Our Simply Protein Crispy Bars Review
We’re often asked for recommendations about food and eating because, as you know from our constant harping, it usually comes down to how you eat. Healthy portable snacks, especially snack items, are fan favorites and a bar that doesn’t have the vast majority of its calories from fat is always welcome.
When we saw a bar that fits those criteria and also uses a plant protein we had to give them a try to make sure we were sharing something worthy. We purchased a 15-bar Variety Pack that came with Peanut Butter Chocolate, Lemon Coconut and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt flavors. The box contains five of each of the flavors and, at $30.95 per box on Amazon for a one-time purchase, that works out to just over $2 per bar. We happened to catch these at Costco where the regular price is $18.99 - and they were an additional $5 off - so we really had no choice, right? That works out to ~$1.25 at full price and a very tidy $0.93 on sale.
What do you get for your money?
Each of the snack bars claims to be 150 calories and that works out about right when you do the math based on the macros. All three of them contain 15 grams of soy-based protein. The Peanut Butter Choco has 14 grams of carbs, the Lemon has 15 grams and the Dark Choco has 16 grams. The first two have 4.5 grams of fat and the Dark Choco comes in at 3.5 grams. They’re a bit smaller, as you would expect at 150 calories but for those that aren’t eating 2,000 calories or more a day that’s a welcome sight. There’s nothing worse than seeing a 200+ calorie bar with 13 grams of fat, right ladies?
While we like a snack bar to have the majority of its calories from protein - and we prefer ~20 grams per bar - this one is pretty close and, as mentioned, the fat is very low. While we don’t have an issue with fat, as you all know, it’s easy for that one to get away from you and bars and snacks can be a very deep hole. It’s nice to see one that’s lower in fat and still comes in with both a nice calorie count and a decent amount of protein. The PB and Lemon Coco each have 7 grams of fiber and the Dark Choco has 8 grams. Again, not bad at all.
So, how do they taste?
First off, two of them are great and one of them is pretty good. All three have the appearance of a rectangular Rice Krispy’s treat complete with the chewy/crunchy texture as well. They’re labeled on the box as Crispy Bars and it’s definitely a nice change. All of us have gotten a cramp in our tongues from trying to pry a sticky protein bar off of our teeth and gums and this one is a nice break.
The bars don’t have a funky taste at all and they’re definitely missing that funny aftertaste you can get from foods using artificial sweeteners or other laboratory sugars. They claim to be Gluten-Free, Kosher Certified and Non-GMO Verified. Those with peanut allergies will need to stay away from them, the PB Choco obviously, including the Lemon Coco and Dark Chocolate since they have cashew butter and they’re also all made in a facility with tree nuts.
Eva and I both agreed on our rankings of each of the bars with the PB Choco coming in on top and the Dark Choco a close second. Peanut butter together wth any chocolate is a tough combination to beat and this one was certainly no exception. The Dark Choco Sea Salt is still very good but the sea salt just isn’t enough to overcome the addition of PB to the other one.
I mean, people sit around and eat peanut butter from the jar but do they do the same with sea salt? You get my point…
That leaves us with the Lemon Coconut and, while it wasn’t bad, it’s not quite up to the level of the other two, at least in our humble opinion. We certainly didn’t hate it but Eva wasn’t a big fan and she loves lemon bars and other treats of that nature so that’s something. I have a feeling the others in the box will be left to me so it’s fortunate they’re still good. We won’t throw them away or anything but if we could get a box with nothing but the first two we’d toss more than one of them in the shopping cart. Since I’m going to have to eat the remaining Lemon bars that would be a done deal.
We both agreed that they’re four stars out of five and a worthy addition to your bag of diet tools and tricks. If you can catch them on sale at Costco they’re very worthy indeed. Still, at the full price on Amazon they’re not a bad deal, the numbers work and, for a snack bar like this one, they’re a lot more natural than most of what you see on the market. We recommend them and hope you’ll enjoy them as well.
Let us know what you think!
The link above is our Amazon Affiliate link and we receive a small commission if you use it. As you know, we have a policy to let you know upfront if we’re reviewing or recommending something we don’t use personally or haven’t purchased with our own money. As always, we can’t thank you enough for your constant support.
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