This Is The Healthiest, Tastiest Date & Nut Bar in India

Dadi’s desserts weren’t just deliciously addictive, they were healthy too. Made with nature’s candy- dates, and some nuts and seeds, this art is long lost.

Now shaped as bars’, we found six brands that are made with clean, nutritionally-dense ingredients. Why do dates and nuts make a good pair, our parameters, how we picked the brands, our review process, and our winners, are all discussed in our review of the best date and nuts bars in India.

After a taste test that spanned over 2 days, we chose the bar by The Whole Truth as our Top Pick for its taste, texture and nutrition quotient. Afters by Happy Jars and Monkey Bar are the other two brands we recommend in this category. Details down below.

All you need to know has been explained here.

How did we find the best healthy snack bars? What were our review parameters?

Taste and texture being the key parameters, we also compared these date and nut bars on their ingredients and nutritional values. Which brand excelled across these parameters?

1. Taste

Freshness: When fresh, dates and nuts have a desirable taste. But when gone bad, dates develop an off-putting sweetness whereas nuts taste bitter and rancid. This is to say, stale ingredients ruin the overall taste.

Sweetness: Considering these do not have any refined sugar, how balanced are the sweetness levels?

Flavor: In addition to these, we gauged the cocoa and whole grain/millet (oats, ragi) presence. Did they enhance the flavors or bring them down?

2. Texture

Dates are fibrous which lend a chewy texture to the bars. Nuts, on the other hand, can add a crunch and body to the bar. Depending on the ingredients used, the texture can alter massively. A bar with primarily dates and a single nut will have a different texture from a date-nut-grain bar.

Too dry, too oily, too chewy, or just right- which brand landed the ideal texture?

Note – Nut bars tend to release some oil, but that does not mean it’s gone bad. This is a natural procedure and the bar is still safe for consumption.

3. Nutritional Quotient 

Quality and quantity of ingredients, the caloric values per bar, macronutrient distribution were recorded and compared under this parameter.

4. Other Parameters 

Factors like packaging, price, shelf life, and the economic value were discussed here.

The Qualifier

How did we select the contenders for our date and nut bars review?

We looked for bar-shaped snacks (not energy balls or ladoos).

Made using dates and nuts. Could be any nuts like cashews, walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts.

The date and nut bars must NOT contain any added refined sugar or other refined ingredients.

These should not have any form of added protein.

As for flavor, we selected the ones with cocoa only (if at all), and nothing else.

If they have a few grains (oats) or millets (ragi/jowar), they were still considered.

Related Review : These Energy Bars by Monkey Bar Are Vegan And Under 200 Calories.

What’s so nutritious about the date and nut combination? 

Speaking in terms of macronutrients, dates are a source of carbohydrates and fiber, and nuts of fats and plant-based protein. Fats and protein, together, pace down the digestion of carbohydrates, allowing for a slow but consistent release of energy over a period of time. Plus, dates are sweet, hence keep cravings at bay.

As for micronutrients, dates are rich in vitamin C and nuts have iron. Iron is crucial for apt vitamin C absorption.

Now that science is out of the way, let’s discuss the taste and texture in detail.

1. The Whole Truth Energy Bars – Mishry Top Pick

Our Experience 

The Whole Truth won our review for three reasons – This is the best tasting bar with an ideal texture and a clean ingredient list.

This bar was loaded with nut bits. They retained the natural texture, added a much needed crunch to an otherwise smooth bar. We also bit into some cacao nibs that led to a burst of chocolate flavor. The balanced sweetness was a delight, considering this is made of dates. Nuts were fresh-tasting and all elements worked well together.

Product Details 

The ingredients are Dates (40%), Cashew Kernels (31%), Cocoa Nibs (14%), Almond Kernels (13%), And Cocoa Butter (2%)

A 40-gram bar is priced at ₹ 60/- and has a shelf life of five months.

2. Afters by Happy Jars Dessert Bite – Also Recommended

Our Experience 

They call this a craving killer, and rightly so! The texture and flavors worked in harmony, giving it an almost candy-like structure. This was quite chewy, with minute bits of cashews throughout. The sweetness was on point, not overwhelming or artificial-tasting. 

Afters dessert bite had a glossy finish. This was so prominent, it left a reflective sheen on our fingertips. However, this wasn’t really bothersome as this was not sticky, nor did it affect the flavor. If anything, it was proof to the fact that the bar contains no additives, as nuts had released their natural oils.

Just 100 calories and two ingredients, this is our Also Recommended date and nut bar.

Product Details 

50% dates and 50% cashews are the only ingredients used. A 25-gram bar is priced at ₹50. The shelf life is nine months.

3. Monkey Bars Dark Cocoa Hazelnut Energy Bars

Our Experience 

Monkey Bars energy bar was not as chewy as Afters, but it had a firm bite (similar to Whole Truth). That’s not to say that it was hard, it was just not as oily or soft as the contender above. This may be due to the addition of oats. 

There was a noticeable dark chocolate-like bitterness in this bar. We could see some chopped hazelnuts on top, they retained the nutty flavor and bite.

Product Details 

Dates (38%), cashew (33%), rolled oats (18%), hazelnut (5%), cocoa (6%) are the ingredients used. A 40-gram bar is priced at ₹ 55/-. It has a four-month shelf life.

4. Gladful Cocoa & Peanut Date Nut Square

Our Experience 

Gladful’s Nut Square’s only saving grace was the nutritional values. This energy bar has the highest calorie to protein content across all contenders. 

It had a soft bite with no graininess. The flavors did not work for us. There was a peculiar sourness, like flaxseeds having gone rancid and the peanut butter flavor was stale and undesirable. This was disappointing since the bar was very much within its shelf life.

Product Details 

Peanut butter, date syrup, rolled oats, raisins, cashew, cocoa powder, almond powder, flaxseeds, cinnamon powder are the only ingredients used. A 20-gram bar costs ₹ 40/-.

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5. Nourish Organics Choco Nuts Bar

Our Experience 

Nourish Organics bar was slightly hard. It had a fibrous bite with a deep brown hue. There was no pertinent aroma, but we could see some flaxseeds and white pecs (oats or nuts).

The sweetness on this bar was balanced but the taste varied. Nourish Organics uses three sweet ingredients, dates, raisins, and honey. It also contains vanilla extract which should, in essence, add a mild floral sweetness, but it overpowered, to the point that it tasted slightly bitter. The nuts had a soft crunch and tasted fresh, but we cannot say the same about the bar.

Product Details 

A 30-gram bar is priced at ₹ 60/-. The ingredients are dates (28.5%), organic seeds (15.5%- sunflower seeds, flaxseeds), organic peanut butter (12.5%), organic dry fruits (10.2%- raisins, walnuts, cashewnut), honey (10%), cocoa powder (9%), oats (7%), almond (7%), cacao nibs, vanilla extract.

6. Happilo Premium Walnuts Healthy Dry Fruit Bar

Our Experience 

This was the only energy bar that was placed in a tray, it adds a touch of premium. Moreover, Happilo dry fruit bar did not have a brown hue like all the other contenders. This was a deep ocher. Like our Top Pick, this was topped generously with nut bits. This didn’t really have a sweet aroma, it was more warming and savory. 

It had a soft bite but wasn’t too chewy, the nuts did not really add a bold crunch and tasted slightly racid. Ragi crispies, however, lent a crisp bite we quite liked. But it was added sparsely. The flavor was not inviting at all. It didn’t taste fresh and even the characteristic flavor of nutmeg wasn’t appealing.

Product Details 

This energy bar is made with cashews, dates, Californian walnuts, Californian almonds, ragi crispies, and nutmeg. The cost of a 35-gram bar is ₹ 70/-.

Six energy bars were reviewed, and we quite liked the following three. The Whole Truth is our Top Pick as it had the best flavor and texture, with a commendable nutrition profile.

Afters, though a little greasy, had a taste and texture like a chewy candy. Thumbs up on the ingredient list and freshness. Finally, Monkey Bar is for those who like their energy bars neither too sweet or too chewy with flavor profile similar to dark chocolate.

Also Read : Kelloggs K-Energy Bars Review – We Tried 3 Variants.

Here are some interesting FAQs on healthy date nut bars

We were delighted to find not one, but three decadent energy bars where neither taste was compromised nor health. As explained above, we recommend The Whole Truth energy bars, Afters by Happy Jars, and Monkey Bar for the fresh, natural flavors, desirable textures, and impressive nutrition profiles.

How many of these have you tried before, which is your go-to?

Our reviews are unbiased and all samples used during the reviews were paid for by us. Read our entire ethics statement here.