I have a problem.
See, normally when I go grocery shopping I stick to the perimeter of the store. You know, where the real food is. I grab my eggs, meat, yogurt and vegetables. I may pop into the international aisle if I ran out of my prescription subscription coconut milk from Amazon. But I have this problem where I get my cart full and then I end up creeping down the granola aisle.
I love yogurt, full fat greek yogurt. Plain or the honey kind. And it’s just so boring by itself. So I convince myself to pop down the aisle with the granola on it. I scan the boxes of granola and check out the ingredients looking for some sort of grain free granola to top off my yogurt. I get really close to buying some flax seed gluten free organic something or another but then my brain stops me and says do you really want allll those carbs from the oats and sugar (not to mention the death canola oil). Thus far I have been able to put down the box and head to the checkout. Nevertheless I still have this desire to top off my yogurt with something crunchy!
Now I tell myself I can always throw some nuts, coconut oil and maple syrup on a tray and make my own. But that never happens. Nobody’s got time for that. So as I was on Instagram browsing through millions of photos of really good looking food. I came across Paleonola. The name really says it all – I didn’t need to look them up to first understand what they were all about. They were obviously about making Paleo-nola. Duh!
So I got in touch with them and asked if I could review their grain free granola, and literally a couple days later I have all six flavors sitting at my doorstep. When I opened the box, it was like a light was shining down from heaven revealing the first grain free granola I could get my hands on. Here it is. At last – no oats and all. Lovely.
So you still may be asking what is Paleonola? Well from their packaging:
So based on their mission statement above, have they accomplished that goal? Let’s take a look at our three factors: Nutritional Profile, Affordability and Taste!
Nutritional Profile
This is definitely where this granola shines. It is far better nutritionally than the rest of the junk on the granola aisle. Nothing comes close. When I was tempted down that aisle I looked at two brands mainly: Udi’s Gluten Free Granola Original and Nature’s Path Hemp Plus Granola. So I find it necessary to compare these to Paleonola’s Original flavor. (I will cover all the flavors in the taste section)
Paleonola Original
1/4 cup serving
Total Fat: 15g
Total Carbohydrate: 7g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 4g)
Protein: 4g
Ingredients: Almonds, Pecans, Pepitas*, Honey*, Walnuts, Coconut Oil*, Sunflower Seeds*, Flax Seeds*, Sweetened Dried Cranberries (Cranberries, Apple Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Oil), Dried Coconut, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon. *Denotes Organic Ingredient
Udi’s Gluten Free Granola Original
1/4 cup serving
Total Fat: 6g
Total Carbohydrate: 21g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 7g)
Protein: 3g
Ingredients: Certified Gluten Free Oats, Wildflower Honey, Canola Oil, Raisins, Banana Chips (Banana, Coconut Oil, Sugar, Natural Flavor), Walnuts, Cashews, Almonds, Pistacho Nuts.
Nature’s Path Hemp Plus Granola
1/4 cup serving
Total Fat: 3g
Total Carbohydrate: 10g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 4g)
Protein: 2g
Ingredients: Rolled oats, evaporated cane juice, soy oil, brown rice flour, flax seeds, hemp seeds, oat syrup solids* (oat syrup solids, tocopherols), sea salt, molasses. *Organic. Contains soy. Produced in a facility that uses wheat, peanuts and tree nuts.
Now this reminds me of my Cricket Flour Protein Bar Review in that Paleonola isn’t afraid of the fat – like the rest of the companies out there. I want to be satiated when I eat a bowl of yogurt with granola or grab a handful for a quick bite – I don’t want a glucose spike and sugar crash. That’s where Paleonola kills the other two brands we’re looking at. Enough fat from the nuts and coconut oil instead of just a bunch of oats and a couple seeds/nuts.
Then when we look at the carbs, once again Paleonola beats the rest obviously since there are no oats. Oats are pretty heavy on carbs – and at the same time completely unnecessary nutritionally in my opinion. They’re just a cheap way to add more crap into the bag. It’s all about profit for those companies. Paleonola seems to choose real food over profit. Protein is negligible since all that’s in these are nuts. But a handful of Paleonola and some slices of bacon would make a great meal for sure!
Affordability
Paleonola Original
10oz $8.99
Udi’s Gluten Free Granola Original
12oz $5.62
Nature’s Path Hemp Plus Granola
11.5oz $3.69
This reality will most likely always ring true for Paleo products. You pay for quality. It’s why grass-fed beef is more expensive than conventional beef. It’s pretty obvious why the price is such a steady progression from cheap to expensive. Paleonola is the most expensive – yes – but that’s because real food is expensive. Udi’s comes in second, but only because they’re paying for the gluten free oats. It’s pretty costly to use gluten free oats in your product since oats are normally processed at the same facilities as wheat products. So for them to use gluten free oats means the oats are processed completely separate from any wheat/gluten products. For this very reason, Nature’s Path comes in at the cheapest. They’re not using gluten free oats, thus they can pump out a super carb inexpensive gluten contaminated granola. Sure it might not effect you unless you have Celiacs or something, but nevertheless that’s still the reason for the price differentiation.
The reality is that if you want quality real food, you’re going to have to pay for it. I don’t mind paying for it since it’s the very reason why I would always put back down the granola in the store aisle – it was because I couldn’t justify spending money on sugar, canola oil and oats. I would rather spend my money on honey, coconut oil and nuts.
Taste
The Original
Man this is some good stuff. It hits all the flavors that granola should hit and then some. It has the sweetness and little hint of cinnamon. I also like that it’s not too crunchy. Some granola (from before I went Primal) almost felt like it would crack my teeth at times. Not this stuff. It’s nutty and crunchy but just the right amount of crunch.
Link to buy
Chocolate Fix
This one is definitely chocolatey and less cinnamon (obviously) than the Original. The chocolate used is cocoa powder, and you get the full taste at the end of the bite. The addition of hazelnuts is great also, adds a different crunch. However, if you don’t like the bitterness of darker chocolate, this one might not be for you.
Link to buy
Maple Pancake
The maple pancake definitely hits the sweet spot. Noticeably sweeter than the original but only 1g more of sugar in the form of maple sugar. That’s where the maple pancake comes in – maple syrup. It’s a nice addition. There also seems to be a little more walnuts in this one that I tasted compared to the Original. So if you don’t like the distinct taste of walnuts, this one may not be for you. But if you’re looking for the sweetest tasting Paleonola, this one may be it.
Link to buy
Pina Colada
Woah. They hit the nail on the head with this one. Very distinctly pina colada tasting but with extra coconut. Imagine the taste of a pina colada and then imagine that you just ate a bunch of roasted coconut chips afterward. That’s kinda what you get with this Paleonola. I love it because I love the taste of coconut, but if you don’t like things that taste distinctly coconut, this one might not be for you.
Link to buy
Apple Pie
This one is very similar to the Original, but with the addition of dried apples. Very tasty. It’s definitely reminiscent of a nice crust of an apple pie, with the cinnamon and crunch – but the best part is it’s not an apple pie. It’s real food (nuts) cooked in coconut oil and tossed with cinnamon and dried apples. Now what would be amazing is if you somehow crushed this all down and made a faux crust for a “Paleo” apple pie. Hmmm future recipe? Maybe…
Link to buy
Pumpkin Pie
Ya know, I’m not entirely sure how they pack the taste of Fall into this bag. I looked for pumpkin something on the ingredients and all I saw was “spices”. Not sure exactly what it is, maybe pumpkin pie spice or something. It has a very distinct nutmeg Fall kinda taste to it. This one is pretty good just by itself. I had a hard time not eating the whole bag while typing this (as I was typing this my wife from the other room literally just said, “I want more of it”, because I just had her taste it to see what spice she tasted)
Link to buy
I have to say my favorite to eat just by itself is the Pina Colada flavor. I think because I really like all the coconut chips that were used. Any of these flavors would actually be great on top of yogurt. Whatever flavor you feel like you can put it on top of your yogurt. If you’re in the mood for Fall tastes, throw on the Pumpkin Pie. If you’re in the mood for chocolately goodness, throw on the Chocolate Fix. If you’re just in the mood for plain ol’ yogurt and granola, go with the original.
Conclusion
Honestly, I can’t say enough about this granola. I’m so stoked to finally find a product that isn’t laced with canola death oil and packed with sugar and carbs in the form of oats. I’m too lazy to make this kind of granola myself – so that’s where I love that Paleonola made all these different flavors so I don’t have to. It’s not terribly more expensive than the others, so all around it’s a win win. My only issue is that it’s not in more stores. I wish this was already on the granola aisle that I pop down at my grocery store, but it’s not (yet). I know I’m gonna be pretty impatient waiting for it to ship when I run out of a bag. In the very least maybe they’ll get on amazon and I can get them same day shipping because I’m buying over $35 dollars worth!
Thank you Paleonola for helping me with my problem – I no longer have to search for grain free granola or make my own. You’ve got me covered!
If you would like 20% off your Paleonola, feel free to use this link!
