Company: Carnation/Nestle
Years: 1975-1993 (?)
I had no idea people were so gaga over the Carnation Breakfast bar.
And not just regular old gaga, but like, "lets start multiple online petitions to bring them back" gaga.
People are trying to recreate the recipe and make their own.....
This discontinued product even has it's own Facebook page! Settle down, people!
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| Image by Grickly |
I actually do remember eating these when I was little, especially on camping trips or car rides to the cottage......or as an after school snack. It was a semi-nutritious meal replacement. Sort of the grandfather to the thousands of "Energy/Meal" bars on the market today. But the genius thing about the Carnation bars is that they covered the things in chocolate. Fact and point, kids will eat anything covered in chocolate. It sort of blurs the lines between adult food and kids food. It's covered in chocolate? Sure, I'll try it.
They came in various flavors over the years - The original flavors were Chocolate Crumb, Chocolate Chip, Granola with Peanut butter, Granola with Raisins, and Granola with Cinnamon. Over teh years, other flavors were added, such as Chocolate Coconut Crunch, Caramel Nut Crunch, and Chocolate Malted Milk Crunch (this is the one I remember most, as I wasn't really a fan of Malted milk, but for some reason my mom always bought it).
And more important then feeding the masses of hungry 70's/80's kids, it was the official snack on the Space Shuttle Columbia. That's right.....MF'n astronauts ate them in space. Amazing.
Unfortunately, like the US space program, it's been discontinued. Hopefully, if there is any intelligent life out there, we will one day see these return to store shelves everywhere. Now if I can just find a petition to sign........
like here, or here, or here.........
Loved these when I was a kid. Heck I could go for one right now! Maybe I'll sign that petition.
ReplyDeleteBryan I'm right behind you ...love these bars when I was a kid
DeleteI loved these bars so much..disappointed me seeing them no longer on the shelves
DeleteThey were the best!!!!
DeleteI loooved these...bring them back!
ReplyDeleteI remember liking these as a young child in the early 1970s. The chocolate peanut butter version was my favorite. Incidentally, I recall buying these as late as 1995 or 1996. I remember clearly, because that was around the time I had moved out and I would buy these at the grocery store all the time since I was buying my own groceries for the first time. Then, not long after that, they stopped making them.
ReplyDeletePeanut butter was my favorite too
DeletePeanut butter my favorite as well. Hopefully they will bring them back.
DeleteAnd oddly, they were filling. Unlike many breakfast bar/snack/hors d'oeuvre/appetizer thingies they have today.
ReplyDeleteI have called the company and written them asking to start making them again. I used to eat a box a week. I remember when they stopped making them..... I have been waiting for their return since.
ReplyDeletePlease! Please! Please bring them back!
DeleteYes, please bring them back. Loved chocolate chip myself.
DeleteI worked at Johnson Cookie in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where these were made. In June men from Carnation came in, disassembled a cookie line on the second floor west, and put in the breakfast bar line. I got layed off for 4th of July. I had 29 days working, it took 30 to join the union. I got called back in August, (for another 29 days, this seemed to be a Johnson policy, less union workers). The bars were in full production, sort of. Peanut butter broke down every 10 minutes and had to be cleaned out. This put them behind schedual because even though it took up a lot of room,
ReplyDeletethey only had one production line. Don't ask what the young production guys put in the malted milk balls.
What did the young production guys put in the malted milk balls? I'm guessing semen?
DeleteOMG they were better than candybars!!!!
ReplyDeleteHated them. Chocolate covered sawsie dusties.
ReplyDeleteThese were the best ever, if I had known they were going to discontinue making them I would have stocked up on them. Nothing compares to them.
ReplyDeleteI wish they would bring them back. They were the best ! I still crave them all these years later. I even wrote the company, hoping they might bring them back.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was the chocolate chip bars. Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ! Yummy.
ReplyDeleteI hate people who say "settle down" to everyone else on the internet.
ReplyDeleteThe chocolate chip bars RULED... I want them back like Rick Sanchez wants the McDonalds Mulan Szechuan McNugget sauce back!!! WUBBA LUBBA DUB-DUBB
ReplyDeleteI still think about the chocolate chip bars weekly!! Wish Carnation would bring these back! Loved the crunchy chocolate chip breakfast bars soooooo much!!!
ReplyDeleteI still think about the chocolate chip bars weekly!! Wish Carnation would bring these back! Loved the crunchy chocolate chip breakfast bars soooooo much!!!
ReplyDeleteI have found something that comes close to the Carnation Breakfast Bar. It is called PowerBar Protein Bar in Caramel Nut Brownie flavor. They sell on Ebay. Not cheap, but what is these days. I found buying in the 15 pk is cheaper in the long run. The peanut butter bar is less expensive, but I haven't tried them yet. They come in many flavors. These power bars are in a blue box.
ReplyDeleteThey were so so so good
ReplyDeleteI loved the carnation breakfast bars. I honestly thought I was keeping them in business because I bought them so frequently, regardless of the price. They were so addictive. I've always looked for them or something that came close, but no luck. Sad that I now have confirmation that they were discontinued.
ReplyDeleteThese don't seem to be the ones I remember-were they cake-like? I remember a cinnamony one I loved!
ReplyDeleteThat was also my favorite. Cinnamon. I can't seem to see anybody else remembering them!!
DeleteOh you are thinking of General Mills Breakfast Squares! Loved cinnamon!
DeleteI miss them so much, I can remember how they tasted, the texture and how my mostwr had rules about how many we were allowed to have and when we were allowed to eat them...rules I never could follow..ughhhh!
ReplyDeleteshame on you! you should always do what your mostwr tells you to do! surprised you're still alive to tell about it.
DeletePlease bring them back! Where can I buy these again?
ReplyDeleteMalted milk in a breakfast bar...PLEASE bring them back!!!
ReplyDeleteI wish they would just start making them again !!
ReplyDeletePlease bring them back. They're awesome compared to what's out there now. 😔
ReplyDeletezone perfect essentially clones these nostalgic faves. i was a high schooler back in 1982 when carnation breakfast bars hit my home...thanks mom
ReplyDeleteIs there something similar to this bar???
ReplyDeleteThese were so good. I miss them.
ReplyDeleteIf you get Zone Perfect bars in the dark chocolate they taste almost exactly the same as the chocolate chip Carnation bars.
ReplyDeleteI hope they will bring them back!!! Iam hypoglycemic and my parents would buy them for me to have snack in between meals.also if I had a episode they would have me eat one. I love them so it wasn't hard for them to get me to eat them. I would especially pack few in my purse for emergencies. So please please bring them back, there good for people like me and elderly people as well that have low sugar.
ReplyDeleteI miss them so much. My favorite was the peanut butter ones. I went in cereal aisle today and just wished. Bring them back. They were a part of many people childhoods. Good times.
ReplyDeleteI miss these. Wish they would bring them back
ReplyDeleteSTILL missing these. I bought the last several boxes at our old grocery store around 1997, and when they were never replenished I realized that they had been discontinued. I don't know why because they are so much better than the drink and there's not a single granola or other bar that can compete! Why oh why???
ReplyDeleteStill pining for these. I made a copycat recipe and it was "close" in flavor but not the same texture. My mom would "cook" one these each morning for breakfast and serve with a glass of fresh squeezed Cranapple juice, my happy place breakfast. I would totally eat this same breakfast today if available. Please bring the Carnation Breakfast Bar back!
ReplyDelete