Top 10 Best Protein Bars, Cookies & Snacks of 2014
Protein Bars are some of the most underrated but most versatile supplements in the industry. Having been extremely popular in the 80s and 90s, there was a brief lull in sales during the late 90s up to the mid 00’s, however, the last few years has seen a resurgence for protein bars thanks in part to the growing interest in higher protein diets. The range and palatability of protein bars has also increased dramatically over the past few years and the protein bar segment is at what many consider a semi-renaissance period. Protein bars are as versatile as protein powders, with different protein bars available for a range of trainers and goals including fat loss, bulking and as a pre-workout to name a few. With so many bars available, it can be hard to pick the best one for you, so we’ve done the hard work for you and picked the best protein bars, cookies and snacks available for 2014.
10. Ladybird Carb Starve Bar
The Ladybird Carb Starve Bar is the ultimate protein bar for ladies who are looking at losing some weight or just maintaining a healthy diet. With plenty of protein and very little carbs and fats, it’s the ideal snack to help keep you full between meals and help you avoid reaching for the chips and lollies. It’s a small, but tasty bar with a delicious brownie like texture covered in a delicious semi-dark chocolate coating.
9. Black Widow Low Carb Mini Bar
Packing in as much protein as a shake, the Black Widow Low Carb Mini Bars are much more filling thanks to their chewy, dark chocolate texture. The smart move to replace the traditional large bar with the mini bars means that you can more easily decide how much you want without having to get messy and break the bar apart. Black Widow are also an Australian brand similar to Ladybird and it’s always nice supporting our own.
8. Body Ripped Carbcut Bar
Another delicious bar from an Aussie company, the Body Ripped Carbcut Bars are medium sized bars which contain plenty of protein as well as fibre to help keep you fuller for longer, but also provide you with plenty of nutrients to help support and maintain lean muscle. The Carbcut Bar also contains the fat loss ingredient hydroxycitric acid, which can further help you maintain a better body composition with less fat and more muscle. While all flavours are quite nice, you can’t beat the Choc Cherry which tastes exactly like Cherry Ripe.
7. Premier Nutrition Titan Bar
Premier Nutrition’s Titan Bar was designed as a snack and meal replacement bar packing in plenty of protein with some carbohydrates and fats. It’s a big bar at 80g, but it’s filling and tastes like a good chocolate bar. The Titan Bar uses a good range of proteins and have created a bar where even the chocolate coating is high in protein. If you’re after a good, filling snack between meals, a low calorie meal replacement or even a macronutrient rich post-workout snack, then this is the perfect bar for you.
6. ISS Research Oh Yeah Bar
The ISS Research Oh Year Bar is one of the most delicious bars on the market and heavily underrated. Available in a range of flavours and two different sizes, the protein bar is an ideal recovery and post-workout bar, but can also be used as a snack and meal replacement as well. The inside of the bar does have a protein-y taste, but is easily masked by the delicious coating which is possibly one of the best around. The Oh Yeah Bar is also one of the few bars which is high in monounsaturated fatty acids, which is a key component of the Mediterranean Diet, known for it’s ability to support better body composition. With 380 calories per bar, the Oh Yeah bar is also a great bar to help with putting on size.
5. Clif Bars
Clif Bars are America’s top selling energy and workout bars. With a large range of bars, the original Clif Bar was designed as an energy bar, packing in plenty of fast acting carbohydrates to help fuel endurance performance. If you’re an endurance athlete or Crossfitter, then this is the perfect bar for you. The protein level isn’t as high, but an issue you can easily fix with a protein shake. The Clif Bar Range also includes the Builder’s Bar which resembles more a protein bar as well as the Mojo Nut Bar and the Crunch Granola/Muesli Bar. With so much variety and all extremely tasty, there’s a Clif Bar to suit any type of trainer.
4. Musashi Bulk Deluxe Protein Bar
Musashi’s Bulk Deluxe Protein Bar is an exceptionally tasty bar, but is also packed with macronutrients, resembling a high protein snack/meal. Made from only a handful of ingredients, the Bulk Deluxe Protein Bar is ideal for bulking as its name suggests, but can easily pass for a snack replacement or post-workout bar. The Vanilla Raspberry flavour is our pick, but the other flavours are just as tasty.
3. Maxine’s Burn Cookies
The tastiest female oriented protein snack around, Maxine’s Burn Cookies are low calorie, but filling enough to provide a satisfying sweet snack throughout the day. The Cookies also contain three fat loss ingredients including the carb blocking Phaseolamin, Green Coffee Extract and L-Carnitine to help you stay trim and lean whilst you maintain your metabolically active lean muscle mass with the 4 different types of protein in the cookie. Perfect with a cuppa, Maxine’s Burn Cookie is crumbly and moreish. Maxine’s Burn also comes in bar form, but the cookies are tastier.
2. Max’s Muscle Meal Cookies
Max’s is an iconic Australian brand that has been around for over two decades now and are makers of some of the most popular supplements including SuperSize and SuperWhey. Their foray into protein snacks have culminated in a protein bar and cookie. While both taste great, the Max’s Muscle Meal Cookies are the superior of the two and like the bar was designed to help you bulk up and to gain some size. Energy dense and with added branched chain amino acids and glutamine peptides, the Muscle Meal Cookie can also help you recover from a tough training session. A good accompaniment to a protein shake, the Max’s Muscle Meal Cookie is the perfect muscle building snack.
1. Quest Nutrition Quest Bars
Quest Nutrition Quest Bars are undeniably the most popular high protein bars in the market at the moment. Packed full of protein and fibre, Quest Bars will satisfy any hunger and help you avoid unwanted junk food snacking between meals. Quest Bars has the highest dose of fibre out of any other protein bar and is available in a huge range of flavours to please even the fussiest of trainers. The texture of Quest Bars is extremely different to your usual protein bar and may not be to everybody’s taste, but it’s a quality formula without any unnecessary fillers, sugar or gluten. Its excellent nutritional profile, its plentiful range of flavours and the simple and additive free ingredients list is why we think Quest Nutrition Quest Bar is the number one protein bar for 2014.
Notable Protein Bars, Cookies & Snacks of 2014
It wasn’t easy picking only 10 protein bars, cookies and snacks to include in this list and there were plenty of excellent products which just missed out. These include:
- BSc HydroxyBurn Lo Carb Balls
- Next Generation Mega Low Balls
- Musashi Growling Dog Energy Bar
- Horley’s Carb Less Deluxe Bar
- Musashi P10 Low Carb Bar
The above list is only a guide to the many excellent types of protein bars, cookies and snacks on the market today. From the looks of it, Australian’s are some of the best producers of high protein snack foods and know how to make a tasty and quality bar. Regardless, if you want more variety in your supplementation, but still want the results, any of the above protein bars, cookies and snacks are the perfect choice.