Product Review: Quest Bar Cinnamon Roll Protein Bar

Product: Quest Bar Cinnamon Roll Protein Bar – $2.39+

I’m finding I am very on-the-fence about these bars.  I’d heard so much good buzz about them, but I’m still not sure I actually like them or not.  HA!  Does that sound odd?  I believe most of it has to do with the texture more than anything else.  Because the flavor, much like last time, was there.  And, thank the protein bar gods…this was still chewy…but not as chewy as the Chocolate Peanut Butter one…so at least my jaw didn’t get tired and start hurting.

That being said…it’s Sunday.  And sometimes on Sunday I just don’t have time to prepare a breakfast.  I am usually very busy.  So, when this happens…it’s always nice to have something in the apartment that I can just grab-and-go.  My stash of gluten-free protein bars definitely fits that bill.  And when things were getting hectic and go…go…go…today, I was happy to have packed one of the protein bars from the kitchen.

I know…real food is best…but a Cinnamon Roll flavored protein bar is probably more nutritious than a real cinnamon roll.  It is, however, not as delicious.

So, let’s get down to the (literal) nitty-gritty of this product, shall we?

Since I love cinnamon rolls.  Honestly…there is really nothing better than a hot, gooey, fresh cinnamon roll.  They have always been one of my favorite breakfast pastries…but they are so guilt-inducing.  Not that it stops me from downing one or two at a time.  The thing is…they are tasty, they are awesome, but they aren’t exactly healthy.

Quest Bar is striving to bring some of the best and most popular flavor combinations that happen in nature to their line-up of protein bars.  I tried the Chocolate Peanut Butter bar about a week ago and was…eh.  So, today…Cinnamon Roll.  Because Sundays are just good cinnamon roll days.

As I was on the road in the middle of my errands this morning, I was definitely needing some form of sustenance.  Thank goodness I packed both Cathy and I one of our protein bars.  I handed her the LäraBar that she likes and I broke into the wrapper of the Quest Bar Cinnamon Roll Protein Bar.  I loved that I could see flecks of cinnamon in the bar itself.  That was really cool.  And it smelled like…a cinnamon roll.  This was definitely promising.

I went to tear off a piece to try…and realized that it had the sort of softy and chewy texture the previous one had.  So, I wasn’t sure what to make of that.  But I popped it into my mouth and began to chew.  It did taste like a lightly seasoned cinnamon roll.  I will give this bar that.  The flavor was spot-on.  And it felt a lot lighter than the Chocolate Peanut Butter bar that I ate last week.  It was chewy, but it didn’t hurt my jaw to work on it like last time.  Improvement.  I broke off a bit for Cathy to try and she also isn’t too sold on the texture…but she liked it better than the previous one as well.  And we’re both chocolate peanut butter fans…so go figure.  This bar had a bit of grittiness to it, I’m assuming from the cinnamon that is incorporated into it.  It took a few bites to get used to, but it was decent enough.

Ingredients in the Quest Bar Cinnamon Roll Protein Bar include: protein blend (whey protein isolate, milk protein isolate), isomalto-oligosaccharides* (prebiotic fiber), almonds, water, and erythritol.  This bar contains less than 2% of the following: sea salt, stevia, lo han guo, natural flavors, and cinnamon.  It is gluten-free, contains no artificial sweeteners, and is practically guilt free.

This leads us to the nutritional portion of the Quest Bar Cinnamon Roll Protein Bar.  A serving size is 1 bar.  This bar will provide you with 170 calories and 6 grams of fat.  You will be taking in 5 mg cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, and only 1 gram of sugar.  LOVE that low sugar!  Also, you will be taking in 17 grams of fiber and 20 grams of sugar.  YES…this bar will actually fill you up!  Trust me.

So, for me, I’m struggling with the chewy texture (which is better than being rock solid…but…it’s a lot of work to chew that much).  In fact, I’m just not 100% sold on these bars.  While the flavors are definitely there…mild…but there…the actual bar itself is just…okay.  Sure, it tastes fantastic, but damn…I just don’t want to chew 100 times in order to swallow one bite.

I have one more variety of this brand to try…so we’ll see how it fares.  As for now…not looking likely that I’ll actively seek these out.  Would I eat them again?  Sure.  But if there are other options, I’d probably go with those first.