Last week I asked you to come up with some new flavors for CLIF Bars, in celebration of their new slate of special seasonal flavors – and you definitely delivered.

The entries ran the gamut from sweet to savory, healthy to decadent – and from two hikers after my own heart, a few alcohol related entries. All of them made me hungry – but three of them stood out as flavors I would KILL to have in my backpack after a long day of hiking through the woods.

Randy Lloyd got the first entry in and went straight for the familiar campers’ delight – the humble Campfire S’More. Graham, chocolate, and marshmallow are all flavors CLIF could easily accomplish – and if they could throw in a little bit of that smoke flavor for good measure, I’d definitely fill up my shopping cart.

My second-favorite flavor was submitted by TJ Knight – Salted Caramel. Yes, I know salted caramel is the “in” flavor right now, but that’s because it’s crazy good! The combination of salty and sweet is good on just about everything I’ve tried it on – and I think a good CLIF Bar wouldn’t be an exception.

And finally, my favorite flavor comes to us from Kristan, who suggested teaming up with the Girl Scouts of America for a Samoa (or Caramel Delite, depending on where you live) flavored bar. It’s a great organization to support AND the best flavor of cookie they offer (quiet, Thin Mints enthusiasts). Not only that, but she also offered a recipe:

I’d really like to see them create a vegan, refined-sugar free adaptation of Samoas (aka Caramel DeLites). I’d create a dark, fudgy chocolate base (made of dates, fair-trade dark cocoa powder, cashew butter, and possibly brown rice syrup or agave nectar to sweeten things) for the bar. On top, I’d sprinkle it with flakes of crunchy toasted coconut, bits of cacao nibs (for more crunch, and the bittersweet taste will add depth to the chocolate), and ground cashews. Finally, I’d drizzle the thing with a bit of silky-smooth dark chocolate.

Sounds delicious.

Thanks again to everyone who entered and congratulations to the winners! You should be getting more info on your CLIF Bar prize packs via email shortly.

Images by Emily Hill, Justin Kern, and sea turtle.

Tags: Clif bars, contests, flavors, seasonal flavors