I've been eyeing up these new "Almond & Raisin Raw Choc Brownies" from Pulsin Foods for a while now, ever since they appeared in the Tesco Free From aisle. They were reduced to £2 a box recently (still expensive!) so I thought I'd give them a whirl. They're gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, soya free and contain no GM ingredients.
Each box contains 3 individually wrapped 35g bars, and the ingredients consist of cashews, dates, chicory fibre, almonds, raw cacao, raisins, brown rice bran, cacao butter, grape juice, rice starch, sea salt and green tea extract. Phew, that's a lot of ingredients...thank goodness they are healthy ones! Each brownie contains 149 calories, 8.3g fat, 12.8g carbs and 3.6g protein.
I was disappointed when I removed one of the brownies from it's wrapper...it was a tiny, squidgy looking thing. I had expected these to be small but I didn't expect them to be this small! The smell reminded me of other similar products such as Nakd bars, not chocolatey as such but there was a definite raw cacao aroma.
Despite being described as brownies, these didn't live up to the name...they were stodgy but not Cakey, and surpringly not that chocolatey, the cashews and dates were far more prominent. They're more of a glorified Nakd bar really. There were pieces of chopped nut throughout which I found unpleasant in texture, they were too jarring for what's supposed to be a brownie.
Overall, I hate to be negative about such a healthy product, but I do feel these are overpriced and don't deliver what they promise. Firstly the high price doesn't really justify the amount you're getting, secondly they're not remotely brownie like and shouldn't pretend to be (I've had raw vegan brownies before that were much more authentic than these). They're still rather high in sugars at 9.7g per 35g bar, even if they're from dates rather than refined sugar.
If you've tried these I'd like to hear your thoughts...were you as disappointed as me? Let me know in the comments!
6 out of 10.
