Trader Joe’s ABC Almond Butter Cocoa Bars

We all like a good snack, including portable treats that can be dropped into a lunchbox or a backpack. Lately, when looking for pre-packaged on-the-go snacks, I’ve been paying more attention to the nutrition labels and seeking out products that contain minimal added sugars. If they have some fiber as well, that’s a nice bonus.

Trader Joe’s offers a handful of options on this front, and one of the most recent snacks I picked up from Aldi’s distant cousin are some ABC bars. The ABC stands for almond butter and cocoa. The package describes these as “soft and chewy chocolatey dough with creamy almond butter filling.” With 4 grams of added sugar per bar, these fit the lower-sugar profile I was looking for.

Trader Joe’s ABC Almond Butter Cocoa Bars cost $3.49 at the time of writing for a 7.4-ounce package that contains six bars. That comes out to about 47 cents per ounce or about 58 cents per bar.

If you’re looking out for allergens, these contain almonds. These are kosher certified, and they’re gluten free and vegan.

Ingredients are almond butter filling (almonds, powdered sugar, tapioca starch), oats, oat flour, brown rice syrup, invert sugar syrup, canola oil, fig paste (figs, fig concentrate), almond butter (almonds), sweet rice flour, glycerin (a sugar alcohol that serves as a sugar substitute, stabilizer, and humectant), cocoa processed with alkali, tapioca starch, natural flavors, sea salt, and baking soda (leavening).

One bar has 160 calories, 8 grams of total fat (10% DV), 1 gram of saturated fat (5% DV), 95 mg of sodium (4% DV), 19 grams of total carbohydrates (7% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (7% DV), 6 grams of total sugars, 4 grams of added sugars (8% DV), and 4 grams of protein.

These are made with fig paste, and you can definitely pick up on that hint of sweetness and the mild Fig Newton vibes. These have a soft texture similar to Aldi Elevation Kids Baked Oat Bars, which are also made with figs. The chocolate flavor isn’t all that strong, while the almond butter makes for a nice-tasting filling. The outer bar is slightly moist, which helps to balance the somewhat drier consistency of the almond butter. Overall, these make a good snack and I wouldn’t hesitate to grab a box again the next time I’m at Trader Joe’s.

The Verdict:

Trader Joe’s ABC Almond Butter Cocoa Bars feature a chocolatey oat- and fig paste-based dough filled with creamy almond butter. These are sweetened with a bit of sugar as well as with glycerin, a sugar alcohol. They’re vegan and gluten free and make for a good portable snack.