As a Mom, I always loved the Zbars too. They were smaller, less calories and less sweet than other bars, easy to throw in my bag or pocket for a hike, and I loved the Iced Lemon Cookie flavor more than any health bar. The Luna Lemon bar was not the same at all, and I truly loved the softer, chewy texture and lemon flavoring in the Zbar. It was more like a soft, melt in your mouth, cookie vs a crunchy, hard bar.
When Clif Bar discontinued this flavor, I was crushed! I couldn’t believe it at all. How could they discontinue MY FAVORITE FLAVOR?!!! NoooooO! 😢🥺😔
So, I literally would stop at every healthy grocery store up and down the California coast, purchasing any remaining lemon Zbars they had left for at least a year or so after they stopped making them. It became like a treasure hunt, and every time I found some, I was overjoyed. Yes, I took pictures because I was so delighted.
I wrote to Clif Bar and called them directly, and asked why they discontinued them, and if they would ever bring them back for a special occasion, and I never got an answer. This was right around the time that the Clif Family was selling their company to a larger brand group. I knew things were changing, and even my sons were getting older and changing too. As young adults, they suddenly wanted to go to Subway and buy their own sandwiches and Clif bars were not packed in their lunches by Mom anymore, though I still send them boxes of the Kid’s Clif Protein Bars— “Cool Mint” still being one of their favs.
One of my boys began working part-time at the local organic grocery store, where he could buy his own food, and the other twin started working at a local restaurant. I remember when I worked at Annie’s in Berkeley and the Marketing Director told me I was no longer their target customer—that I had “aged out”… my sons were too old for cute, bunny-shaped foods. Well, that’s their opinion, but lots of adults still love cute designs, organic crackers and mac & cheese. I still loved the kids’ Lemon Zbars!
Anyway, my fraternal twin boys’ birthday is coming up next month, and I thought I would attempt to make these myself and send them some, if they turn out ok. If not, at least I tried to DIY.
Here are the ingredients, if you want to try too:
Iced Lemon 🍋Cookie
Clif Kid’s Z bar
INGREDIENTS:
- Organic Oat Blend (Organic Rolled Oats, Organic Oat Flour, Organic Oat Fiber)
- Organic Tapioca Syrup or Brown Rice Syrup
- Organic White Chunks* (Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Soy Lecithin, Organic Vanilla Extract)
- Organic Maple Syrup or Honey
- Organic Fig Paste
- Organic Soy Butter (Organic Earth Balance)
- Organic Milled Flaxseed
- Organic Sunflower Oil
- Organic 🍋Lemon Extract
- Baking Soda
- Sea Salt
*Organic white chunks:
Organic White Chocolate Chunks | Tierra Farm Certified Organic
Icing/glaze (3 recipe ideas):
- Organic Earth Balance Spread, Organic Lemon Zest or Lemon Extract, Honey
- Organic “Date Sugar”(it’s a powder), Organic Lemon Zest or Lemon Extract, some form of “butter” either soy or fig? (optional: vanilla & honey)
- Melt “white organic chocolate chips” in a microwave safe dish or double boiler and add organic lemon extract to taste. Use this as the icing.
This is where you have to experiment a little bit with different organic glazes that will harden and stay on the bar. I always start glazes in a small bowl and add moisture or dryness, depending on what is needed to make it the correct consistency to spread or pipe through pastry tube or wax paper cone with the tip cut off.
There is no perfect solution here, because some people like to make their own lemon zest, and others, like to only use bottled extract. Date sugar is a type of powdered, dry ingredient, but it has a very different taste than honey as a sweetener. The honey is a moist ingredient so you would have to add more of a solid, buttery or paste ingredient to mix that with. So, I’m not going to give the exact ingredients here for the icing, but I will say it’s possible to experiment and come up with different icings that are organic and don’t use any refined sugar, only fruit, maple syrup, or honey-based sweeteners. Choose what you or your kids like best.
I just ordered the silicone bar molds to press the ingredients into. When I come up with a final recipe with actual measurements, I will post it here.
Hope you have fun making your own bars too!
Clif Family Winery in St. Helena, Napa Valley is still one of my favorite places on earth! They have just introduced a subscription box, food and wine service called “Mangia!!!”. Learn more at ClifFamily.com
Follow ClifFamily Winery & Artisan Foods
on Instagram @ClifFamily (Clif has only 1 F!)
https://www.instagram.com/cliffamily/
@Mangiabycf
https://www.instagram.com/mangiabycf/