Barebells Makes The First Great Protein Candy Bar

Protein bars are almost universally bad. They are snacks pretending to be health food — but shove protein powder into a chocolate bar, and you wind up with a not particularly healthy snack that tastes worse than an actual chocolate bar. Whey powder is chalky and dry, some bars have a prominent chemical aftertaste, and the combination doesn’t help either taste or texture.None of this is to mention the digestive disaster many people face after eating them. Brands tend to go in one of two directions: make a protein bar taste as close to an actual chocolate bar as possible or cram the most protein into the fewest calories. David Gold bars, for example, use esterified propoxylated glycerol, a modified plant fat known as EPG. It has the textural properties of fat, but you can’t fully digest or absorb it, so the bars deliver 28 grams of protein in 150 calories, with two grams of fat and 12 grams of carbohydrates. That’s pretty impressive, and the bars taste OK, but they’re expensive and don’t taste as good as they ought to. They also have a doughy texture, and many people find they lead them to make repeated use of the facilities.The best results come instead when brands try to make a protein bar taste as close to a classic chocolate bar as possible, even if that means it has some more fat and carbs. Barebells has long made some of the best-tasting bars on the market. The Swedish high-protein, low-sugar protein bar and milkshake brand has grown out of the gym recently, with US revenue doubling nearly 100% in the course of the past year.Barebells, which is owned by the Vitamin Well group, has long adopted the strategy of presenting its protein bars as not being too dissimilar to conventional chocolate fare, with flavors such as “Cookies & Cream” and “Wild Cherry.” But its new Soft Caramel Choco bar is the only one that actually tastes great.Compared with a David Gold bar, the macros are not amazing. At 203 calories, the bar I tried has 16 grams of protein, 9.1 grams of fat, and 17 grams of carbohydrates. You get 12 grams less protein for 53 more calories. And, per the name, it is soft, like the David bars. But not in the same way.Instead, it’s basically just a classic chewy-caramel chocolate bar, but coated in softer chocolate instead of a crunchy shell. Is it my favorite chocolate bar? Not far off, and it beats them for protein by a mile.

Barebells Makes The First Great Protein Candy Bar

Barebells Makes The First Great Protein Candy Bar

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