Fruity fun with Banana Teddy Grahams

Let's get the obvious joke out 0f the way: I've seen plenty of bananagrams in my time but never any Banana Teddy Grahams. There, now we can talk about the actual product without you peeling apart my words looking for places where I slipped in easy puns.


Give the folks at Nabisco credit for creativity -- bunching Teddy Grahams and bananas wouldn't have occurred to me in a million years. Even when you think about it the idea isn't a no-brainer. Yes, kids love Teddy Grahams, and yes, they love bananas. But kids also go ape for noodles and cookies, and nobody is rushing to sell "nookies" in the supermarket.

Whatever spawned the idea for Banana Teddy Grahams, their mere existence wasn't enough to convince me they would be tasty. Fruit does well in many pastries and pies, but it's track record is far from flawless. Try a fruitcake if you doubt that. I bit into my first Banana Teddy Graham expecting a consuming rush of fake banana flavoring.

The fake banana was there, all right, but it was merely hinted at instead of being pushed to the front of my taste buds. In that way the little Chiquitas imitate real life -- actual bananas have a naturally strong sweet flavor, but their unique taste slips into the background.

Where this new snack really shines is texture, however. Each individual Teddy Graham has little chewy chunks in it. I suppose this is the "real fruit" about which the box brags, as they could be dried banana pieces. They come off as a far-less-sweet version of toffee bits that combine a satisfying sense of gumminess with Teddy Grahams' always fulfilling crunch.

Despite my initial reservations, I have to award Banana Teddy Grahams a superior score of four and a half out of five sporks. Nabisco sure wasn't monkeying around with these!