I will be ranking and reviewing all the Barebells Soft Protein Bars I can find!
Barebells protein bars are known for their candy-like texture and taste. Their company was founded in 2016 and has expanded its line to a variety of protein bar types and flavors throughout the years, including limited edition, holiday, and seasonal flavors.
Contrary to their regular protein bars (of which you can find my review of those here), these soft-based protein bars are one of their newer lines. They were first released in April 2023 with Caramel Choco and Salted Peanut Caramel, expanding to other flavors afterward.
What do these have in common?
These “soft bars” resemble a reasonably thick but softer and thinner type of protein bar in general compared to Barebells’ regular bars. These bars have more of a uniform texture throughout compared to the originals, lacking any real crispy pieces on top, as well as thicker, more substantial layers; notably, they’re thinner. With this thickness comes a slightly denser and harder mouthfeel.
When you bite in, you’re first generally hit with a milk chocolate shell that provides a soft-ish, crumbly snap crunch–it’s not like a Twix or a wafer or anything, more so a notable contrast compared to the softer layers underneath. Below the top part of the shell, a thin and soft layer represents the associated flavor. Finally, right under, a more generous soft-solid ganache filling. The contrast between the shell and the insides is good enough.
The entire thing reminds me of a candy bar, something between a condensed Milky Way and a Snickers of sorts, though less sweet. In fact, all of these are more or less mildly sweet, much less sweet than any candy bar and even most other protein treats, including their own “regular” protein bars. In a sense, they’re too unoffending and frankly, boring. Further, while it isn’t too crazy, there does seem to be a light, bitter-sweetener taste for these bars, but it doesn’t detract too much.
Overall, to me, these don’t feel as fulfilling as other protein bars, including their “regular” counterparts. They’re not sweet enough, the flavors aren’t as pronounced as they should be, and the mouthfeel is too much on the thinner side–the composition is underwhelming to say the least.
Ranking
1. Marshmallow Peanut Road
This should not belong here. Marshmallow Peanut Road is exactly like their regular protein bars, so why are they labeled as their soft protein bar counterparts? Well, either way, here it is, and here is the review!
It has the crunchy pieces, it’s much thicker, and it seems to have an additional layer compared to its soft counterparts. This bar has crunchy pieces both as part of the shell and the inside layer, consisting of crispy pieces embedded in the shell and small peanuts under its ganache-like layer, which is a nice combination. There is also a super-thin white solid layer that I suppose is supposed to be marshmallow, but it doesn’t do much here.
You get a lot from this bar, but for the most part, it falls on the “chocolately bar with peanuts” gig. The peanut is authentic tasting, and the bar as a whole is definitely the sweetest one here–it’s not super sweet by any means, but comparing this to the others, there is a world of difference.
Disappointingly, the marshmallow flavor is frankly a bit too light to notice or make a big difference. Basically, this comes across as a peanut chocolate bar, not as sweet as, say, a Reese’s, though it’s sweet enough to be enjoyable by most. I especially love the crunchy, crispy on top, and the peanut in the center, which contrasts nicely with the softer chocolate shell and filling.
2. Peanut Caramel
Peanut Caramel is a lot–well, somewhat–like Marshmallow Peanut Road, but worse. It has the “real” soft protein bar composition–less crunchy and less sweet, and the composition is less desirable and fulfilling. The peanut and chocolate themselves feel too light and watered down. Also, for a caramel, it needs to be sweeter because it’s barely noticeable–that thin caramel layer isn’t even gooey!
Regardless, both flavors work well, and to me, they just need more sweetness to bring them out. Also, the small bits of peanut pieces in the center were nice, which also differs from the more uniform bars on this list.
3. Caramel Choco
This flavor tastes like milk chocolate with another version of milk chocolate, if that makes sense. It’s nice, though, the difference between the chocolates isn’t too big. Overall, it’s mild to moderately sweet and tastes like a very average chocolate-based treat.
In more detail, the shell is milk chocolate, below that, two layers of slightly different colored chocolate fillings: a Chocolate ganache center, a milk chocolate shell, and a thin layer of similar-tasting chocolate mixed in. If I had to speak very highly of it, the nuance between the chocolates is nice, but again, it isn’t too noticeable unless you are explicitly looking for it. Lastly, more sugar would be aprecitable.
4. Minty Chocolate
This sports a mild milk chocolate shell with a thin white minty layer below that and a chocolate-ish ganache filling. The minty part is the strongest, albeit it doesn’t have a super kick or anything–it’s pretty mild for a mint flavor. Also interestingly, the chocolate isn’t your typical dark; it’s just very lightly sweet milk chocolate, letting the mint take the front stage. Again, these are not at all punchy or toothpaste (or too chocolately), yet at the same time, its mint does is “sharp”–it’s just not powerful. So if you want a milder minty-based bar, you might want to consider this.
5. Banana Caramel
First, this has a milk chocolate shell, a thin layer of soft-solid caramel, and a filling that is supposed to resemble banana flavoring. Unfortunately, all of the flavors are light, including the banana, though the banana still sticks out the most amongst its not-sugary-enough chocolate and caramel parts. To me, the banana flavor is a candy-ish one, but again, it’s not very sweet whatsoever, so don’t get confused on me labeling it a “candy”!