NEW! Creative Nature Protein Flapjacks (Online)

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to receive some of Creative Nature's new protein flapjacks, you know, the ones I mentioned in my review of their superfoods bars? The flapjack flavours sounded spectacularly good too, and seeing as their superfoods bars reminded me of nakd, I thought these might pose similarities to Trek protein flapjacks bars.

Like Trek flapjacks they're made from cold-pressed fruit, are vegan, gluten and dairy free. In contrast they're smaller (40g compared to 50g) contain a mixture of vegan proteins (soya and pea instead of just soya) and contain about a third less calories, whilst delivering only about a gram less protein. 

Apple pie

Is there anything more comforting than warm apple pie (or crumble) with custard? Now don't get me wrong, I don't think that a raw protein bar is in danger of replacing the classic dessert, but surely it can't hurt to have a healthy snack with similar flavours to tickle your tastebuds when hunger strikes between meals. 

Can you see how packed full of seeds and protein crisps the bar was? It smelt incredible too with both the Apple and cinnamon emanating from the bar. It was soft, and the aromas translated into the taste. For me there wasn't enough oats to quantify it being called a flapjack, but it was certainly tasty! 

Macros per 40g bar: 152kcal P8.1/C:20.0/F:3.5

8/10

Salted Caramel 

The flavour is everywhere isn't it? So it makes sense that Creative Nature bring out their new bars in salted caramel too. 

Unfortunately whilst the texture was good, the flavour wasn't as fabulous as I'd hoped.Granted the fruity bar was sweet and had a welcome salinity to it that worked well, it just didn't scream of gooey, buttery caramel. Perhaps that's unsurprising given that it's vegan and raw. 

Macros per 40g bar: 152Kcal/P:8.4/C:19.0/F3.7

6/10 

Cacao orange

Of course I saved the chocolate flavour until last, and used it to top some chocolate flavoured skyr and served it with raspberries as part of a pre-bed treat. 

The flavour in the bar comes from a combination of cocoa fibre, cocoa butter, cacao beans and natural flavourings. It was tasty too; there was a kind of rustic feel-good quality to the chocolate which was complimented by the tangy orange. It wasn't overly sweet, but it was far from bitter either. 

Macros per 40g bar: 151Kcal/P:8.0/C:18.0/Fat3.9

9/10

If you fancy trying these protein flapjacks them please pop on over to Creative Nature's website where you can find your nearest stockist and/or place an order! As ever, a huge thank you to Creative Nature for the samples!  

Creative Nature Chia & Cacao Brownie Mix (ASDA)

Last month I reviewed Creative Nature's Superfood bars, and promised that I would let you all know how I got on with their brownie mix. Now I've been craving brownies for a while, but for me brownies must be cooked on the outside but soft and gooey in the middle, and so supermarket versions just don't cut the mustard. I could bake my own, but a mix that you just add eggs and milk too sounded far easier. The trouble is, most baking mixes are pretty pants (I'm thinking Betty Crocker here), but I kept in mind that Creative Nature's bars had been good. There was other factor that was worrying me, but it might sound a little odd: brownies are so tasty because they're so unhealthy. Could an organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, soya-free, coconut-free, sweetener-free, nut-free, 'superfood' mix really scratch my brownie itch? There was only one way to find out...

Well, kind of. I might've added Cadbury Mini Eggs. It was the Easter Weekend after all.

The instructions called for:

1) 400g Brownie Mix (the whole bag)
2) 4 large eggs (or 5tbsp chia seeds + 15 tbsp water for vegan recipe, which is on the pack)
3) 200g butter (or dairy free spread for vegan recipe)
4) 5ml vanilla essence

I whisked the ingredients together before adding the batter to 2 lined loaf tins, which I then topped with the Mini Eggs and baked for 25ish minutes. The whole process from opening the mix to warm brownies took less than half an hour, and as a bonus my house smelt like Willy Wonka's factory. Marvellous. 

The bag suggests that the entire 400g bag makes 20 servings, but I used half (plus the whole bag of Mini Eggs) and cut my brownies into 8 bars. They were certainly squidgy! Creative Nature suggest chilling them in the fridge, but I have zero patience when it comes to food and so enjoyed my first one straight from the oven with a side of Oppo's salted caramel ice cream.

Oh. my. frigging. days. They were divine; gorgeously rich, with a dark bitter-sweet flavour. Once cool they were just as good, and dare I say it, they didn't really even need the Mini Eggs. Mmm. I'm salivating again just thinking about them.

In fact they were so good that I almost didn't share my brownies with any of my family, but I had promised my sister some, so I took one each for her and her partner on Saturday. Except her partner never got one, my sister ate them both (it's ok, he always nabs her chocolate supplies) and she even blamed me for getting her 'back into brownies'. The cheek! 😉 

It's needless to say, if you are a chocoholic who wants a healthy-ish brownie hit without the faff of baking/ you're intolerant to wheat, dairy, or nuts/ you're vegan, then you must try Creative Nature's Brownie Mix. It's available to buy directly from them online, bigger ASDA stores and Ocado. A little birdie told me that it'll soon be stocked in Sainsbury's too, so keep your eyes peeled! 

9/10

Creative Nature Superfoods Bars (WHSmith)

Creative Nature got in touch with me a couple of weeks ago to ask if I would mind reviewing some of their products. I didn't know much about the company but had seen (and been tempted by!) their bars in WHSmith. Of course I agreed and a few days later received a parcel containing one of each of their bars, as well as a bag of their award winning brownie mix -which will be reviewed in the coming weeks.

For those of you who aren't aware of Creative Nature, they're a brand who specialise in healthfoods. Their current range encompasses their raw flapjack bars as well as items such as goji berries, maca powder, cacao powder and muffin mixes to name just a few.

It's their bars that are the name of the game today though! They're all raw, gluten free, vegan, and (bar the peanut one) contain one of your five a day. Creative Nature only use natural and raw ingredients in their products too.

Ginger Teatox
Now I have to admit that the name of this bar grated on me a bit. I'm not a believer in the whole fad diet/clean eating approach, and certainly don't agree with teatoxes. I do, however, like ginger.

“I’m the ginger one, packed with natural detox ingredients like Organic Barley Grass, Yerba Mate Tea, Ginger and Coconut”

I decided to break up the bar and serve it on top of some Greek yogurt mixed with honey and topped with plums.

Crikey. I was surprised at the power behind the taste of this bar. The boldness is a brave mood by Creative Nature, but it's delicious too. The pineapple, coconut and papaya counteracted the zingy ginger with enough sweetness to bring the flavours into balance. It's soft and squidgy too,  meaning that it's comforting to eat.

The Ginger Teatox is also one of the few raw bars I've tried that doesn't contain dates, which enables the flavours to remain pure. A great tasting bar

9/10

Goji Goodness
I'm not sure I can tell you what the flavour of Goji is because I don't think I've ever eaten them on their own before! Still I love my berries so looked forward to this fruity bar in the middle of a dull afternoon lecture.

“I’m the fruity one, packed with raw superfood ingredients like Goji Berries, Cranberries and Gluten Free Oats”

Weirdly I thought this bar tasted of dates, which I must've imagined because there's none listed in the ingredients. I didn't find the flavour as punchy as the ginger teatox though; it just had a mild but sweet berry taste. I thought that the texture was as soft as the other bar until I came across something that I thought was a stone, but in reality was a reaglly hard bit of dried fruit.

I'd happily eat this bar again but didn't enjoy it as much as the Ginger Teatox.

6/10

Peanut Protein
I think it's hard to ignore how much I love peanut butter on this blog. It gives me life and I can't go a day without it, so this was the bar that excites me most. It contains 7g of protein from pea protein powder, as well as a mixture of dates, sunflower seeds, sultanas and vegetable glycerine.

“I’m the protein one, giving you a vegan, dairy free alternative to whey protein snacks!”

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of chopped peanuts, it was literally chock full! They were crunchy too, adding texture to the otherwise smooth bar. Flavour-wise it was sweeter than I expected, and I felt like it could do with a touch of sea salt. I warmed the second half of my bar in the microwave and can definitely recommend doing so for an extra comforting, healthy, peanutty snack.

7/10

Raw Cacao
Chocolate anything? I'm all over it. But could a healthy cacao bar at 125kcals that counts as one fruit portion cut the mustard?

“I’m the chocolate one, packed with raw superfood ingredients like Cacao, Goji Berries and Maca“

Again despite the lack of dates I'm sure I could taste them! The bar had a sweet chocolate taste that reminded me of Trek's Cocoa Chaos bar (no bad thing). Texturally it's much softer than Trek though. I topped my Raw Cacao bar with M&S' Maple & Pecan peanut butter -the perfect match.

8/10.

The Creative Nature Superfoods bars are great lunchbox staples. They're full of goodness, and help towards hitting your 5 (or 10!) a day. They have also just launched a new line of high protein flapjacks that sound rather good...

Photo courtesy of Creative Nature's Instagram

Creative Nature is stocked in ASDA, WHSmith, Ocado, Revital and Lloyds Pharmacy, or alternatively check your nearest supplier here.

Thank you to Creative Nature for the samples!