With a bit of assistance in the review department today, I’m reviewing Barnana, the super potassium snack. They’re dehydrated organic banana pieces with a sweet and chewy bite.
I received all four flavors from the company to try out. I shared them with a couple of little omnivore foodies in the family, ages eight and ten.
Their number one favorite is the Organic Chocolate Chewy Banana Bites. Covered in dark chocolate, it’s like eating a piece of candy. The banana bites look like candy too. Sadly, they are not vegan as the glaze has an ingredient that’s similar to honey in it. But it is vegetarian.
Raw and vegan, the Organic Original Chewy Banana Bites was also singled out as being a favorite. The natural brown color didn’t fazed the mini taste testers one bit although they did ask about the white powder which is just organic banana powder (not sugar as one tester guessed).
Another flavor that’s vegetarian instead of vegan is the Organic Peanut Butter Chewy Banana Bites. I had a few of those as well as the chocolate bites before I discovered they weren’t vegan. It’s not labelled on the package but it is on the Barnana website.
I don’t usually make a big deal out of accidentally eating something that’s vegetarian instead of vegan, it’s not like a vegan angel loses its wings or anything. I had just assumed all the flavors were vegan. It’s my own fault for assuming instead of checking.
The peanut butter was our least favorite flavor, the eight year old didn’t even try as he’s not a peanut butter fan and the ten year old was unenthusiastic. I thought it was another one that’s very candy-like but with peanut butter.
We all liked the last flavor, Organic Coconut Chewy Banana Bites (raw and vegan). It’s very similar to the original bites but with coconut. The smaller, square shape were also noted.
Overall, the kids really like trying out the various flavors. It’s a great, healthy, portable snack. They liked them so much, they were running around chanting “Barnana, Barnana, Barnana…”
Later in the day, they also enjoyed eating Barnana quietly while watching a movie.
As I had an extra bag of the coconut Barnana, I used it in the crust for mini cheesecakes. Based on my mini raw mixed berries cheesecake recipe, I replaced the dates and coconut with Barnana and used up the last of the fresh strawberries from the farmer’s market.
Dessert instead of a snack. Given its mini size, it’s more like a snacky dessert.
Mini Raw Strawberry Cheesecake
Makes 4 mini cheesecakes
Crust
1/2 cup raw almonds
One 3.5 ounce bag of Barnana Organic Coconut Chewy Banana Bites
Pinch of salt
Place almonds in a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Add the Barnana bites and salt, continue to pulse the mixture into fine crumbs.
Coat the pans with raw coconut oil. Press the mixture into the bottom of four 4-inch diameter mini pans, packing it well into the pans. Set aside.
Filling
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
1 cup strawberries, sliced
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1/2 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon raw coconut oil, melted
Pulse the cashews in a food processor until crumbly. Add the rest of the ingredients except the coconut oil and pulse until smooth.
While pulsing the food processor, slowly add the coconut oil until blended in. Spoon the filling into the prepared crusts. Gently wiggle the pan around until the filling smooths out.
Place in the freezer until firm. To serve, defrost in the refrigerator for about an hour. Top with additional strawberries.
Disclosure: I received the products free of charge from the company to review. The opinions and experience with the product expressed herein are my own. There was no pay to say.
This post also contains Amazon links, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on any of the links and make a purchase of anything.
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oooooh i wanna try these!
I hear you about eating things that I discover later aren’t vegan. It leaves me quite sad especially for things that could really be made vegan if they tried a little. But these snacks look great. I think I’d prefer the plain dehydrated banana bites, they look the most tasty from the lot. :)
Seconded – it’s always a shame when you know it could be avoid with only minimal hassle. It’s not like honey is too hard to replace with a vegan alternative.
Caralyn – I think all of the flavors are gluten free.
Lovlie – I liked the plain dehydrated ones the best too.
Joey – Yup, I was bummed all of the flavors weren’t vegan.
Mmm, these sound like lovely little wholesome treats. I do have a soft spot (no pun intended) for chewy, dehydrated banana snacks, so these sound like something I really should hunt down. Very creative use for them in that cheesecake recipe!
Hilarious! I really enjoyed the Organic Coconut flavor from the Vegan Cuts snack box and they were so good! I really like the natural flavors and the name! Good thing to know about the Chocolate flavor – shame about the glaze. I really want to try the Peanut Butter! Your Raw Strawberry Cheesecake looks like heaven!