A review and flavor tier list of Gatorade Builders Protein Bars. These flavors include Peanut Butter Chocolate, Cookies and Creme, Chocolate Caramel, S’mores, and Chocolate Chip.
Overall Review & Verdict
The first thing I noticed about these bars is that they are very heavy and quite chunky. And the macros show, with a very high calorie-to-protein ratio, with the bars made up of whey isolate, cocoa, sugar, and other ingredients.
These are some of the largest protein bars I’ve ever seen. Each one appears uniform on the outside, having a dark chocolate shell. On the inside, they’re made of crispy rice and various embedded bits, depending on the flavor.
The shell is a smooth chocolate. On the inside, they’re not as soft and pliable as some other bars, though they’re still soft enough and provide a crispy crunch as you bite into them. Most fall around moderately sweet and sport mostly authetic flavors, providing a candy-bar-eske type of flavor in combination with a crispy mouthfeel.
Overall, these are solid protein bars, literally–these are hefty! They’re slightly sweeter than most other protein bars and offer mostly authetic flavors. However, the big problem is the calorie-to-protein ratio. These simply have a huge amount of calories with very little protein. Otherwise, if you can ignore that, you’ll find these taste and feel above average in terms of the protein bar landscape. It also wouldn’t hurt to have more nuance in their respective compositions.
Flavor Tier List
1. Cookies and Creme
This Gatorade protein bar has a small layer of white filling at the top right above the crispy filling, and I also noticed some crushed-up chocolate and tiny cookie bits throughout the inside filling.
When I got into this, I immediately noticed that the cream filling layer on top provided a nice soft contrast to the crispy part. It almost feels like a very thick, solidified cream. In terms of taste, it’s a moderately sweet, genuine cookies-and-cream flavor, with both the cream and the chocolate about equal in proportion, providing a nice balance. From experience, I notice that cookie-and-cream flavors generally lean toward a creamier, sweeter profile; this bar is more equal parts chocolate and cream, so expect something a little more chocolatey than you might expect.
2. S’mores
Upon inspection, I noticed that among the crispy bits are a few white pieces as well, perhaps to resemble marshmallow — unfortunately, they don’t add anything, as they are too small and feel the same as the crispy pieces.
If you had asked me if this was a protein bar or a candy bar, I would have guessed the candy bar. It has an authentic s’mores taste; you can actually taste the chocolate, the slight butteriness of the cookie or Graham cracker, and a creamy marshmallow essence. The sweetness also really elevates this, exemplifying the nuanced flavors of s’mores even more.
3. Chocolate Chip
This bar looks like your traditional crispy protein bar. It’s inside, filled with crispy bits and chocolate-looking crispy bits, too. However, don’t be deceived by its bland-lookingness.
This flavor is a sweet chocolate bar, one of the sweeter flavors on this list. While it doesn’t offer much nuance in flavor, it delivers a pretty powerful, sweet milk chocolate that comes across as candy bar-like, with no artificialness. Overall, it is a very good chocolate protein bar.
4. Chocolate Caramel
Wow, that gooey layer above the crispy filling is a really nice touch. It provides a very slight pliable texture when you bite and chew through it.
In terms of flavor, it reminds me of a caramel-flavored protein powder, but not necessarily chalky or anything that sticks out; it’s definitely not an authentic caramel, if that makes sense. The chocolate works decently well with it, too, providing a balance. Overall, it’s reasonably sweet, a little held back by its less-than-authentic caramel flavor.
5. Peanut Butter Chocolate
It smells just like a super-sweet peanut butter-chocolate candy. Looking on the inside, I don’t see any extra bits aside from the crispy pieces. However, unlike the smell, the flavor does not match; it tastes like a mildly sweet, off-brand peanut butter and regular chocolate mixed.
Something about it also tastes dull. I’m not sure if it’s the protein or some other ingredient, but it just tastes a bit off. It’s not horrible, it’s just not a traditional, enjoyable peanut butter-chocolate flavor. To note, this is one of the least sweet on the list, so perhaps it could use a bit more sugaryness, alongside better flavors.