NewTree Granola

After loving the NewTree Belgian Biscuit bar, I was excited to come across the NewTree Granola bar at my local Wal-Mart. It offered another unique combination of flavors and textures I had not yet tried: milk chocolate and granola with lime and green tea extract.

The cocoa percentage was on the low side at 31%, but NewTree bars boast lower amounts of sugar than comparable chocolate bars (without an artificial sweetener in sight, mind you). In addition, half of the bar was well under 200 calories, which seems like a very reasonable indulgence. The box also mentions higher fiber and antioxidants, which are nice to have, but in the end, it’s still a chocolate bar.


The bar smelled of rich cocoa and lime juice, and I could taste the lime immediately. The granola bits (more like single pieces of oatmeal scattered throughout the bar) had a subtle vanilla flavor and added a neat crunch, making the chocolate a bit drier than I expected. This worked well for me, because it seemed to cancel out some of the stickiness I often experience with milk chocolate.

The green tea was almost undetectable, but concentration rewarded me with a few hints of grassiness. The chocolate, lime, and granola combination reminded me of cereals I liked as a kid, and the sweetness level was just right. It didn’t blow me away like the flax seed bar, but it was still an innovative, enjoyable chocolate bar.

B+

NewTree website

NewTree Belgian Biscuit

I'm pretty big on textures, so any chocolate bar with a new or interesting makeup is at least a good experience. I'm not sure if this NewTree bar is state of the art in terms of components, but flax seed and cookie crumbs are not thing I often see in chocolate bars.

My sister gave me this bar as part of my birthday present last month. Many of my favorite chocolate bars involve cookies (like the Ritter Sport Butter Biscuit, KitKat Cookies+, or Tirol BIS), so this bar had the potential to be a winner, despite my limited experience with flax seed.


The Belgian Biscuit bar had a bitter, toasty scent and a good snap. The cookie bits and flax seeds gave the bar a rich and almost spicy flavor without adding any heat. As for the texture, it was crackly and crunchy, and most certainly new to me.

At 65%, the cocoa was just about perfect, and the chocolate was clean, smooth, a bit bitter but not fruity - a great match for the sweeter cookie bits. I've been try a lot of chocolate lately, but this is one of my new favorites! I don't know about the health benefits, but I'd definitely recommend giving this bar a taste!

A+

NewTree website