Kellogg’s Special K Keto-Friendly Snack Bars review

REVIEW – I’ve been enjoying my quest for great-tasting, healthier alternatives to the sugar and carb ladened foods I used to eat. As a pre-diabetic, I’ve long known that carbs and sugar aren’t my friends, but working from home due to COVID enabled me to take my eating habits in a bad direction ultimately causing my A1C to go up .2 points. I’ve adopted a low-carb pseudo-Keto diet and have been trying as many Keto foods as I can get my hands on. The latest ones I’ve been offered are Kellogg’s Special K Keto-Friendly Snack Bars. Let’s check them out.

What is it?

Kellogg’s Special K Keto-Friendly Snack Bars are low carb individually packaged bars that are available in two flavors Peanut Butter Fudge and Chocolate Almond Fudge in boxes of 5 bars each.

Nutrition and taste

Each bar is only 160 calories. Here are the nutritional details:

Chocolate Almond Fudge bar

I’m a chocolate addict, so of course, I tried the Chocolate Almond Fudge bar first. I was surprised that it was not very sweet. Just enough to satisfy without triggering my sweet tooth (too much). The bar has bits of almonds and is actually kind of dry, but not in a bad way. It almost reminds me more of a cookie than a protein bar.

Ingredients:
Almond butter (almonds), soluble corn fiber, soy protein isolate, almonds, cocoa butter, oligofructose (from chicory root), almond flour, chicory root fiber, chocolate, soy lecithin, cocoa, whey protein concentrate, oat fiber. Contains 2% or less of vegetable glycerin, sea salt, natural flavors, peanut flour, semi-sweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), stevia leaf extract, rosemary extract for freshness.

Peanut Butter Fudge bar

The Peanut butter flavor was also not very sweet and was crumbly/crunchy like the other flavor. These bars are definitely more like cookies than the protein bars that I typically eat.

Ingredients:
Peanut butter (peanuts), peanuts, soluble corn fiber, cocoa butter, oat fiber, soy protein isolate, chicory root fiber, peanut flour, almond flour, soy lecithin, oligofructose (from chicory root), whey protein concentrate. Contains 2% or less of vegetable glycerin, sea salt, peanut oil, natural flavor, stevia leaf extract, rosemary extract for freshness.

I wouldn’t say that the flavor of either bar was mind-blowing. They kind of taste the way you would think something “healthier” would taste. But the ingredients are not mind blowingly healthy either. Soluble corn fiber and soy protein isolate are not ingredients that I seek out. But I am happy to report that neither bar spiked my blood glucose levels after eating them. I was able to easily verify that with my FreeStyle Libre 14-day continuous glucose monitor.

What I like

• Not too sweet
• Great for a quick breakfast or snack
• Low carb

What I’d change

• Improve the ingredients

Final thoughts

Are Kellogg’s Special K Keto-Friendly Snack Bars really keto-friendly? Yes, they are in that they are low carb with only 2g net carbs per bar. But someone who follows a clean keto diet will probably turn up their nose at the ingredients in these bars. Me, I’m more of a dirty keto dieter, so I don’t mind eating a few products like this now then because the carb count is where my focus is lately. That said, given the choice of eating a Kellogg’s Special K Keto-Friendly Snack Bar or a Perfect Keto Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar, I’ll take the Perfect Keto bar every time.

Price: $5.98 for a box of 5 bars
Where to buy: Walmart
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Kellogg’s.