Aren’t you hungry for a bowl of granola? Photo by Lynn Seeden | IST.
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STEPHANIE ZONIS is a contributing editor.
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January 2012 |
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Page 6h: Cereal ~ Granola
The Best Granola Brands: S To Z
This is Page 6h of a seven-page-plus article on granola cereal, and reviews of 44 granola cereal brands and nine muesli brands. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.
Article Index
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Granola Reviews
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Sweet Emily’s Bakeshop
The Mountain Harvest Granola is made with some organic ingredients (oats, cashews, pumpkin seeds, coconut, maple syrup and Thompson raisins) and non-GMO canola oil. Very light-textured, with a generous quantity of cashew chunks, almond slivers and pumpkin seeds in the mix. You can taste a little cinnamon in this pleasing blend. Good. No nutrition information provided. Website.
Udi’s Gluten-Free Foods (Certified Kosher, Gluten-Free Oats)
Certified kosher by Vaad Hakashrus of Denver. Uses certified gluten-free oats. Serving size for all products tested listed as 1/4 cup. The Original (per 1/2 cup: 240 calories, 80 fat calories, 14 g sugars, 0 mg sodium) seems very sweet to me, perhaps because of the use of dried banana chips. This was one of very few granolas I found that contains pistachios. You’ll find only oats, wildflower honey and canola oil in the Au Naturel (per 1/2 cup: 240 calories, 70 fat calories, 14 g sugars, 0 mg sodium). The Vanilla (per 1/2 cup: 240 calories, 80 fat calories, 14 g sugars, 0 mg sodium) contains no fruit, which I think would be an improvement, but you will find some vanilla and honey flavor here. The Cranberry (per 1/2 cup: 240 calories, 70 fat calories, 16 g sugars, 0 mg sodium) benefitted greatly from the pleasant chewiness, color and sweet-tart taste of the berries. Website.
Vermont Five Seasons (Organic Ingredients)
All blends contain organic oats, organic unsweetened coconut, organic coconut oil and organic maple syrup. All serving sizes listed as 1/4 cup. The Berry, Berry, Berry Coconut-ty Granola (per 1/2 cup: 246 calories, 100 fat calories, 8 g sugars, 2 mg sodium) contains entire pecan halves, along with dried blueberries and raspberry juice-infused dried cranberries. This is a dry, loose-style granola. Lovely contrasts in flavors, textures and visuals. The Cherry Chocolate Chunk Granola (per 1/2 cup: 254 calories, 106 fat calories, 8 g sugars, 2 mg sodium) features large chunks of a decent semisweet chocolate, whole pecan halves and dried cherries. This blend was good, though I’d like to see more of those cherries. There’s no fruit in the Maple Pecan Granola (per 1/2 cup: 240 calories, 104 fat calories, 4 g sugars, 2 mg sodium). It’s crisp and crunchy, with a definite maple presence and whole pecan halves, but the sesame oil aftertaste is too strong. The Berry, Berry, Berry Coconut-ty Granola is a favorite. Website.
The Vermont Maple Granola Co. (Runner Up)
With a serving size listed as 1/3 cup, the Maple Oat Nut Granola (per 1/2 cup: 270 calories, 105 fat calories, 6 g sugars, 37.5 mg sodium) contains no fruit, though it has pecans, almonds and hazelnuts. This blend is pleasantly crisp/crunchy with a slight maple presence, though it’s a bit salty. The Cranberry Nut Granola also has a serving size listed as 1/3 cup; per 1/2 cup: 270 calories, 105 fat calories, 7.5 g sugars, 30 mg sodium. The tart cranberries overwhelm any maple flavor. I also detected a little saltiness in the Cherry Pomegranate Almond Granola (serving size listed as 1/3 cup; er 1/2 cup: 255 calories, 90 fat calories, 7.5 g sugars, 30 mg sodium). The “pomegranate” here is from pomegranate molasses, and it lends an enjoyable, albeit slight, flavor of its own. Good. The Fruitful Harvest Granola (serving size listed as 1/2 cup; per serving: 250 calories, 60 fat calories, 12 g sugars, 30 mg sodium) is a more complex and tastier granola, with multiple grains, apple cider and different kinds of dried fruits. It’s very good, but again, it’s slightly salty. The Banana Walnut Flax Granola (serving size listed as 1/3 cup; per 1/2 cup: 285 calories, 120 fat calories, 4.5 g sugars, 37.5 mg sodium) was sweet and salty, with banana chips and some large pieces of walnut. Finally, dried wild blueberries lent a nice burst of chewiness and sweet-tart taste to the Wild Blueberry Flax Granola (serving size listed as 1/3 cup. Per 1/2 cup: 270 calories, 105 fat calories, 6 g sugars, 30 mg sodium). As with the others from this brand, this flavor was slightly salty. Website.
Woodstock Granola
No nutrition information provided. The Mountain Maple Granola was less sweet than many others tasted, with a good quantity of dried blueberries. It had a little maple flavor and a robust ginger taste. Lots of almonds and dried berries characterize the Monhegan Berry Blend Granola. This is much less sweet than others—not quite sweet enough for me. The Cranberry Maple Walnut Granola was tasty, with raisins in addition to the dried cranberries and walnuts, and a bit of maple flavor. There’s no fruit in the Maple Vanilla Almond Granola, which is dry but pleasant, with a slight maple flavor. Raisins, walnuts and gentle spicing are the hallmarks of the Farmhouse Blend Granola; again, this doesn’t seem as sweet as some other granolas I’ve tasted. Good. Chai is not my cup of tea, as it were, so the Raspberry Chai Granola (with dried raspberries) wasn’t my favorite. Finally, there was little ginger presence in the Cherry Ginger Almond Granola, but it was still pleasant. Website.
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