Clif Bar - Whey Protein Peanut Butter & Chocolate 8 Bars

It seems like everyone these days is looking to add some snack-time protein to supplement protein in their regular diet. Beyond just getting protein though, it's got to be healthy and easy to take on the go. Having eaten numerous boxes of the CLIF Builder's boxes over the past five years or so, I recently wanted to make a switch with the many new whey bars that have hit the market. While Builder's Bars boast 20g of protein per bar, they've also got 29g of carbs, 22g of which is sugar (at least for the Crunchy Peanut Butter bars, the only flavor I could stomach eating on a regular basis, and even now I just look at the remaining box I have and really have to conjure a lot of false desire to eat another).In comes CLIF's Whey Protein Bar to save the day, and the news is pretty good. This is going to be a good option for those looking to make a change. The bar has like a millimeter (pretty thin) layer of chocolate, followed by a thicker layer with "the goods:" nuts, protein, stuff binding the whole bar together. It's really crunchy, almost like popped rice mixed with ground nuts, and there's NO sign of anything revolting or something that was created by a chemist who burned off all of their tastebuds. It's got a very faint hint of sweetness, a fair bit of saltiness, but really it's mostly nutty, with a touch of chocolate and maybe a hint of protein (but you all are probably supplementing why powder already, so if you can do whey shakes, this will be like a candy bar).Note that this bar is simply low in sugar, there are no artificial sweeteners added!This bar is not perfect though. First of all, there's only 14g of protein (vs. the Builder Bar's 20g). That's not all coming from Whey, and there's no way (nyuck, nyuck) to tell how much is coming from Whey (at least from the packaging). Whey Protein Concentrate is the first ingredient listed, while Organic Pea Protein and Whey Protein Isolate are about half-way down the list. Also, there's Organic Brown Rice Protein listed pretty near the end. Well, since I am looking for a product to replace Soy Protein Isolate that's to be had from Builder bars, these does an okay job. It's just that I'm optimistically guessing it has 10g of Whey from a bar instead of 20g of Soy. With Whey being more bioavailable than soy, hopefully this is a wash, but the truth seems to be that this bar is not a substitute for blending a whey protein shake.The other issue with this is the bar count per box. Again, comparing to CLIF Builder's, which has 12 bars/box, CLIF Whey Protein ships with eight bars per box. The per box price is accordingly lower, but basically, you're getting a lot less protein for a similar price, but you're getting Whey vs Soy, with Whey being more expensive than Soy, this seems fair.In conclusion, until CLIF bakes a BUILDER'S bar with 20g (or more) of Whey protein and reduced sugar, this seems to be the best way to get a bit of extra protein in a tasty bar to take on the go. However, if you're really serious about supplementing protein (e.g. 150g+ of Whey/day), your best bet is to stick with whey powder and making a shake because this probably won't be enough to help you reach your daily protein intake goals (unless you can afford to eat an entire box a day...however, this is a protein bar I could envision doing that with).

I have always loved Clif bars, but they have too much sugar and are really only good before a long cardio workout. These Clif Protein bars are great post lift or workout and will definitely fill you up.They also have a great texture that is both crispy and chewy. Sometimes I crumble one up and but it in my greek yogurt. These are hard to find in stores so I am glad they are sold here.Clif uses great ingredients and these are no exception. So much of their catalog uses too much sugar and not enough protein. Even though these are not *loaded* with protein, they have enough that they add a little extra after a good workout. They taste great and travel well in a gym bag, lunch box, or even your pocket!

It's hard to find a decent tasting bar with a good texture, good enough amount of protein, and a small amount of sugar. The CLIF Whey Protein bar is usually my go-to bar because it tastes good, has enough protein for me, and isn't loaded with sugar or sugar alcohols. I just wish that they had a purely peanut butter flavor as chocolate tends to melt pretty easily. As a note, the salted caramel is also pretty good too.

In order to make it from (low-calorie) lunch to (low-calorie) dinner, I eat one of these nearly every afternoon, rotating the three flavors. Compared with other "healthy" bars, I like the taste and texture just fine. Maybe it isn't perfect and if you want a better/different taste Cliff and many other "healthy" bar makers (or Kyle Bush/M&M Mars) will happily fix you up with a different bar - with 20 or 30 grams of sugar instead of 5 (more or less). I look for a bar with three times as much protein as sugar, and no soy protein isolate (which knocks out almost every other bar on the market) and this one fits the bill. Seriously, compare the nutrition information of many protein/energy bars with a Snickers bar and you'll not find a lot of difference. When once a month I find myself in a bind and can't find these Cliff Whey Protein Bars (and zero stores in my major metropolitan city carry them, so "can't find" means I didn't bring one with me) I just go with the Snickers bar - it's cheaper, not much worse than several "healthy" bars, and it's hard to argue it's not tastier! Sure, many bars are tastier; but eating only things which tasted good is what got me to where I was two years ago: 25 lbs heavier.

My boyfriend and I used to love regular Clif bars, but the amount of sugar in them was extremely unhealthy. These only have 5g of sugar in them (for the Peanut Butter & Chocolate flavor) and they are bigger than a normal Clif bar, so you can't go wrong. We also love that these have whey protein rather than soy protein like the normal Clif bars have. Is the taste the exact same as normal Clif bars? No, but they aren't bad at all, and have the perfect amount of sweetness without feeling guilty about your sugar intake. The top part of the bar kind of reminds me of a dense rice crispy treat with a little chocolate that coats the bottom. Sometimes they come in the mail a little melty but it's summer and that's expected. I think that these are the best bars that Clif has made so far, in terms of nutrition.