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Go to the bar section of most grocery stores and you’ll be greeted by an impressive spread of Larabar flavors, each sounding tastier than the next.
Curious to see which flavors are delicious — and which should be avoided — I picked up a variety pack and spent an afternoon tasting and ranking.
Here are the results: my rankings of the 16 best Larabar flavors.
To see how Larabars compare to options from other top brands, check out our guide to the best energy bars.
16. Carrot Cake
This flavor isn’t that bad, it just isn’t great. Like with regular carrot cake the carrot flavor hardly comes through. I tasted the nuts and pineapple more than I did the carrots.
And anyways, anything carrot cake should always be last place. Kelli from Insecure summed up my thoughts on it best:
“This is carrot cake? So you hate us?”
Do you hate us Larabar? Do you?
15. Chocolate Coconut Chew
Chocolate and coconut are usually amazing together, but this flavor falls a little flat.
It doesn’t have chocolate chips, a true tragedy. Nor is the coconut flavor that strong — most bites I barely picked it up.
Don’t worry though, there are delicious chocolate and coconut flavors to come.
14. Peanut Butter & Jelly
It turns out PB&J is a combination best left in sandwich form. Though the peanut butter taste on the front end of each bite is delicious, it’s followed up by the out-of-place tartness of unsweetened cherries.
13. Cherry Pie
Now here’s a flavor that’s made up its mind. The Cherry Pie is shamelessly tart.
This is bound to be a polarizing flavor. It will top the lists of those who like a little tang. Stay away if that doesn’t sound appealing.
12. Pecan Pie
Meet the moistest bar in the Larabar lineup — something I found to be a good thing. The pecans give it an almost syrupy flavor that reminded me of waffles.
Mmmm, waffles.
11. Key Lime Pie
The Key Lime Pie is tangy and sweet with hints of lime and coconut. It’s soft and chewy and, like the Lemon Bar Larabar (to come), it has no unpleasant aftertaste — something that can’t be said for most lime-flavored bars from other brands.
10. Apple Pie
The slightly tangy taste of the apples pairs well with the hint of cinnamon and sweetness of the dates. The almonds and walnuts mixed throughout add some welcome crunchiness.
According to Larabar this flavor contains a half cup of fruit. As they say, an Apple Pie a day…
9. Lemon Bar
Surprisingly, the Lemon Bar isn’t the most sour flavor in the Larabar lineup. That honor goes to Cherry Pie (#13).
In fact, it’s actually not all that sour. It has a great lemon flavor. And I’m most impressed that there’s no unpleasant aftertaste. As someone who has taste tested dozens of energy and nutrition bars, I can attest that the aftertaste is the downfall of most lemon flavors.
8. Banana Bread
Banana Bread is the most aptly named Larabar flavor — it honest to goodness tastes like Mom’s banana bread.
That makes the “should you try it?” question an easy one to answer. Let your love of banana bread (or lack thereof) answer it for you.
Banana lovers should also be on the lookout for the Banana Chocolate Chip Larabar. It’s a limited edition Larabar that I found recently at my local grocery store. Though we didn’t include in this taste test it’s another good banana flavor.
7. Chocolate Chip Brownie
One thing Larabar gets right is chocolate chips. Chocolate Chip Brownie is similar in spirit to the Chocolate Coconut Chew (#15) except it has chocolate chips, and they make the flavor so much better.
The almonds and walnuts add a little bit of crunch, but they aren’t as numerous as in other flavors which I like. The chocolate flavor is front and center.
Chocolate lovers: give this one a try.
6. Coconut Cream Pie
Larabar held a “Flavor Showdown” on their Facebook page and polled their followers about which flavors they liked best. Coconut Cream Pie took home the gold.
It’s easy to see why. Usually coconut-flavored bars are a little too sweet, but this flavor strikes a great balance. Plus the extra virgin coconut oil gives the bar a slight creaminess. It’s indulgent but not overly so.
It’s delicious and bound to be many people’s top Larabar flavor. But coconut sweets are polarizing. As with the Banana Bread, if you normally like coconut treats you’ll be a fan, otherwise keep reading to check out the flavors that made our top five.
5. Blueberry Muffin
Blueberry Muffin is hands-down the best fruity Larabar flavor.
It’s well-balanced and great for a morning snack or as a breakfast bar. It has 17 grams of sugar which is on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to Larabars — something I appreciate.
4. Cashew Cookie
Take a bite of the Cashew Cookie and you’ll wonder how Larabar made something with just two ingredients taste so damn good.
That’s right: this flavor contains just dates and cashews and nothing else. Simple yet tasty. Clean label enthusiasts might shed a tear.
3. Peanut Butter Cookie
Peanut butter lovers should look no further than the Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar.
It lives up to its name in the best way. The dates add chewiness and sweetness. The peanut pieces mixed in throughout impart a delicious peanut taste. The sea salt gives it a hint of savoriness.
All together, these three ingredients just work.
2. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Larabar’s take on the powerhouse combo of peanut butter and chocolate is excellent. The chocolate chips are deliciously sweet and the slight savoriness of the peanuts makes for a well-balanced flavor.
It’s a clear top-three flavor bound to be the number one for many people. After all who doesn’t like peanut butter and chocolate?
1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is the epitome of the gooey mushy goodness that Larabars are known for.
The cashews and chocolate chips give this flavor a little texture while the chocolate flavor takes center stage.
And, at the end of the day, don’t we all really just want to eat chocolate? Yes, of course we do.
Rankings Summary
Here are the best Larabar flavors:
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
- Peanut Butter Cookie
- Cashew Cookie
- Blueberry Muffin
- Coconut Cream Pie
- Chocolate Chip Brownie
- Banana Bread
- Lemon Bar
- Apple Pie
- Key Lime Pie
- Pecan Pie
- Cherry Pie
- Peanut Butter & Jelly
- Chocolate Coconut Chew
- Carrot Cake
Our Overall Thoughts After Trying 16 Different Larabar Flavors
The simplicity of many of Larabar’s flavors is astounding. Many contain between three and five ingredients, while Cashew Cookie contains just two. Talk about a clean label.
Being date-based, Larabars have a texture unlike most other bar brands. If you haven’t tried one before don’t expect it to taste like any oat-based bars you’ve had in the past, such as Clif or Chewy bars. I personally like the texture but know some people find it unappealing.
As far as bars go, I’d classify Larabars on the end of the spectrum bordering on candy bars. It’s hard to see them as anything more than a treat or dessert when most flavors contain 15+ grams of sugar and have words like “pie” and “cookie” in the name.
That’s not a bad thing, just don’t deceive yourself into thinking your Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar isn’t an indulgence.
Check out our rankings for other popular bar brands: Clif, Kind, Luna, RxBar, and Probar.
