NEW! Trek Chunks: Cranberry Kick & Toffee Triumph

Last week I received a box of treats from Natural Balance Foods including all of their new Trek chunk range as well as the new lemon drizzle nakd bar (which I'll review another day). Thanks NBF! I was quite impressed with the cocoa peanut peaks so was looking forward to trying the other new chunks. 

As with the cocoa & peanut flavour, each bag contains at least 12g of protein, and one of your five a day. the chunks are also gluten free and vegan friendly.

Cranberry Kick

In all honesty this was the flavour that appealed least, and I probably wouldn't have bought a bag.

"TREK Cranberry Kick Protein Energy Chunks are aptly named due to their immense and intense fruity flavour which leaps out in the company of soft moreish almond."

NBF's products never look that pretty do they? Looks aren't everything though, especially if they taste good.

...And they really do! I'm not sure that they're particularly Cranberry-y but they do taste of almond with a fruity edge. As an avid Bakewell lover the flavour really appealed, and I also liked the softer chewiness to the chunks. I'd happily buy them again.

9/10

Toffee Triumph

"TREK Toffee Triumph Protein Energy Chunks wave the flag for the traditional sweet shop flavour using simple, wholesome ingredients."

Hmm. This flavour was nice enough, but I couldn't really tell that it was meant to be toffee. It's more apple and raisin than sticky toffee, and its purely for that reason these chunks didn't hit the mark for me. They're enjoyable, but the worst of a great bunch.

7/10

Thank you Natural Balance Foods for the samples!

NEW! Trek Chunks Cocoa Peanut Peak (ASDA)

It's a good time of year when Natural Balance Foods release their new lines, although recently they've been mainly focused around the Nakd branch of the business. This time around though the company have brought out an extension of their Trek range in 'energy chunk' format -as well as the delicious sounding lemon drizzle bar that I've read smashing reviews of by both EatExploreEtc and Erin. The new Trek Energy Chunks are available in three flavours: Toffee Triumph, Cranberry Kick and Cocoa Peanut. But what are they? I'll let Natural balance foods explain:

"Brand new TREK Chunks are deliciously different.
Instead of relying on mysterious additives & syrups, TREK Chunks are packed with a precise cold-pressed balance of powerful wholefoods, delivering sustained energy … when you need it most.
With 12g protein and all important natural slow release energy, Chunks satisfy mid-afternoon grazing, hunger on-the-go and interval fuelling. What's more, TREK Protein Energy Chunks are vegan, gluten free and 1 of your 5 a day too."

Well there you go. Of course I opted for the Cocoa Peanut. I'm a big fan of both the Cocoa Chaos and Peanut Power Treks, and I really hoped that the new chunks would be the perfect amalgamation of the two. 

Inside the pack were 12 cube shaped chunks, which were dark in colour and firmer than expected. They smelt more of cocoa than peanut and I wondered how Natural Balance would have pitched the flavour balance. 

It turns out that they did a pretty good job. The cocoa was indeed the more prominent flavour, but the chunks contained a resonant nuttiness. Texturally they were quite crunchy, a point of differentiation to the Trek bars and more similar to Nakd's crunch range. Another plus point.

In fact, I'm not sure I could find anything to moan about with the Energy Chunks save for the high -but natural- sugar content. Considering I don't pay too much attention to my sugar intake this wasn't an issue for me, and I'll be buying them again in future -especially if I find them on offer!

9/10

Trek Peanut Power Bar (Boots)

Given how much I adored the Trek Cocoa Chaos bar, I decided to pick up their Peanut Power bar this week. This Trek bar contains: 100% natural ingredients, no added sugar, 1 of your 5 a day, and they're wheat free, gluten free, dairy free and Vegan to boot. Wowzers! Does a snack get much healthier than that?

Anyway, following Erin's advice (from Guilt Free Veggie), I popped my bar in the microwave for 30 seconds so as to enjoy it warm with a cup of coffee.  

Christ. Can a bar that tastes this good really be so saintly? The bar went soft and gooey, in a similar way to hot peanut buttery toast, which made it utterly comforting. The nutty flavour was striking, probably due to it containing real peanut butter (11%) and peanuts (8%). Dates account for 33% of the bar's ingredients, which makes me believe the great things I keep hearing about the combination of peanut butter and mejool dates. 

Yum, yum, yum. Well done Trek... I'll been keeping an eager eye out for the Banana Blast bars... 

10/10

Cocoa Chaos Trek Bar

Today's review is not about a new product, however they're new to me and so I'm hazarding a guess that I'm not the only soul to have not tried these before. It's only recently that I've discovered cold press fruit & nut bars such as the Nakd Christmas Pud and Tesco's cheaper Banana Bliss bars. Trek is owned by Natural Balance Foods who also own Nakd so I had high hopes for this chocolate brownie inspired protein bar. 

Opening the pack, I discovered the bar was segmented into three. It didn't look very filling, but it did look very dry and I kind of wish I'd reached for the biscuits instead. Biting into it however, I was met with a lovely, deep dark chocolatey flavour. Each segment was more than a mouthful, and the chocolate seemed to intensify with each bite. Texturally it was slightly on the dry side, but considering it's lack of butter that's understandable. 

Each bar is pretty virtuous- they contain no added sugar, syrup, gluten,wheat or dairy. If that wasn't enough, they also contain 10g of protein, 1 of your five a day and are vegan friendly. I won't be replacing all of my chocolate bars with these bars, but if you're after a healthy alternative I suggest giving the Trek Cocoa Chaos bars a go!

8/10