Check It Out: Tanka Bars

If a snack somes in a shiny, colorful wrapper -- Fritos! Little Debbies! Pop Tarts! -- it's probably not good for you. But face it: We occasionally need a shelf-stable snack to throw into our bags. Backpackers and bodybuilders aren't the only ones who need a protein bar every now and then. Sometimes, when a work meeting drifts past noon and the office orders in mayo-drenched sandwiches, corn chips and chocolate chip cookies, we need to pull out an emergency snack from the dark, linty recesses of our bags. And that nasty Ziplock filled with stale almonds and rancid jerky won't do.

Snack bars seem like a good idea. But which one do you choose? These days, supermarket shelves are crammed with a dizzying number of different protein and/or meal replacement bars. Examples include:

• Clif Bars and PowerBars (for carb-fueled energy!) 
• Pure Protein Bars and Met-RX Protein Plus Bars (for aspiring he-men!) 
• thinkThin and Full Bars (for those looking to starve themselves thin!)
• Raw Revolution Bars and Pro Bars (for raw food vegan hippies!)
• KIND BARs and LARABARs (for Whole Foods shoppers who love ALL CAPS!)

It's overwhelming -- another example of the paradox of choice. As a result, most shoppers are left baffled, and will probably stick to what's familiar -- even if it tastes horrible and isn't particularly good for them.

Thankfully, for us Paleo eaters, the pickings are actually kind of slim. (Don't be fooled into thinking, for example, that "PaleoBars" are actually Paleo at all. The ingredients include grains, dairy, and a whole lot of laboratory-generated stuff I can't pronounce.)

One of the very few decent choices: LARABARs. They're Paleo/Primal-friendly. The non-chocolate flavors are free of soy, dairy and added sugar, and none of 'em contain gluten. They're made with just a handful of whole food ingredients -- mostly fruit and nuts.

We have some LARABARs in our pantry, and I'm not averse to breaking one out every once in a blue moon.

Still, I'm not crazy about the amount of sugar in LARABARs. Most flavors contain 18 to 24 grams of sugar -- mostly, I would guess, from the fruit. The primary ingredient of most LARABAR varieties is one or more high glycemic fruits like dates or bananas -- and since I don't tend to eat a lot of sugary fruits these days, I'm also not making a habit of chowing down on LARABARs.

So what's at the bottom of my briefcase?

Answer: Tanka Bars.

Tanka Bars are gluten- and hormone-free meat snacks made by a company started by Lakota Indians on their reservation in South Dakota. The Bars are a modern take on traditional wasna or pemmican, but leaner. (Bison is grassfed and naturally lean, and unlike pemmican, Tanka Bars don't appear to incorporate a lot of fat.) 


The ingredients? Buffalo, dried cranberries, sea salt, red pepper, onion, garlic, and lactic acid starter culture. There's some added sugar in the dried cranberries, but I'm not too concerned; it's a small amount, and (as with lots of cured meat products) the lactic acid starter culture eats it. As a point of comparison, a Tanka Bar contains 6 grams of sugar -- one-third or one-fourth the amount found in a LARABAR -- which itself isn't exactly high-carb.

I've tried the original Tanka Bar as well as the "Spicy Pepper Blend" version. The latter is my favorite of the two (though I wish was even spicier), but both are pretty damned good. like a moist, slightly-sweet, less-chewy version of buffalo jerky. I've also bought a bunch of bags of Tanka Bites -- which I think are essentially cut-up pieces of Tanka Bars. They're a great choice, too, because sometimes, just one bar isn't enough.

And don't tell me this video doesn't give you the warm and fuzzies about Native American Natural Foods, the makers of Tanka Bars:

I'm not the only fan of Tanka Bars; the Denver Post recently published a short but glowing review, and Mark Sisson has recommended 'em, too.

Don't kick yourself if you haven't noticed Tanka Bars at your corner store -- they aren't (yet?) available at most supermarkets. Currently, the best place to find 'em are at REI stores, natural/health food stores (I ain't talking about GNC or Vitamin Shoppe, people), and on Tanka's online store. (And for those of you Luddites who refuse to buy stuff online, Tanka's website has a handy store locator, too.)

Also: Until December 31, you can use the online coupon code TANKAHOLIDAYS to get 15% off all the regularly-priced stuff on Tanka's website. So check 'em out.

Nutty Chocolate Coconut Protein Bars

I've been getting into this Primal Blueprint stuff, so I whipped up some protein bars this weekend, borrowing (and slightly modifying) a recipe from Mark's Daily Apple:

• 1/2 cup (60 g) toasted slivered almonds (Trader Joe's sells 'em, or you can toast some almonds yourself in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally)
• 1/2 cup (42 g) pecans (toasted or not)
• 1/4 cup (15 g) unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup (65 g) almond butter
• 1/4 cup (50 g) coconut oil (available at Whole Foods or your local health food store)
• 1/4 cup (30 g) almond meal (I got some at Trader Joe's, but you can make your own by using a food processor)
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (60 g) protein powder (I used Muscle Milk's Protein+ Chocolate Shake powder)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons egg white
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened pure cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup (75 g) dark chocolate chips (the higher the cocoa content, the better -- shoot for over 60%)

Using a baking sheet, toast the shredded coconut in a preheated 325 degree oven for about 5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring/shaking occasionally. Take the coconut out, but keep your oven on. (You'll need it later.)

While you're toasting the coconut, put the coconut oil and almond butter in a large bowl and nuke it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so. Take it out and add the vanilla extract and salt. Stir the mixture until smooth.

Pulse the slivered almonds, pecans and toasted coconut in a food processor until they're the consistency of coarse bread crumbs.

Combine these "crumbs" with the almond meal, ground flax seed, protein powder and cocoa powder, and fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then, mix in the egg and egg white. Stir in the chocolate chips, too.

Press/flatten the mixture into a 4 by 8 loaf pan, making sure it's evenly distributed. Then stick it in the preheated 325 degree oven for 10 or 12 minutes.

(Optional: After the pan comes out of the oven, sprinkle some more coconut and chocolate chips on top. Place the pan under the broiler for 2 minutes or until the coconut is golden brown.)

Let the pan cool to room temperature, and then cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it. (The bars hold together better when they're cold.) Cut into 12 pieces.

Each bar is kind of tiny, but chock-full of protein and good fats, low on carbs, and surprisingly filling. Plus, I'm digging the chocolatey, sweet-but-slightly-salty flavor.