Gallery: Taste Test: Granola Bars (and Friends)

Though it's a "chewy" not a "crunchy," this one has a great crunch from all the whole almonds and sunflower seeds (but won't break your teeth). "It feels wholesome and pure...I like! Would eat!" said tasters. The sweetness comes from the dried cranberries and honey, so it's sweet in a Mother Naturey way. Great on-the-go snack that won't make you feel like you're eating a candy bar.

The facts: Each bar has 5 grams of fat, 140 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

Price: $4.79 for a box of six

"Nature" and "valley" can make you think, oh, this has to be good for me, but sometimes granola bars can be more like cookies than healthypersonfood. The Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey bars (that come two in a green wrapper—c'mon, you've had a few) is a perfect example, but their Trail Mix bar is a little less cookie-like.

It's still pretty sweet—sweeter than the Kashi TLC Trail Mix bar we just mentioned. Part of that comes from the raisins and cranberries, the other part from the high maltose corn syrup. We appreciated the whole almonds and peanut flecks.

The facts: Each bar has 4 grams of fat, 140 calories, 1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

Price: $3.69 for a box of six bars.

"Too nutmeggy."..."Yum, cinnamon!" Tasters were split on the "harvest spice" levels in here. Some were all about it, others were a little overwhelmed. But we all agreed it had great crunch.

The facts: Each two-bar serving has 6 grams of fat, 190 calories, 3 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Price: $4.29 for a box of five (each pouch contains two bars)

Now this is what a crunchy granola bar should look like. And crunch like! Ka-runch. They come two bars to a package (pretty typical for crunchy bars). It's always kind of a thrill to consume pumpkin products outside of the autumnal months, and surprisingly, these actually taste like pumpkin. Nice pumpkin seed and flax seed bits in there too.

The facts: Each two-bar serving has 6 grams of fat, 170 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

Price: $4.99 for a box of six (each pouch has two bars)

This San Francisco-based granola company got its name from all the rabbits that started multiplying like, well, rabbits, when the founder Alison Bailey Vercruysse was inside eating her mom's fresh granola. Poor Blackjack was left outside, so he got bored and busy. Or so the story goes.

But back to the bars! They come in six flavors—Funky Figs and Cherries was our favorite, and the Belle Bananas Foster bar gets points for not having that fake-banana Runts taste. 18 Rabbits sources ingredients from farmers so the almonds come from Vista Farms in Central Joaquin Valley of California, and the dates from Desert Valley Date in Coachella, California. They're wheat-free, dairy-free, and sweetened with non-HFCS things like maple syrup and honey. It's also nice knowing that an actual person made these, not a big rectangle-forming machine in a factory.

The facts: The Funky Figs and Cherries bar has 9 grams of fat, 220 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Price: $2.50 each. Check here for a store locator or buy them online.

It's exciting to be able to pronounce (and see!) the ingredients listed on the back: nuts, dried fruit, honey, and in some cases coconut flakes. Disclaimer: they will stay wedged in your teeth for hours. Because of all those nuts—almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, and peanuts, depending on the flavor—each bar is higher in fat than the Kashis and Nature Valleys of the world, but it's happy fat! The unsaturated kind.

All the sweetness comes from the dried fruit: the dates (in the Date and Walnut) and the apricots (in the Almond and Apricot). They're tasty and—oftentimes just as important when it comes to bars—filling. Even if you're not a "bar person" you might like these.

The facts: An Almond & Apricot bar has 11 grams of fat, 170 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

Price: $1.99 per bar. They're available at many stores, and now even Starbucks, as part of a new healthy snack initiative.

Like the KIND Bar, the Glenny's bars are low on filler and high on fruits and nuts (a.k.a. the good stuff). The only real in-between goo is honey (the third ingredient listed) which gives it a nice stretchy, but not sticky, quality.

The facts: The Classic Fruit & Nut bar has 9 grams of fat, 180 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Price: $1.99 for each bar.