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I’ve blogged about Larabars, which are an essential part of my day hikes and my extended hikes.

The company has just launched a new product, Mayabars, their chocolate line. These products are organic, free of gluten, wheat, soy, and dairy; vegan, kosher, 200 calories or less per 1.7 ounce or 1.8 ounce bar, and made with no more than 4-6 ingredients.

I did a comparison test. I ate Hershey’s Kisses, then tried a Mayabar. The kisses tasted bland compared to the Mayabar.
In my world chocolate is more than a food and less than a drug. I purchase unsweetened chocolate, because I have a bad reaction to refined sugar.

Mayabars come in four chocolate varieties: Chocolate, Chocolate Mint, which tastes like a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie, Chocolate Orange, which is heavenly, and Chocolate Coffee, which is my favorite, because it’s combined with hazelnuts.

I did not eat four whole Mayabars today - but I had to sample each. I really thought chocolate orange was going to be my favorite, but nothing surpasses the combination of chocolate and hazelnut to my palate.

I’ll still purchase the non-chocolate Larabars, but it’s clear that I’m not the only otherwise healthy eater with a clear need (addiction?) to chocolate. I try to keep the consumption to a minimum. I was in danger for a while until Ben & Jerry stopped producing Wavy Gravy ice cream - chocolate, hazelnut and enough sugar to keep me aloft for days.

But with the advent of Mayabars, even the most stressful survival situation will be a little easier to cope with knowing there’s a nibble of healthy chocolate available in just the right size for my pack.