Wallaby Superbar: Gluten Free and Wheat Free

On a recent gluten free raid of the new Planet Organic which has opened near my office in the City, I came across the Wallaby Superbars.

These gluten free bars are made with no artificial colours, flavours and no preservatives. They hail from Australia, just outside Byron Bay. This particular fact is what seduced me into purchasing this bar. I really love Byron Bay: It’s where I first managed to stand up on a surf board and remembering the feeling of catching that great wave with me grinning like a loony as I surfed across Watego’s Bay still gives me a happy feeling.

I don’t normally choose yoghurt coated cereal bars because they seem a bit too sickly sweet to me. Unfortunately these were the only ones Planet Organic had in stock that day. Fuelled with thoughts of the girl on the big, shiny blue longboard surfing in the bay, I really, really wanted one. So I settled on the Yoghurty, Cranberry, Fruit & Nut bar.

Good to know that no wallabies were harmed in the making of this product:

Having bought the bar, I then promptly forgot about it! On the way back from our recent holiday in France, I was digging around in my handbag for a snack and found it as we waited to board the Eurotunnel.

When I opened the bar, I was happy to see the yoghurt was just on top of the bar in a jaunty diagonal swoosh rather than totally covering it. I guess I could’ve picked it off quite easily. But I didn’t.

So how did it taste? My first impression was that it was dense. Really thick with rice, cranberries, cashews, currants and pumpkin seeds…

I think this bar would be great on a long hike or as an emergency breakfast or lunch replacement. But it’s definitely too much for a between meal snack.

In Australia calorie counts are usually listed on products in kilojoules rather than the calorie values we’re used to in the UK. So I wasn’t too freaked when I saw the energy count as 867KJ. This equates to just over 200 calories which is less than I would’ve thought considering how filling the bar was.

I’m glad I found the Wallaby bars and will buy one of these again. This time next week I’m doing a 20 mile overnight hike in London to raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust. I’ve been assured I will be safely catered for but just in case I’m not, these bars should keep me going the distance.