Review: Power Crunch Chocolate Brownie Crisp

Recently, I tried Power Crunch's Chocolate Brownie Crisp.  I had a good experience with the Mint Chocolate bar, so I hoped that this one would not disappoint.

Here is the wrapper:

And here is the inside:

Oh my lanta, this thing was good.  I loved this bar!  The texture was nice and crispy and it did not taste like I was eating a piece of chalk.  It kind of reminded me of Cocoa Puffs but far more magical.  Also, this bar has less calories than the other Power Crunch Bars, but I found it to be more filling.  Further, the white chocolate drizzle on top of the bar was a nice touch.

Nutritionally...

It looks better than the other Original Power Crunch bars.  It is only 180 calorie but still has 13 grams of protein.  Still almost 50 percent of the calories are from fat, but we can deal.  I would highly recommend this bar.  Mighty tasty.

Taste: 4.5/5

Appearance: 4.5/5

Nutrition:  4/5

Review: Power Crunch Chocolate Mint Bar

I am a little behind on updating.  Recently, I had the Chocolate Mint Power Crunch Bar.  As I have expressed in previous posts, I am not crazy about this product.  It tastes heavily of whey and has a rather chalky consistency. Regardless, I decided to give the Chocolate Mint a try.  Here is the outside of the wrapper.

And here is what the inside looked like:

Wow.  This was an extremely pleasant surprise.  This bar tasted exactly like a Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie.  The texture still wasn't something to write home about, but I would definitely enjoy this bar as a snack or quick breakfast in the future.  

Here is the nutrition: 

Unfortunately, it is fairy high in fat.  It is also interesting that is labeled as a "cookie."  Nevertheless, I am content with my 13 grams of protein.  Nice job, Power Crunch.

Taste: 4

Appearance: 3.5

Nutrition:  3.5 

Review: Balance Cookie Dough Bar

Yesterday, I had my all-time favorite power bar and decided to review it.  The Balance Cookie Dough Bar could bring a man to his knees.  I consider crying out of pure joy every time I am given the opportunity to indulge in one of these bars.  Here is the wrapper:

The wrapper is nothing special, but I have been classically conditioned to salivate upon seeing it.  Here is what the bar looks like:

Yeah, I'll admit this is no Beyonce, but don't underestimate the bar because of its appearance.  In fact, let's just take a look inside. 

BAM!  It actually tastes like cookie dough.  How magical is that?  Plus, I find these bars to be pretty filling.  They are dense, so you can't just shove them into your pie hole, unless you are a beast.  Further, the chocolate chips are not overpowering and add a nice texture to the bar.  It doesn't have a whey taste and is pleasantly sweet.  I could go on, but I'll just let you try it yourself.

Nutritionally, the bar is not bad but not the best.  It has 15 grams of protein and 60 calories from fat.  However, it has 17 grams of sugar!  This bar might as well be considered a candy bar.  However, if you are like me and can forgive the bar for its sugar content, I promise that it will not disappoint.  

Taste: 5

Appearance:  3.5

Nutrition:  2.5 

Review: Pure Protein Chewy Chocolate Chip Bar

Sometime last week, I sampled a Pure Protein Chewy Chocolate Chip Bar.  I saw the bar at the check-out line in the grocery store and decided to give it a try.  After all, it looked like my favorite protein bar (Balance Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough), and I wanted to see if it could compete.  Here is how the wrapper looked:

The wrapper is nothing special.  However, I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but the bar is gluten free.  Time to dive in.

Appearance-wise, the bar looks like a typical protein bar.  It is coated with ripples of milk chocolate.  Disappointingly, this bar was extremely small.  It is hard to tell in the above picture, but the bar is only about 1 inch by 3 inches.  Taste test!

Taste-wise, the bar was average.  I had hoped that it would taste like the Balance cookie dough bar, but it did not.  In fact, I wouldn't even say the bar tasted like cookie dough.  Hence, probably why it is called a "Chewy Chocolate Chip Bar." I don't think I would buy this bar again, but I would definitely eat it if someone offered me a free one.

Nutrition to follow:

Unfortunately,  the label is not especially clear and you will probably have to zoom in to see it, but the bar is pretty impressive nutritionally.  It has 20 g of protein, only 3 grams of sugar, and 200 calories.  Perhaps this is why it tasted like glorified cardboard.

Taste: 3

Appearance: 3

Nutrition:  4.5

Review: Power Crunch Peanut Butter Creme

Sometime last week, I tried a Power Crunch Peanut Butter Creme bar.  The wrapper looked the same as the other Power Crunch bars.

Appearance-wise, the bar looked the same as the other Power Crunch bars.  

Lastly, taste-wise (you can probably guess), the bar tasted exactly like the other bars.  Yes, there was a hint of peanut butter, but the overpowering flavor was whey.  I feel bad since the Power Crunch company sent me several of these to sample, but they really don't live up to other bars.

Nutritionally, the bar was the same as the other Power Crunch ones.  Once again, low in sugar, but 50% of the calories come from fat. Eek.

Taste: 3

Appearance: 3

Nutrition: 3.5 

Review: Power Crunch Wild Berry Crème Bar

Yesterday, I had a Power Crunch Wild Berry Crème Bar.  The company gave me close to a dozen bars to sample, so expect a lot of reviews on these bad boys.  After trying the Cookies & Cream flavor last week, my expectations were not so high.  The last bar tasted like cheese. Very off-putting, indeed.

Here is what the wrapper of yesterday's bar looked like.

It is a nice wrapper.  Nothing special, but the bar looks sweet and tasty.  I wondered if the bar would be broken into several pieces, like my last one.

Surprise!  The bar was intact and looked much tastier than my last experience with Power Crunch.  This bar was much better coated and actually looked edible.  Time to dive in!

This time, I got a mouthful of whey (much better than cheese).  I don't mind the taste of whey and expect it with a protein bar, so this did not bother me.  I thought that this bar tasted better than the Cookies & Cream one.  It reminded me of a wafer cookie.  It is very crumbly, however, so don't eat it over important documents. Whoops.

Nutritionally, the bar has over 50 percent of its calories coming from fat.  Yikes! Best not to eat more than one of these bars a day, unless you want to invest in some larger pants.  

Taste: 3.5/5

Appearance: 3.5/5

Nutrition: 3.5/5

Review: Chewy Chocolate Chunk Bar

Today, I had a Chewy Chocolate Chunk Bar.  I grew up on these bars, but I have yet to try a "low fat" one.

The wrapper is decent.  I think the little chocolate chip is cute and definitely caters to kids.  Besides that, it was nothing special.  Now, time to open this bad boy up.

It looked alright.  The chocolate chips were all in the center, which mildly offended me.  When I flipped the bar over, there were zero chocolate chips to be seen.  Odd.  Anywho, I decided to dive in.

The bar nearly crumbled to pieces in my hand.  I might as well have had a pile of oats.  I don't know what is holding this bar together, but it is not doing its job.  Taste-wise, the bar tasted like 90 calories.  It was not filling and particularly airy.  The chocolate chips were better than I expected though.  They tasted like above-average, semi-sweet chocolate.  Now time to take a look at the nutrition.

Nutritionally, the bar is so-so.  It is only 90 calories and that is basically the only thing to write home about.  It has 1 gram of protein and 1 gram of fiber.  I could eat a bug and get more nutritional value.  Also, it has 7 grams of sugar.  That is not outrageously high by any means, but it still should be lower.  Well, I've had enough.  This bar makes for a good snack if you are barely hungry.  Honestly, I can only see myself eating these out of boredom.

Taste: 3/5

Appearance: 3/5

Nutrition: 2.5/5

Review: Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut (Almond)

Today, I also had a Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Almond Granola Bar.  The wrapper? Boring. It had some nuts on a wood surface, which oddly looked exactly like my work desk.  Sweet and salty inception. 

 Aesthetically, the bar looked pretty cute.  The almonds were dispersed evenly throughout and the almond butter coating looked mighty tasty.   I even gave it a quick smell test, which it passed with flying colors.

Here is its underbelly:

 Time to dive in.  Wow.  Folks, what we have here is 1.2 Oz of pure, unadulterated delight.  This bar tastes like a glorious harmony of Rice Krispies, icing, and almonds.  It is indeed salty, but the flavor is not overpowering.  My only complaint was that a couple of almonds were on the chewier side.  This could be due to my post-college living situation, so I have no qualms with Nature Valley.

Nutritionally, the bar was so-so. 

13 grams of sugar is a bad thing that just so happens to be very tasty.  The bar was also low in protein and contained 7 grams of fat.  At least it had 2 grams of fiber! Overall, not a healthy bar but definitely a delicious snack.  Touché, Sweet & Salty Nut.  Touché. 

Taste: 4.5/5

Appearance: 4/5

Nutrition: 2.5/5

Review: Power Crunch Cookies & Cream Energy Bar

Today, I had a Power Crunch Cookies & Cream Energy Bar. 

The bar on the wrapper looked magical, and I hoped that my bar would look and taste equally pristine.  Well, it didn’t.  It had broken into three equal parts and did not look like it was coated well.   

Nevertheless, I am not one to judge a book by its cover.  So, I dived in.  Not what I expected.  The bar was good but left a cheesy aftertaste in my mouth.  It was reminiscent of the filling in the Austin cheese cracker sandwiches.  However, this odd taste grew on me, and I found myself happy that the bar had broken into several pieces so that it lasted longer.   Not to mention, this cheesy underdog has awesome nutritional facts.   

It is roughly 200 calories and only has 5 grams of sugar.  Plus, it packs 14 grams of protein.  That’s a lot of Gs for something that isn’t Greek yogurt.  Overall, I would say this bar is pretty good. I prefer the taste of other bars, like Balance Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, but the nutritional stats make this bar worth your while.

Taste: 3/5

Appearance: 3/5
Nutrition: 3.5/5