{"id":516745,"date":"2026-03-03T21:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T21:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516745\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T21:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T21:15:07","slug":"australian-supermarket-muesli-bars-taste-test-the-worst-is-both-dry-and-moist-australian-lifestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516745\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian supermarket muesli bars taste test: the worst is \u2018both dry and moist\u2019 | Australian lifestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a long history with muesli. Muesli bars were a recess staple during my school years. As a uni student, I made muesli in 20kg batches and sold it from my sharehouse back yard like a drug dealer. In lockdown, I started an Instagram account<\/a> where I would review and rate a different muesli every three or four days (I am the only contributor to the hashtag #mueslireviewsli). Even before this taste test, I would guess that I\u2019ve tried more than 80% of all the muesli and muesli bar brands available in my area.<\/p>\n

My belief is the best mueslis have good ingredients and textural contrast \u2013 raw, unroasted nuts should be prohibited under this rule. And the best muesli bar is simply good muesli bound together.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the muesli bar industry does not share my philosophy. Supermarket aisles are stacked with a bizarre and ever-changing roster of flavours. Would you like a muesli bar inspired by Chokito? What about rice puffs flavoured with Nesquik? Or a quasi-protein bar with mint chocolate or iced coffee?<\/p>\n

The taste test results yielded a mid-range of basic muesli and rectangle-shaped oat products \u2026 Photograph: R\u00e9mi Chauvin\/The Guardian\u2026 and some very unusual products that are arguably not muesli bars at all. Photograph: R\u00e9mi Chauvin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

It would have been funny and interesting to try them all, but I\u2019m not superhuman. So I set some criteria based on the \u201cbest muesli bar\u201d philosophy above, but also considering health-conscious parents buying muesli bars as a lunchbox snack. I excluded anything with chocolate, yoghurt (muesli bar yoghurt is mostly oil and sugar) or particularly sweet flavours. I cut anything with protein-forward branding (we\u2019ve done a protein bar taste test already<\/a>) and any product sold as a single bar \u2013 a takeaway snack is bought for a different purpose than a take-home box.<\/p>\n

I ended up with 19 muesli and nut bars mostly comprised of nuts, grains and dried fruit. I did the blind taste test with four friends at Solstice cafe in Sydney, scoring each product for texture and taste.<\/p>\n

Even after cutting out anything that resembled dessert, I thought we\u2019d be tasting a lineup of candy bars, but there was barely a muesli bar that was too sweet. Despite this I didn\u2019t really get what I wanted either: a good muesli in bar form. Instead, we tasted a middle range of basic muesli and rectangle-shaped oat products, and some very unusual products that are arguably not muesli bars at all.<\/p>\n

The best muesli bar<\/p>\n

Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Canadian Maple Syrup, 252g, $6.90 ($2.74 per 100g), available at major supermarkets<\/p>\n

Score: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n

Like Anzac biscuits, muesli bars can be divided into two camps: crunchy and chewy. I don\u2019t know what happened between my childhood and now but the former seem to have died out. This muesli is the last champion of crunch. It has such a satisfying texture and toasty biscuity flavour (it\u2019s 60% toasted oats), it made me realise so many of the other muesli bars we tried are undercooked, with raw or under-roasted nuts and grains. \u201cBegging for a glass of milk,\u201d one reviewer wrote. I was an extremely fussy eater as a kid, but 10-year-old me would have loved this for recess.<\/p>\n

Note: we also tried Nature Valley\u2019s Granola Oats & Honey, which scored a 7\/10 and tastes similar but without the maple flavour \u2013 essentially like an Anzac biscuit.<\/p>\n

The best nut bar<\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s Pantry Honey Salted Macadamia With Roasted Almonds Nut Bar, 170g, $4.50 ($2.65 per 100g), available at Woolworths and select grocers<\/p>\n

Score: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n

One of the realities of the muesli bar aisle is, due to playground needs, many products are nut-free. The nut bar is the counter swing, a nut binge for all those who have had forced nut sabbaticals. One of the most useful discoveries of the taste test was, on average, they\u2019re better than muesli bars. Every nut bar scored well, this one scoring slightly higher due to its honey-butter appeal \u2013 there\u2019s no actual butter, it\u2019s just the macadamias speaking. \u201cEnergy dense but in a whole food kind of way,\u201d wrote a reviewer, who happens to be a researcher into food policy and public health. Wrote another: \u201cI\u2019ll be happy to pick this out of my teeth forever, nut bad!\u201d<\/p>\n

The best value<\/p>\n

Hillcrest Premium Nut Bars Almonds, Cashews & Cranberries, 175g, $3.99 ($2.28 per 100g), available at Aldi<\/p>\n

Score: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n

If this had some grains and the nuts were more roasted it would be exactly what I asked for. The diversity of ingredients provides so much contrast in texture and flavour. Some bites have the chew, acidity and bright sweetness from cranberries, others bites are more savoury and a little creamy from the peanuts and cashews, some have more almond or sesame, some have all of the above. As one reviewer wrote: \u201cJust a good nut bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest<\/p>\n

Carman\u2019s Roasted Nut Bars Almond, Cashew and Cranberry, 175g, $7.50 ($4.29 per 100g), available at major supermarkets<\/p>\n

Score: 7\/10<\/p>\n

Imagine if you were cloned, but it was a cheap job: it doesn\u2019t look quite as good and it has a knockoff name. How would you feel if that clone became more popular? That\u2019s probably how Carman\u2019s feels seeing an Aldi knockoff \u2013 the Hillcrest almond, cashew and cranberry muesli bar \u2013 score higher than their original. I\u2019d say they can\u2019t complain. This is not only more expensive, it\u2019s also unnecessarily sweeter and has a lower proportion of nuts and seeds.<\/p>\n

Carman\u2019s Muesli Bars Classic Fruit & Nut, 270g, $7.50 ($2.78 per 100g), available at major supermarkets, and Hillcrest Premium Muesli Bars Fruit & Nut, 270g, $3.99 ($1.48 per 100g), available at Aldi<\/p>\n

Score: 7\/10<\/p>\n

If the Hillcrest and Carman\u2019s nut bar battle was hard fought, the competition between their classic muesli bars is soft, like watching a wrestling match between Teletubbies. It\u2019s hard to pick a winner but I don\u2019t know if it matters much either way. Hillcrest\u2019s versions have slightly more sugar and marginally fewer nuts. Both have such a huge cinnamon hit, I found myself asking, for the first time in my life, is this too much cinnamon? Ultimately, both brands\u2019 muesli bars are so plainly within the expectations of what a supermarket-quality muesli bar is. No one will hate either, or the two brands\u2019 other muesli bars.<\/p>\n

Koja Oat Bites Muesli Slice, 150g, $7.50 ($5 per 100g), available from Woolworths and select grocers<\/p>\n

Score: 7\/10<\/p>\n

The opposite of the Carman\u2019s\/Hillcrest experience \u2013 a muesli bar with ambition. Like so many things striving to be unique or different, it ends up being divisive. Every reviewer gave this an eight, a five or a four, but nothing in between. Unlike the dense chew of classic muesli bars, this is softer, like a buttery cake. The coconut gives it an Anzac biscuit feel but the chia seeds, one of the least joyful muesli grains, give me the same shivers that ward me off bliss balls, turmeric smoothies and carob. Regardless of how you feel about chia, those who like this bar will love it, probably more than any other product in the taste test. And if you do, like me, you should look for Koja\u2019s single bar options in the health food aisle of your supermarket.<\/p>\n

Oh So Natural Date & Chia Gluten-Free Bars, 180g, $3.99 ($2.22 per 100g), available at Aldi<\/p>\n

Score: 5.5\/10<\/p>\n

One of the many hacks I discovered reviewing muesli was that, on average, gluten-free mueslis were far better. Instead of using oats as a base, they rely on a diversity of grains that give an incredibly textural experience, like buckwheat, rice puffs or cornflakes. I thought this would be the highest scorer of the day. Sadly, it\u2019s undercooked, sticky (the main ingredient is glucose syrup) and homogeneously chewy. If you closed your eyes, you wouldn\u2019t even know the cornflakes are in there. It made me think of being a wobbly toothed kid faced with a new muesli bar \u2013 would this be the food that pulls out my precious teeth?<\/p>\n

Uncle Tobys Chewy Apricot, 185g, $5.50 ($2.97 per 100g), available at major supermarkets<\/p>\n

Score: 5\/10<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve eaten this product so many times, even in a blind taste test it\u2019s hard to taste without being transported to school. I wasn\u2019t the only one. The scorecards were littered with comments about lunchboxes, recess and childhood, but not particularly good scores. I\u2019d never considered we can have a nostalgic experience of something we don\u2019t particularly like \u2013 it\u2019s the time we remember fondly, not the muesli bar. Criticisms were mostly about the synthetic flavour \u2013 the apricot is unusually powerful \u2013 and the sweetness. The one person who didn\u2019t write about school time nostalgia thought this might be a fancy brand, albeit a terrible one.<\/p>\n

Mother Earth Golden Oats Baked Oaty Slices, 240g, $3.80 ($1.58 per 100g), available at major supermarkets<\/p>\n

Score: 5\/10<\/p>\n

What says \u201cMother Earth\u201d about a reconstituted bar of roasted oats that looks like a dog treat? It\u2019s not the sugar (23.6g per 100g makes it one of the most sugar-laden), the raising agents or the egg powder. Maybe it\u2019s the fact it tastes like, as one reviewer said, \u201cSomething you\u2019d buy from a vending machine before a walk in Katoomba.\u201d It\u2019s sweet, coconuty, with a mild baking powder flavour and a fibrous, dusty texture. It\u2019s a reminder that health food is the reality TV of the culinary world, a genre with its own conventions that aren\u2019t a true reflection of its name. But in this case, at least Mother Earth is budget-conscious.<\/p>\n

Ceres Organics Organic Oaty Bars Banana, 100g, $6.50, available from Woolworths and select grocers<\/p>\n

Score: 4\/10<\/p>\n

Several products elicited comments along the lines of: \u201cIs this a muesli bar?\u201d Both Ceres products (we also tried their berry-flavoured bar) were victims of the accusation. They look like space food designed for a tiny astronaut and smell like a health food amalgam. In flavour and texture, this is somewhere between a \u201chealthy\u201d muffin and second-rate cafe banana bread. I don\u2019t mind that, but what I can\u2019t get around is the overt use of chia seeds, an ingredient that has far more superfood hype than it does flavour. They may as well put a sign on the front of the packet saying, \u201cDeliciousness is not a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hillcrest Oat Bars Golden Oats, 240g, $2.99 ($1.25 per 100g), available at Aldi<\/p>\n

Score: 3\/10<\/p>\n

This is the Pringle of the muesli bar world, a reconstituted approximation packed with salt and various ingredients that are less about flavour and more about optimising shelf stability. But unlike Pringles, once I popped, I immediately wanted to stop. Part of that is the smell, a strange and unnatural sweet aroma, like a fruit from another solar system, presumably one not compatible with carbon-based life forms. The texture is equally sad: dusty and crumbly. \u201cHow is it both dry and moist?\u201d one reviewer asked. The grainy flavour also has an unknowable and unusual nature that lasts for far too long. \u201cThe last thing you\u2019ll eat when you\u2019re stranded in the bush after a hike,\u201d one reviewer said.<\/p>\n

Table<\/a>