Review - WB Kitchen Bar

Brand:  WB Kitchen

Flavor:  Peanut Ginger Spice

Where to get it: here @ WBKitchen.com

                Ginger is such an underestimated powerhouse. It’s got to be cooked, and then it’s got to be used so, so, so sparingly, or it hits you like a truck. Not a beer truck, either, but like, a truck full of gravel and bark chips. You just can’t recover from that sort of thing. WB kitchen does a really good job of respecting the awesome hurricane of power that ginger can bring to a treat. You can definitely taste that it’s there, but the peanut-flavor is strong enough to make a good show at the cage fight. It’s still a little bit strong for my liking, but to anyone who really loves ginger as a spice, this bar is definitely for you.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Sweet peanuttyness, then HELLO, GINGERTOWN

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:  Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten free

What’s in it:

Review - Pure Organics Ancient Grains Bar

Brand:  Pure Organic Ancient Grains

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Chocolate

Where to get it: here @ Shop.ThePureBar.com

                The first ingredient in this bar is peanuts, but when you unwrap it, it kind of looks like pasted-together birdseed. Don’t dismay! The smell is wonderful, like a fresh jar of peanut butter. The taste is also pretty great, very peanutty, subtly chocolatey, and all the crispy grains give this bar a firm but not hard texture. It’s low in sugar (8g), and at 160 calories, it just about as perfect as a snack bar can get when you need something between meals, or even before bedtime. Anything to keep me  away from the Reese’s at midnight…

                 

               

Tastes like:  Lightly chocolate-d peanuts

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:  All natural, Gluten free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Non-GMO, Kosher, Organic

What’s in it:

Review - B'Bites Peanut Butter Crisp

Brand:  B’ Bites

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Crisp

Where to get it: here @ bbitesnacks.com

                These little blocks are full of admirable ingredients, low calories, and low fat. They just taste so similar to so many other products on the market that I wouldn’t seek them out. The peanut butter flavor is not central to these like the title implies, the brown rice syrup flavor is the front runner here. The texture is good - they aren’t dry or sawdust-y at all. I hate that I don’t have more to say about them, I think if I hadn’t already tried so many other products, I might have a fresher outlook on these. If you don’t know what my “tastes like” on these mean, I think you should try them to form your own opinion. So snacky, so jaded. ‘Tis the life I have chosen to lead.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Everything else in the Brown Rice Syrup Brigade

Taste rating:  5/10

Qualities:  All natural, Gluten free, Vegetarian, Vegan

What’s in it:

Review - Papa Steve's No Junk Raw Protein Bars

Brand:  Papa Steve’s No Junk Raw Protein Bars

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Crunch

Where to get it: here @ PapaSteves.com

                If you’ve been counting calories for any amount of time, you know that eventually, each one becomes really, really precious. That’s how calorie-counters succeed, we learn that if we have that 500-calorie donut at the breakfast meeting (that we didn’t even enjoy that much, we only ate it because it was “there”…crap), we are going to struggle for the rest of the day trying to stretch our remaining 700ish calories over our remaining 14ish hours of consciousness. It is for this reason that I almost never get impressed/fall in love with any kind of bar that has over 200 calories. I simply cannot eat a bar for a meal. I can’t do it. I want other things. It doesn’t feel like real food to me, it always feels like a snack.

                This bar…is a little different. Yes, it has 295 calories and 31g of carbs. Yes, you need to pay attention and not go to bed thinking, “Wow, I ate three of those Papa Steve’s bars today in between my meals”. HOWEVER…if you’re a peanut butter fan, and you miss eating peanut-buttery desserts from heaven above…this bar needs to be behind your “Break In Case Of Emergency” glass. It’s got such an authentic peanut butter taste, but there’s a little extra to it, so it fulfills a need different than the peanut butter you put on your oatmeal on gym mornings. The “Dessert” need. The “I Need To Eat Something Bad” need. But it’s NOT something bad. The ingredients are stellar, plus you get 20g of protein and no added sugar.

                Thank you, Papa Steve. Thank you a whole bunch.

                 

               

Tastes like:  A mellow peanut butter experience

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Raw, vegetarian, Gluten-free, Non-GMO, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Osem Bamba Peanut Snack

Brand:  Osem

Flavor:  Bamba Peanut Snack

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                This is my new favorite thing. So simple, so good! The first piece seems a bit bland on your tongue, like unsalted peanut butter. Then somehow, the more pieces you eat, the more the delicious, salty peanut flavor breaks through. These are truly satisfying, low-calorie, and have just 4 ingredients. Look for them in the Kosher section of your local grocery. I live in a small town, and the Kosher section of my local store is literally 3 shelves big, but they still have these, so hopefully yours will too. This is the best-kept secret from the peanut butter maniac community.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Salty peanut butter puffs

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian, Vegan, All natural, Kosher

What’s in it:

Review - Bonk Breaker

Brand:  Bonk Breaker

Flavor:  Peanut Butter & Jelly

Where to get it:  here @ BonkBreaker.com 

                I’m just going to cut right to it with this little dude – the jelly is non-existent and the peanut butter is dry as a bone despite the presence of honey and 9 grams of fat. Nutritionally it’s not terrible – but it’s just so dang DRY. As I chewed, my saliva moistened it into a sort of paste in my mouth that was actually really hard to swallow. The heavy peanut butter taste wasn’t unpleasant, but the texture on this bar is just unmanageable for me.      

                 

               

Tastes like:  Sawdust and peanut shells

Taste rating:  3/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review - VPX Zero Impact Peanut Butter & Jelly

Brand:  VPX Zero Impact

Flavor:  Peanut Butter & Jelly

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                Here we have another terrible-tasting, 400-calorie bar bomb. The amount of these on the market blows my mind. Even if I was some huge guy who could eat 400-calorie bars because I’m in the gym every day, you know, going so hard, I feel like I could think of so many better-tasting, more fun ways to eat 400 calories. Shoot, you could eat 2 and-a-half packets of Peanut Butter & Co.’s The Bee’s Knees peanut butter for about the same amount of calories – just as quickly – so don’t give me the convenience excuse. I just don’t get it. Yuck.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Sod

Taste rating:  1/10

What’s in it:

Review - Raw Rev Glo Creamy Peanut Butter & Sea Salt Bar

Brand:  Raw Rev Glo

Flavor:  Creamy Peanut Butter & Sea Salt

Where to get it:   

                 Dear Barmakers, The World ‘Round:  Stop it with the pictures. Just stop. You’re getting yourself an initial, one-bar sale due to the picture on the wrapper. Then, when I find out that the product tastes nothing like what’s on the wrapper, I a) never buy it again, b) recommend it to no one, and c) rant about it in cyberspace.

                I find this increasingly problematic when your bar doesn’t actually taste BAD, it just doesn’t taste like you lead me to believe it was going to. So now I’m let down by your product, when I may have been like, ehhh, that was a decent bar. NO MORE!

                 The picture on this wrapper COULD NOT BE MORE APPETIZING to me. A glob of peanut butter with salt crystals the size of corn kernels? GET IN ME. The problem here is…the bar actually tastes like a glob of natural, unsalted peanut butter. Now, that’s not a yucky flavor, but come on. You built me up so well, then fed me a brick of peanut sawdust. This does not please me. (The ingredients on this are pretty great though, I will grudgingly add.)

               

Tastes like:  Unsalted peanut butter

Taste rating:  4/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Non-GMO, Kosher, vegetarian, vegan

What’s in it:

Review - Terra Nut P'Nut Punch

Brand:  Terra Nut

Flavor:  Pnut Punch

Where to get it: here @ TerraNut.com

                Little teensy power house! These have just 3 ingredients – peanuts, oats, sugar, and what a perfect little snack they are! They seem small, but I warn you, do not pop the whole “log” into your mouth at once. The texture is a bit powdery, so bite gently, but you won’t regret it. Somehow, the initial “dryness” fades away as you chew. I’m guessing that’s the handiwork of the sugar. With the perfect balance of sweet, peanut, and somehow salty tastes, these tiny bombs are perfect for a snack, a pick me up, or a treat at night.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Sweet peanut dust

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Kosher, All natural

What’s in it:

Review - Tiger's Milk Bar

Brand:  Tiger’s Milk

Flavor:  Peanut Butter & Honey

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                Not to date myself, but I have been eating these for over 20 years. I still love them. I’m really impressed that you can still buy them almost anywhere – the grocery store, AM/PM, even at the fancy grocery store. The texture is PERFECT – a lot of the bars on the market could learn a lot from Tiger’s Milk. Chewy, but never tough – and the chocolate is the perfect accent flavor, not the overbearing guy in front who won’t sit down.

                I feel like they haven’t changed a thing in all the decades they have been making these little guys, and for once, I feel like that was the right call.

                 

               

Tastes like:  My childhood

Taste rating:  10/10

What’s in it:

Review - Quest Cravings Protein Peanut Butter Cups

Brand:  Quest Cravings

Flavor:  Protein Peanut Butter Cups

Where to get it: here @ QuestNutrition.com

                One of my favorite foods of all time is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They’re not healthy, they’re full of weird stuff, and…I’m diabetic. They’re not supposed to be in my life. In walk these Quest peanut butter cups like, “What up, I got 1g of sugar babe.” Okay! Upon first glance at the label, I was shocked. These have MORE grams of fat in them than Reese’s, and about the same amount of calories. Yikes. Okay, that’s fine, they are supposed to be a treat. Right? Plus, there are 20g of protein in them and hardly any refined sugars. Right? Well, the problem is…SOMEHOW, despite there being *17* grams of fat in these babies, they are dry AF. I don’t understand how this is scientifically possible. Aside from the dryness, the chocolate is VERY bitter, I assume to make up for the sugar-alcohol sweetness overload that is becoming Quest’s signature move.

                Final word:  file these under “too good to be true”. Drink a shake that you like instead.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Bitter peanut dust

Taste rating:  4/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review - Ratio Peanut Butter Cup Protein Bar

Brand:  Ratio

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Cup

Where to get it: here @ Bodybuilding.com

                                Sometimes when I review a product, I eat the whole thing…but sometimes I only eat a bite or two. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m the weird kind of girl-creature who doesn’t really like chocolate. Unfortunately, chocolate and protein bars are pretty inseparable. As my civic duty placed upon me by no one at all, I figure that once in a while I need to try some mainstream flavors for the greater good of the internet.

                This bar actually wasn’t terrible, due almost exclusively to the layer of peanut butter substance across the top of the bar. I’m not sure what it really is, but it tastes like real peanut butter, and it’s stinkin’ delicious. I took one bite of the bar-proper, then shucked off the top layer with my favorite Santoku knife and gobbled it all up. This probably defeats the purpose, but I do what I want. And I’d actually do it again, in a pinch. It was really that good.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Real peanut butter and fake chocolate

Taste rating:  6/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, Gluten free, All natural, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Labrada Peanut Butter & Jelly Lean Body Gold Protein Bar

Brand:  Labrada Nutrition

Flavor:  Peanut Butter & Jelly Lean Body Gold Protein Bar

Where to get it: here @ Bodybuilding.com

                It has gotten to the point where if I have a bro bar to review, I put it off as long as possible. They are just always so bad! And when they aren’t completely repulsive, they are never something I would eat again on purpose. I feel like the addition of the peanuts on top of this bar made all the difference. I can’t lie, it was totally delicious. The cross-section shows a clear separation of peanut butter, jelly, and peanut/chocolate topping. There is no strong sugar alcohol taste, and there is also no weird whey protein taste. That being said, this IS a bro bar - 350 calories in the whole thing, so this is a whole meal (not a snack) if you’re trying to lose weight. This is the best of the bunch I've tried, for sure.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Chocolate & peanuts!

Taste rating:  8/10

What’s in it:

Review: Think Thin Creamy Peanut Butter Bar

Brand:  Think Thin

Flavor:  Creamy Peanut Butter

Where to get it: here @ Think Thin

                Now that’s what I’m talking about! Just put a picture of a giant glob of peanut butter on your wrapper. I appreciate that. It keeps my expectations reasonable, and it lets me know what your bar is all about. Oddly enough, this is the least peanut-buttery bar of all the peanut butter bars I’ve tried thus far. I’m not sure if it was the coating, or the blend of whey isolate in it, but it tasted a bit like coffee. And of course, I hate coffee. This bar is not really for me, but I don’t think it’s a bad bar. The texture was pleasing, it has 0 g of sugar, and 20 g of protein, which is pretty darn good for this mid-size bar. If you’re into the coffee/chocolate/peanut butter thing, you might really like this one.

               

Tastes like:  A protein shake with coffee in it

Taste rating:  4/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Kosher

What’s in it:

Review: Pro Bar Peanut Butter Meal Bar

Brand:  Pro Bar

Flavor:  Peanut Butter

Where to get it: here @ Pro Bar

                This is a big, heavy, dense bar. This is not a snack bar, and this is not a bar to be taken lightly. It’s heavy. It has a lot of calories in it. But it’s also full of good, natural things, like nuts and seeds, which are heavily studded throughout the bar and visible to the naked eye. Yes, the NAKED EYE. I know it sounds dramatic, but there are so many bars out there that are just a mass of weird-looking pellets and puree. I give credit where credit is due. This bar wasn’t as peanut-buttery as I would have liked though, it did have a strong seed and nut taste with a peanut-type undertone, minus the butter. All in all this is a decent bar if you’re hiking for a day or away from a kitchen or restaurant – just don’t use it as a snack or you’ll beef up quickly.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Nuts and seeds and the forest

Taste rating:  6/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, Organic, Kosher

What’s in it:

Review: Justin's Nut Butters

Brand:  Justin’s

Flavor:  Peanut Butter, Almond Butter

Where to get it: here @ Justin's

                Tiny pack, tiny pack, what are they feeding you? Nut. Butter. Delicious, portable, all natural, nut butters that you can do whatever the heck you want with. The smaller peanut butter packs have just 80 calories in them. Toss one of these and a banana in your bag, and BOOM! Snack off, dance off. The bigger packs have roughly twice as many calories in them, but they are still a perfectly acceptable way to treat yourself. The honey almond butter is my favorite…I like to spread it on toast. Not just any toast, the kind of toast made with bread that’s studded with seeds and grains and tastes kind of nutty in and of itself. Justin’s has done what everyone tries to do, no matter what they make – they have made a product that is impossible to improve upon. Perfection.

               

Tastes like:  Pure peanutty (or almondy) goodness

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Organic, Gluten-free, Kosher, Non-GMO

What’s in it:

Peanut butter ingredients:  Dry roasted peanuts, Palm fruit Oil

Review: Quest Peanut Butter Extreme Bar

Brand:  Quest Nutrition

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Supreme

Where to get it:  here @ Bodybuilding.com

                Oh Quest, how I love thee for having eleventy million inventive flavors! I don’t love them all, but I love that they exist. This is my 3^rd flavor review, and so far it’s my favorite! Straight up peanut butter, no chocolate, no messing around. Loads of protein and an absolutely anemic amount of carbs, but I am still wishing they would put less delicious-looking pictures on their wrapper, because there’s no bar in the world that’s going to taste as good as that pie looks. It does catch your attention though, so I guess they have that going for them. Stay tuned as I continue to eat my way through more Quest flavors, these are really an awesome snack if you’re diabetic, the blood sugar impact is so dang minimal, I can’t NOT support what these guys are producing.

               

Tastes like:  A sugar-free Zagnut

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free

What’s in it:

Review: Life Choice Peanut Butter Extreme Protein Bars

Brand:  Life Choice Protein Bar

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Extreme

Where to get it: 

                These bars offer a big dose of peanut butter flavor, but also a big dose of delightful protein.  More filling and about twice the calories of my favorite little peanut butter bombs, these really do hit the spot if you are HUNGRY and about to crack. Loads of vitamins and minerals, I also keep these in the fridge. I’m not sure where my desire for cold peanut butter came from, but it’s seriously in full force during the summer. My gym is about 15 minutes from my house, so I often cut one of these in half and eat half on the way there and half on the way home; in the car, singing at the top of my lungs and spewing peanut crumbs all over the steering wheel. It’s a lease anyway. Real talk.

               

Tastes like:  Semi-sweet peanut butter bars

Taste rating:  7/10

What’s in it:

Review: Health Warrior Chia Bars

Brand:  Health Warrior

Flavor:  Chia bar (variety)

Where to get it: here @ Health Warrior

                Hello, you perfectly-sized tiny little powerhouse of a snack! 100 calories per bar? Yes, please! I love, love, love the texture of these Health Warrior Chia bars. If you’re the kind of weirdo that gets excited when a glob of chia seeds get stuck together in your smoothie and then you get to chew them (why is that so fun to me?), then you will love these as much as I do. They come in all kinds of flavors, I devoured the apple cinnamon one before I remembered that I needed to take a picture. These are a definite winner in the “so many bars, help!” snack race.

               

Tastes like:  Fig Newton-granola bar-fruit casserole

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Kosher, Vegetarian, Vegan

What’s in it: (Mango flavor bar)

Review: Ratio Peanut Butter Banana Protein Bars

Brand:  Ratio

Flavor:  3:1 Peanut Butter Banana

Where to get it: here @ Bodybuilding.com

                Ratio has so many flavors that appeal to me…I’m going to keep trying them. I WILL FIND ONE THAT I LIKE. I vow it. But this second try is not the one. When I first bit into it I was pretty excited about the banana-ness of it all, but as I continued to chew, it just kind of devolved into that sugar alcohol flavor that I tasted when I tried their oatmeal flavor. Peanut butter is usually an easy flavor to convey without refined sugar ingredients, but it just doesn’t make a great showing in these bars, sadly.

               

Tastes like:  Muted banana and sugar alcohols

Taste rating:  4/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, Gluten-free, No artificial ingredients

What’s in it: