Flavors Tried: Peanut Butter Candy & Kitchen Sink
Price: $30 for 12 Bars ($2.50 per bar)
Nutrition: 270 Calories, 13g Fat, 28g Carbs (2g Fiber & 17g Sugar), 16g Protein
Jacked Factory’s Authentic Bars look eerily similar to other bars I’ve tried before, and when you look at the label, you may be thinking the same thing.
Between Authentic Bars, Anabars, CICO Bar, and Outright Bars, they all seem to be incredibly similar…
Companies take design inspiration from others all the time, so I can’t blame them too much for these labels all looking pretty similar.
But, based on my recent review of Anabar Protein Bars, it seems like the bars themselves are actually quite similar. Here is a comparison of the nutrition facts of each bar, for reference:
Authentic Bar: 270 Calories, 13g Fat, 28g Carbs (2g Fiber & 17g Sugar), 16g Protein
Anabar: 280 Calories, 11g Fat, 25g Carbs (1g Fiber & 19g Sugar), 21g Protein
There are definite differences, it’s worth pointing out that they are quite similar! Which protein bar came first? I’m not entirely sure.
But that’s enough of that. Similar to other bars or not, it’s time to give Authentic Bar a fair & honest review.
I tried two flavors of these bars: Peanut Butter Candy and Kitchen Sink. Let’s get into it.
Peanut Butter Candy Authentic Bar Review
If peanut butter is what you’re after, then you’ll strike gold with this protein bar.
It basically tastes like a block of peanut butter, but I found there to be a real lack of “candy” in the bar. You can see some peanut butter chips in there, but as far as the candy pieces (which are very M&M-like) they were few and far between.
Texturally, the bar is pretty pleasant. It’s a very dense protein bar, but it’s nice and soft to bite into. And, unlike many other bars out there, it isn’t super chewy.
Whereas I felt like Anabar protein bars tasted like peanut butter mixed with protein powder, this bar truly just tasted like peanut butter. However, considering the protein content is lower (only 16 grams in the bar) I would expect that to be the case.
Overall, this is a decent protein bar, but it doesn’t get me overly excited. It definitely tastes like peanut butter, but I would hope for a little bit more than that in a snack bar.
Kitchen Sink Authentic Bar Review
I had no idea what the “kitchen sink” flavor was actually supposed to be, and I could not find a description online to help. To figure it out, I had to turn to the ingredients:
Based on these ingredients for the protein bar, once you get past the three main ingredients (peanut butter, honey, and whey protein), it seems that kitchen sink implies caramel, chocolate, and pretzels.
Compared to the peanut butter candy flavor, you can tell that this flavor is supposed to be chocolate. However, the smell (and taste) test tells you that this is still just a peanut butter bar. The addition of cocoa powder gives it some color, but the chocolatey flavor is incredibly subtle.
In terms of mix-ins, you’ll find a fair amount of pretzels throughout this bar, which is really pleasant. I love contrast in textures, so a chewy bar combined with the crunch of a pretzel is a definite win for me.
However, I didn’t taste any caramel in this bar, so it just ended up tasting like a bar of peanut butter with pretzels inside.
Are pretzels and peanut butter a great combination? Yes, they are. But in a bar that’s supposed to have the flavors of chocolate and caramel, this falls short.
Authentic Bar Overall Thoughts
Protein bars like Authentic Bar are really tough to review because they aren’t bad, but they aren’t all that impressive, either.
Overall, it tastes like a block of dense peanut butter, without the sticky mouthfeel you’d get from eating an actual block of peanut butter.
Now, I love peanut butter. But in a protein bar where I’m spending nearly $3, my hope and expectation is that I’m going to get more than that. Maybe I’m spoiled because I’ve tried so many protein snacks to this point, but I find myself wanting a bit more.
If you absolutely love peanut butter, then you may love these. But, considering the lower protein content and lack of innovation here, they’re a pass from me.
As a direct comparison to Anabar, since I recently reviewed those and they are shockingly similar overall, I’d give the edge to Anabar.
