Trader Joe's Chocolate Chip Brownie & Oat Bars

I hesitated buying these for two reasons. First, when you have both "brownie" and "chocolate chip" in the name of the product, it's pretty hard to convince yourself that these are somehow healthy snacks. I mean, why not just eat brownies? Second, the terrible photo on the box makes it look like they should have called these "Oats in Turd Bars."

My second concern was not borne out. Fortunately, this is one of the rare occasions when the actual product is more attractive than the picture.

My first concern, however, held up. Eating one of these bars is like eating a not-very-good brownie, including little moments of pause to wonder why there seem to be some oats mixed into the brownies. That would be acceptable--though still not ideal--if your intention was to eat a brownie. But if your intention is to eat something resembling a healthy granola bar, you have ventured far afield with this selection.

This was yet another item I was auditioning for backpack purposes. I was interested in things that were either genuinely healthy and nutritious, or that I could at least fool myself into believing were healthy and nutritious. These completely fail that test.

If I'm going to have a brownie for a snack, I don't want there to be oats, and I want the thing to taste a lot better than these do.

Will I buy it again? 

Uh, no.