The $5 Aldi Snack I Always Keep Stocked in My Pantry

I’m not into skipping meals. I tend to get crabby and peevish, and if my blood sugar dips too low, I move into hangry territory. Sometimes, however, I get so into my work that I don’t even realize that I haven’t eaten lunch and then it’s go time, meaning I need to pick up my son from school and then drive him to his various activities.

I don’t have time for a full meal, but I need something I can grab that’s both appetizing and easy to eat in my car — that’s where I’ll likely be. As usual, I’ve found the solution in the energy-bar end cap of an Aldi aisle.

My absolute favorite grab-and-go snack is Aldi’s Elevation Pure & Simple fruit & nut bars. The grocer came out with these goodies about a year ago, and I’ve been buying them almost weekly ever since.

At $4.65 for a four-pack, these snack bars are made of mostly fruit and nuts, with a little salt and water. They come in two flavors: Peanut Butter Cookie, which contains dates and peanuts, and Apple Pie, which contains apple, almonds, dates, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. 

I love, love, love these snack bars. The Peanut Butter Cookie is my personal favorite of the two, and the flavor profile is almost exactly like another popular date-based bar, except the texture is a bit less smooth with larger peanut chunks. (Aldi’s bars are also about 10 cents cheaper per bar.)

Peanutty with lots of peanut bits that add just a tiny bit of crunch, the bars are sweet and chewy, and one will typically tide me over until I make dinner. If I’m really ravenous, I’ll grab two, but usually one is filling enough.

Although I’ve mostly bought the Elevation Pure & Simple bars one box at a time, I’ve recently started doubling up because my husband and son like them so much. My son will sometimes add them to his school lunches, and my husband likes to take them to work.

I’ve also started keeping one in my purse — not just for my own snacking emergencies, but for my son, who sometimes forgets to bring his snack to Saturday gymnastics practices. He hasn’t started requesting them as a snack for his meets yet, but it’s only a matter of time. 

What’s your favorite Aldi snack? Tell us about it in the comments below.