I have made it one of my life's missions to help empower moms to make healthful choices for their family in a way that is easy and affordable to them. To this end, I often test products I think may help moms on their journeys. Breakfast cereals are often an area of concern for moms. They tell me that their kids will only eat certain cereals that are overly sweet, contain artificial colors and flavors and other questionable preservatives and ingredients.
Today in the taste testing kitchen, the team at BB&B tasted Love Grown's new line of Lightly Sweetened Ancient Grain Granola.
TASTE AND TEXTURE:
What we look for: kid and mom friendly flavors, good crunch, works over a variety of foods such as breakfast bowls, with milk or over yogurt.
As you can see from the picture, these granolas are very crunchy and clustery (which we liked!) None of the flavors were overly sweet, which is atypical of most granola brands out there that use 3-4 different modes of sweetener. Avocado oil is flavorless, allowing the natural flavors of the nuts, seeds and spices to shine. The testers commented that the pumpkin cashew tastes "like fall" and were especially excited about the sesame flavor in the pink bag. The Coconut Lime variety is the least 'neutral' in flavor and may not work for every kid's palate. Someone else commented that you can definitely taste the himalayan sea salt in each variety.
NUTRITION AND INGREDIENTS:
What we look for: Easy to read label, small list of whole food ingredients, no hard to pronounce preservatives, under 10 grams of sugar per 1/2 cup.
All three varieties contain similar ingredients and have a very similar nutritional profile. The ingredients in the Almond Sesame Granola reads as follows: Ancient Grain Blend (Certified Gluten- Free Oats, Quinoa Flour, Puffed Amaranth) Brown Rice Syrup, Almonds, Avocado Oil, Coconut Oil, Sesame Seeds, Molasses, Chia Seeds, Pink Himalayan Salt, Vitamin E (to maintain freshness) .
As you can see, these granolas ticked all the boxes from whole food ingredients and no preservatives and were way under 10 grams of sugar per 1/2 cup!
BOTTOM LINE:
If you've been searching for a new morning granola with less sweetener than whats currently out there on store shelves, then this is a great product to try!