Best bang for your buck in Protein-dense bars/cookies

35dollars

Yeah, it's another protein bar thread. However, this one is a bit more specific - I'm on a quest (no pun intended) to find the bars with the most protein for the fewest calories.

There are lots of them around that have boast 25 or 30g of protein, but then they're 350+ calories a pop, and I'm looking to max out my protein without putting too much of a dent in my calorie budget.

So, here's the best I've found so far (these are all as available in the UK):

PhD Pharma Whey HT+ ("delicious high-protein bar") - Chocolate/Peanut: 30g protein, 253kCal, just under 0.12g/kCal
PhD Pharma Whey HT+ ("delicious high-protein bar") - Double Chocolate: 30g protein, 248kCal, 0.12g/kCal

Taste is pretty good, texture is a bit gloopy, but overall happy with these.

Nutramino Protein Bar - Chocolate Brownie: 20g protein, 264kCal, just under 0.08g/KCal
Nutramino Protein Bar - Peanut & Caramel: 21g protein, 246kCal, 0.08g/kCal

Nowhere near as protein dense as the PharmaWhey ones, but these are delicious - I'd happily eat these as treats rather than protein supplements

Maxi Nutrition - Promax Sustain & Rebuild - Dark Chocolate: 21g protein, 208kCal, 0.10g/kCal

I'd quantify these as "edible", but not remotely enjoyable, which puts them well ahead of the rest of the Maxi range which vary from unpleasant to downright disgusting/

SciMX - Pro2Go Cookie - Strawberry & White Chocolate Chip: 23g protein, 302kCal, just under 0.08g/kCal

Not a fan of these - dubious taste and horrible texture

SciMX - Pro2Go Cookie - Double Choc Chip: 23g protein, 303kCal, just under 0.08g/kCal

Haven't tried this yet - put off by the s&wc variant

What have found that can compete with these?

StealthHealth

Grenade CarbKilla bars:

Fudge Brownie Flavor for example - 60g bar is 23.3g protein 215 kCal (0.11g/kCal)

https://www.grenade.com/uk/grenade-carb-killa

Edited to add - IMHO they taste fantastic (tried cookies and cream, caramel chaos, fudge brownie so far)

Gallowmere1984

NoCow bars. 20-21g p, 160 kcals. They're rice/pea protein blend (no soy involved), but given that combining the two provides a complete AA profile, this isn't an issue.

Not exactly the best texture in the world, but the flavor of the raspberry, dark raspberry, and dark mint cacao is pretty solid.

Given their IMOs content though, I suspect that the caloric labeling is off by a bit. That stuff is more directly bioavailable than most soluble fibers.

StealthHealth

Not heard of IMO but just done a little reading up on it.

CarbKilla bars do not appear to contain it but it seems to be benign (useful some might say) although the cals are rarely accounted for ("estimated that the caloric density of IMO syrup is 2.7-3.3 kcal/g, about 25% less than for maltose on average" - http://easacademy.org/trainer-resources/article/isomalto-oligosaccharides)

Gallowmere1984

Oh yeah, it's not harmful, just that counting it's calories as a "true" fiber (averaged to 2kcal/g) is misleading. Labeling stuff like this is why some people believe that BCAAs have no calories. It really needs some work.

jjpptt2

Clif builder and MyBar are both 20g protein and in the range of 230 cals. Depending on the flavor, taste and texture are pretty OK. The clif builder chocolate mint and mybar peanut butter crunch are my go-tos.