Freeze! Check out these crunchy bananas!
So, I’m guessing when you saw the title of this post, you thought it would be about banana chips. This time you’d be wrong. There’s more than one way to make a banana crunchy, and this week I had the opportunity to try freeze-dried bananas.
What’s the difference? Well, freeze-dried bananas are more crispy and generally more healthy than their banana chip cousins, which are usually fried. A freeze-dried banana chip has no added fat or sugar — and it is really tasty! In Funky Monkey’s snack pouches, there are no added ingredients, just fruits and spices.
I had the opportunity to sample three varieties of freeze-dried banana chips from Funky Monkey Snacks this week:
Bananamon: This was my least favorite. I usually like the banana-cinnamon combination, but these kind of reminded me of air freshener more than food. However, the crunch was good, and I appreciated that there were only two ingredients — bananas and cinnamon.
Purple Funk: What makes these bananas funky is the added acai. Acai is an “it fruit” these days, popular for being rich in antioxidants and having a tart kick. The chips are coated with acai juice on one side, making them a kid-pleasing two tone — dark purple and light yellow. If you have a family that likes to play with their food, these could make for some fun probability games. Flavor-wise, Purple Funk tastes pretty much like pure bananas with a hint of added tartness. A big favorite in my house.
Carnaval: This last Funky Monkey flavor really goes beyond just bananas. In fact, it was a little hard to find the bananas in all the dried pineapples, papayas, and apples. Still, the combo was delicious; it tastes like a yummy tropical fruit salad, but all crunchy. This was by far the biggest hit in my house.
Funky Monkey snacks are a fun, different way to eat a serving of fruit, and they are great for the car or other places where messy snacks could be a hassle. Want some? The snack pouches are being rolled out on the West Coast first, but should be found in Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores throughout the country soon. Can’t wait? You can also order them now from Amazon! Keep an eye out for these tasty fruit options!
