The Unvegan

Mmm squares of sweetness.

The ladies of Sweet Square in Culver City contacted me recently because they wanted to give me a sampling of their dessert bars.  I’m more of an expert on the savory end of the food spectrum, but never one to turn down free food, I obliged and we set up a date for them to hand-deliver them.  In the interim, I checked out their site and saw a bunch of sweets that looked pretty good, but the best-looking one of all was their “Makin’ Bacon” Bar.  I have made it well-known throughout this blog that I am not one of the proponents of the bacon craze that is sweeping the nation.  Let there be no doubt that I love bacon, but I am constantly baffled by the notion that bacon has become the ultimate topping.  Nonetheless, bacon in a dessert bar is intriguing, and I looked forward to the moment that meat would hit my taste buds in dessert form.

When Sweet Squares delivered my bars, they gave me a nice sampling, which predominantly consisted of those bacon bars.  They really do know how to make an unvegan happy.  I decided that these bacon bars would be the dessert on top of my other bars, then started digging in.

Aside from the bacon, my sampling consisted of a Toffee Brownie, a Magic Cookie Bar, an Oatmeal Fruit Square, a Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar and a S’more Bar.

The brownie is the most common dessert bar in the world (maybe) and there is good reason for that:  the world loves chocolate.  I’ve never really understood this love, but I do appreciate a good brownie every once in a while.  The Toffee Brownie was a nice twist on the normal brownie and a good way to avoid over-chocolating my taste buds, but it wasn’t nearly as inspiring as some of their more unique bars.

The Magic Cookie Bar was reminiscent of a great dessert my mom cooks up annually.  Consisting of coconut, graham cracker, white and milk chocolate and pecans, these were my girlfriend’s favorite.  I enjoyed them, too, but again I was ready to dive into some bars without too much chocolate.

The Oatmeal Fruit Square was  a yummy addition to the box of treats.  It was like a homemade Nutri-Grain bar, but better.

Utilizing a similar fruit concept, the Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar was awesome.  Peanut Butter is one of my favorite flavors and Sweet Squares did a great job of transforming that elementary school lunch sandwich taste into a grown-up dessert bar.  This was a bar I would definitely like to get again.

My final pre-bacon bar was the S’more.  This one evoked memories of sitting by a campfire in the Northwoods.  The trouble with this bar is that opinions on the right way to roast a marshmallow vary as much as a pregnant woman’s mood.  Some like it golden brown, some like it burnt and some like it with just a hint of heat.  And they are all correct.  This bar tasted good, no doubt, but the personalization of the s’more has been lost.

Finally, it was time to taste the Makin’ Bacon Bar.  I have always loved the combination of sweet and salty in Kettle Corn and my favorite bagel combo is a salt bagel with strawberry cream cheese.  Yet, I was still a bit afraid, because neither of those involve meat.  This bar looked pretty similar to a blondie, except that it was flecked with little bits of bacon all over. I bit in and was pretty happy with the result.  The bacon taste was so subtle that it almost tasted like there were just extra chunks of salt thrown in.  This was a good thing, as I feel like too much of a bacon dessert would have thrown off the balance of this bar.

Ultimately, I was pretty happy with the sampling. Although I expected the bacon bars to be my favorites, I found that the Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar was the tops.  For info on picking up some of these desserty bars, check out the Sweet Square website.  You won’t be disappointed.