Rise Energy Bar

Watch out - there's a new bar in town -- and I don't mean the kind that serves liquor!  Previously known as PranaBars, the newly rebranded Rise Energy+ Bars have a new look, but the same great taste!  Although not all of the Rise bars are vegan, the Energy+ bars are all vegan and delicious!  The bars are made with blended superfruits such as acai, goji, and pomegranate along with toasty nuts and are full of fiber and antioxidants to fuel you throughout the day.

These bars are not only organic, vegan, and Kosher, but they are also free of gluten, GMOs, preservatives, soy and peanuts making them a healthy alternative to some of the mainstream bars that include those things.

They come in five flavors -- apricot goji, blueberry coconut, cherry almond, coconut acai, and raspberry pomegranate.  Regardless of the flavor, all of the bars have some ingredients in common such as dates, brown rice syrup, tapioca syrup, amaranth (an ancient grain), and sea salt.

I had the pleasure of trying all 5 flavors and I thought they were all really good.  I found that they all had a really nice balance of flavors -- the fruit along with the natural sweeteners of brown rice and tapioca syrup made for uniquely tasting bars. The amaranth grains give the bars a nutty taste and boosts the nutritional value as they are high in protein and contain respectable amounts of lysine and methionine, two essential amino acids that are not frequently found in grains. Amaranth is also high in fiber and contains calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and C.

Although they all had a similar taste, I especially enjoyed the raspberry pomegranate and blueberry coconut bars. I found them to be great in-between meal snacks! The newly rebranded bars can be found at natural food and grocery retailers such as Whole Foods nationwide and at Amazon for about $1.95 each.  You can visit the Rise Bar website to find locations near you.