Flavor Tried: Peanut Butter Cup
Price: $30 for a box of 12 ($2.50 per square)
Nutrition: 100 Calories, 6g Fat, 10g Carbs (1g Net Carb), 10g Protein
OWN Your Hunger Wonderspreads are one of the top-rated snacks on this blog, so when OWN Your Hunger announced protein bars, to say I was excited would be quite the understatement.
If you’re unfamiliar with the spreads, they are made with EPG, which is a plant-based oil that mimics all of the qualities of fat without the calories (it contains only 0.7 calories per gram vs regular fat which has 9 calories per gram).
I won’t pretend to understand the science, I’ll just say that they’ve definitely mastered how to use it, because the spreads are absolutely delicious.
Thanks to EPG, they’re able to bring the calories and fat way down without sacrificing any flavor, so these Wondersquares are very impressive…
Each square is only 100 calories and has 10 grams of protein, which means it’s on par with any protein bar on the market (typically, protein bars contain around 200 calories and 20g of protein).
For all the keto folks out there, each square contains only 1 gram of net carbs, mostly due to Allulose, and they’re a solid snack for anyone doing Weight Watchers.
Personally, I only care about two things:
- Does it have protein? Yes, and a solid amount.
- Does it taste good? We’re about to find out…
Peanut Butter Wondersquare Taste Test
Considering this is a peanut butter and chocolate bar, it’s pretty natural to expect it to taste similar to a Reese’s Cup.
For comparison’s sake, we can actually compare these 1:1 to the Quest Peanut Butter Cups, which are high-protein, low-carb peanut butter cups.
I actually enjoy the Quest cups, but there’s definitely a distinct difference in the flavor between those and a regular peanut butter cup, especially in the consistency of the peanut butter.
These Wondersquares much more closely resemble a peanut butter cup, obviously not in the overall aesthetic (I mean, they aren’t a cup) but in the flavor and consistency.
The peanut butter layer is thick, yet nice and soft.
Reese’s cups have a very distinct borderline crumbly peanut butter filling, but these Wondersquares are a bit more on the firm side. They’re soft to bite into, but as you can see by the photo above, they remain pretty firm.
This is likely due to the fact that these Wondersquares need to be served cold, so the peanut butter remains relatively firm. If you leave it out at room temperature, it will definitely be softer, but the chocolate gets too melty to enjoy that way.
In terms of flavor, I consider these to be a step up from the Quest Peanut Butter Cups, but they’re not as close to a Reese’s Cup as I was expecting.
Sure, that’s pretty nitpicky. I mean, these are a high-protein snack with 1 gram of sugar after all.
But, considering how unbelievably delicious the peanut butter Wonderspread is, I was hoping this would take on that flavor. Due to the addition of whey protein, there is a distinct protein flavor in these that takes away from the overall flavor for me.
Yes, that’s to be expected in a protein bar, and it’s not at all unpleasant. But I had a very high bar set, so I have to call it like I see it!
Overall thoughts
Overall, these are a very solid protein bar, but a couple of factors hold it back from becoming a go-to snack for me.
First and foremost, they are very expensive. A 12-pack of these bars costs $30, which means each square is $2.50. That’s not horrible for a typical protein bar, but when you consider these are about half the size of a protein bar, that starts to feel very expensive.
Each Wondersquare is individually packaged in its own plastic container, which I feel has to contribute to the overall high cost.
Granted, these are high-protein and use a very unique (and expensive) ingredient in EPG, so the high price tag isn’t very surprising.
Second, the EPG ingredient tends to make me really gassy. I’m not sure if this is a universal truth or not, but I’ve had other products that use EPG (like Nick’s ice cream) and I always have some unfortunate side effects.
All in all, this is a very solid bar, especially if you’re someone who needs to eat low-carb for any reason. If you like Quest cups, I actually think these are a step up, but the pricetag is definitely a hangup for me.
