NEW! Graze Cocoa & Vanilla Protein Flapjack (Boots)

I regularly pick up Graze's wonderful Lemon Drizzle flapjack as part of my Monday Boots meal deal (courtesy of o2 priority). I'd go as far as saying that I can single handedly thank Graze for rekindling my love with the citrus fruit, so much so that I recently opted for Gu's lemon cheesecake* over any of their chocolatey puds -shocking right? With that thought in mind, imagine my excitement therefore when I spotted a new chocolate flapjack from Graze in Boots this week (well, cocoa but same difference). I had to try it at once! But then, I paused. It was a protein flapjack, and my experience of them thus far has been less than pleasant... 

Hmm. Do I risk a bad flapjack over one that I know I love? Of course I do!

"Whole British oat flapjack with cocoa, vanilla and protein crispies."

As usual, the flapjack was split into three equal chunks. I couldn't smell any cocoa, which was odd considering how pungent the lemon is in their drizzle flapjack. 

I bit into it, and realised that this was no ordinary flapjack. There were big and crunchy (soy protein) pieces embedded throughout which meant it was less moist and squidgy than what I was used to. At first I was a little non-plussed: the chocolate flavour wasn't particularly strong and the texture was different to what I expected. Never again I thought, it's back to the lemon drizzle next week..

But then, somehow, I got my head around the fact that, yes, it was different -but that doesn't necessarily  equate to bad. When I dropped the term 'flapjack' from the front of my mind, I started to enjoy it, and I mean really enjoy it. The cocoa flavouring gave the treat a more hot chocolatey taste, although I couldn't detect the vanilla. The combination of textures made me think of a Rice Krispies' Square + Flapjack hybrid; It was really quite delicious! 

I won't always choose this new flapjack above the lemon drizzle flavour, but I definitely will have it again. I don't eat a lot of meat so sometimes it's useful to get a bit of extra protein in, and at 9g per flapjack I can think of worse ways to top up! 

My experience of Graze has been so good that I'm actually considering signing up. Are any of you subscribers? What are the best boxes?

9/10

*Also marvellous and perfectly refreshing!