty good, but by their names, we expected more honey and berry goodness.

Alisa Fleming