Glutino Breakfast Bars - Strawberry

I remember when Nutri-Grain bars were kind of a new thing, and I remember trying them for the first time.  Oh, they were soft and delicious and supposedly nutritious.  They had rich, sweet fruit filling surrounded by a very moist, whole grain outer shell that had just the right amount of a whole grain bitterness to offset the almost too-sweet filling.

I imagine that that's what Glutino was trying to recreate with their Gluten Free Breakfast Bars.  If I were grading their effort, I think I would give them a D.  Maybe a D+.

I looked at the box in Whole Foods and saw what appeared to be a Nutri-Grain bar, only gluten-free.  I opened the box to find 5 foil-wrapped bars (still looking good).  Then I tried the first bar ...

The outer part was somewhat dense, which is kind of to be expected in a gluten-free product.  But not only was it dense, it was bitter and had a very unpleasant sort of cardboardy flavor.  It wasn't stale, no.  It just tasted the way it smells when you shove your head into a cardboard box and inhale. 

The inner part wasn't much better.  It was far too sweet, which I could either chalk up to the fructose or the raisin paste in the ingredients.  Or both.  It wasn't tangy at all, the way strawberry should be.

As for nutrition (as you know, I'm big on things HAVING nutrition), these do contain something.  Not quite enough of something to warrant wanting to eat these over say, a Kind Bar, but definitely a little something.  You get 160 calories per bar (comparable to Nutri-Grain) and 3 grams of both fiber and protein.  There's also a little calcium (2%) and iron (4%). 

I have to say this really put me off of potentially trying any other flavors.  Glutino has been really hit or miss with me so far.  I haven't given up on them yet, of course.  But I'm certainly getting a little annoyed.  I would like to try their candybars, except I'd get more nutrition from a Nutrageous.  No, I'm serious. 

Anyway, did you notice you get FIVE bars in a box?  Who puts FIVE bars in a box?  Six just seems so standard that five makes you think you got ripped off.