6 BelliWelli Flavors, Ranked
BelliWelli bars are delectable sweet treats designed by a chef in consultation with a leading gastroenterologist from Southern California to help manage the gut issues that plague a large percentage of the U.S. population. These bars are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, certified low-FODMAP, free of sugar alcohols, and loaded with fiber and probiotics. Each treat contains 3 to 4 grams of fiber and 500 million CFU of heat-resistant probiotics.
The treats are purportedly manufactured in a dedicated gluten-free facility to prevent cross-contamination, and they are safe for all ages except those with nut allergies, as each is made using almond butter. According to BelliWelli, the long and short of it is that they "take a whole lotta BS out of IBS."
We had the opportunity to sample all six BelliWelli flavors, including Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, Cinnamon Swirl, Strawberry Shortcake, Fudge Brownie, and Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate. Having some gut issues ourselves, we were eager to rank these treats.
Our criteria for ranking included texture, aroma, and taste. We had mixed reactions to the flavors, but a few would be great to have on hand for those with sensitive tummies, even at a rather hefty price of $26.96 for a box of eight bars. These bars are available online and retailed nationwide at Sprouts. Read on for our thorough wrap-up.
6. Birthday Cake
The only flavor we did not enjoy was the Birthday Cake bar. While it has several favorable reviews on the BelliWelli website, if what you see there is what you are expecting, you might find yourself disappointed. The bar online looks like a moist, fluffy cookie with bright-colored sprinkles and big chunks of creamy chips distributed throughout. The actual bar we received is flat, with very few chips irregularly distributed and no evidence of colorful sprinkles.
As we opened the foil packaging, the bar began to crumble, yielding a fragile composition that made it hard to eat. The aroma of this bar is quite pleasant, with hints of sweetness from the sugar, brown rice syrup, and vanilla permeating the air. These scents didn't quite translate to the flavor.
We aren't sure which ingredient was overwhelming, but we think it was the oat flour or chia in the base. All we could taste was a faint hint of sweetness masked by bitterness. That said, we didn't get any of the creamy chips in the first bite, so we tasted it again, ensuring we got some of the icing-like chips in the sample. The taste of the chips helped to balance out this flavor somewhat. Overall, we didn't get much by way of celebratory birthday cake and found the execution lacking.
5. Chocolate Chip Cookie
The Chocolate Chip Cookie bar was a marked improvement. It looked like the bar on the website, though the chocolate chips were not quite as gooey, and it had a somewhat more moist texture, although it was still a bit crumbly. The aroma of this treat is quite chocolate-forward when you open the foil packaging, and there is evidence of melted chocolate inside.
The flavor of this bar had an oat-forward earthiness that was tempered by almond butter and vanilla. A feature we noted about this and all the flavors was that they were not overly sweet, which we loved. We tend to favor treats that are not cloying. These accomplish that task. Yet again, the first bite we took did not have chocolate, so we sampled this again with the chocolate, which made all the difference.
If you are looking for a chocolate chip cookie-like sweet treat that won't upset your stomach, this does the job. We preferred some other varieties more because of their potent flavor combinations. Please note that there is a disclaimer on the product pages of the BelliWelli website stating that they are "manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, other tree nuts, eggs, milk, soy, and wheat," which conflicts with the statement on the FAQ page stating that they are produced in a "fully gluten-free facility."
4. Fudge Brownie
If rich dark chocolate is your cup of tea, the Fudge Brownie BelliWelli is what you have been searching for. The moment you open the foil packaging, you are hit with the aroma of luscious chocolate brownies straight out of the oven. The texture of this particular treat was markedly more solid and less crumbly than the others, likely owing to chocolate helping bind the combination of delicate flours together. This gave it the characteristic chewiness of a fudgy brownie.
Flavor-wise, there was nothing wrong with this bar, though it still had a distinctly oat-forward earthiness. We did notice a marked aftertaste and slightly gritty film in our mouths, which can be a feature of gluten-free baked goods, but this wasn't a dealbreaker.
Something of note with this and many BelliWelli flavors is that they are high in saturated fat. The overall fat for this bar is 10 grams per serving with 4 grams of saturated fat, 20% of the daily recommended value. Unless you plan on eating five of these a day, you probably don't need to worry about that, but it is something to be aware of.
3. Strawberry Shortcake
When we got to these last three flavors, we waffled on which order to rank them. They were all about equal in our estimation in terms of quality, but we had to get nitpicky to narrow down our top three. In third place was the Strawberry Shortcake BelliWelli. As far as looks are concerned, this bar reassembled the image on the website most accurately. It has a moist texture that is delightfully chewy, although it does still tend to want to crumble a bit.
When you take it out of its package, the aroma of this bar is delightful. It is redolent of strawberry jam with strong hints of vanilla. This flavor does translate to the treat, which is not overly sugary. In this case, sorghum flour, a grain with a distinctive sweetness, plays well off the strawberries, and the almond butter is a natural complement.
Though we missed the creamy chips the first time we tasted this treat, once we took a second bite with them present, they helped the shortcake flavor shine through. All in all, we give this bar a solid favorable review. We only ranked this in third place because we are suckers for peanut butter chocolate and anything resembling a cinnamon roll.
2. Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate
The newest flavor of BelliWelli is its Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate. It is reminiscent of Reese's peanut butter cups in cookie delivery format. Admittedly we saved this flavor for last, knowing that we prefer this combination of flavors and wanted to give everything else a fair chance. It is a good thing we did, as we enjoyed this treat.
At first sniff, you immediately smell the peanut butter, with chocolate being a bit of a secondary aroma. The texture of this bar was also a bit firmer than some of the other varieties, likely owing to the peanut butter being an effective binder. Another distinctive aspect of the texture of these bars is the crunchiness, which almost reminds us of a Kit Kat bar or crushed Rice Krispies. That's unique compared with a peanut butter cup, but not distracting.
The flavor has the idea of a traditional peanut butter cup but is less sweet. It also showcases a bit of oat-like earthiness as an undertone to the peanut butter and chocolate. At 200 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 23% of the daily recommended value, per single bar serving, this is the richest of the BelliWelli flavors. That said, we would still eat it as an occasional treat.
1. Cinnamon Swirl
Our top-ranked BelliWelli flavor was the first one we sampled — Cinnamon Swirl. We tend to favor anything with a cinnamon roll flavor, so we were not surprised this ended up on top — though we were shocked it beat out the peanut butter chocolate variety. This bar resembles the photo on its product page on the website. It is perhaps slightly more crumbly in texture than the image would indicate.
The aroma screams cinnamon, which we are confused by. We have read the ingredients list on this bar numerous times, and nowhere on it is cinnamon indicated. We aren't sure if this is an omission or some strange magic trick, but it did give us pause. The taste of this bar is equally cinnamon-forward, though nowhere nearly as sweet as a classic cinnamon roll, which we were fine with.
Again, we missed the creamy chips, which have the flavor of the icing on a cinnamon roll at first taste. When we went in for round two, we found it. When you get a bit of the cookie with a creamy chip, you get the flavor profile of a cinnamon roll.
In this case, the reviews don't lie. This is a great sweet treat that we'd stock up on. We would be curious to have the manufacturer address the glaring omission of cinnamon on the label, if nothing else, to ensure that labeling is accurate and thorough on these treats.