Depends on your location, not sure if these are sold everywhere but I like the Grenade Oreo ones and Trek Power Lotus Biscoff ones, even though I don’t particularly enjoy Biscoff in regular format. The Grenade bars are maybe 20% crunch, 80% wad. Trek I’ve only tried that one flavour but it’s 90%+ crunch!

I am partial to the Quest brand. My favourite flavours are the crispy chocolate peanut butter, crispy blueberry cobbler, and the chocolate chip cookie dough.

All available on Amazon or at Walmart.

https://preview.redd.it/22e8nfbeb2de1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c18c5d6a011ba532a0ebb00db667cbdacba8d516

Love this so much

i like barebells, macrowise i would disregard anything 20g of less bcs its usually not worthy the calories

Barbells

I like Luna bars, both the regular bars (like granola bars, kind of) and their protein bars (like the consistency of edible cookie dough). I also struggle a lot with breakfast options as I'm a chronic "runner-later" and I prioritize making the perfect iced coffee over fixing a meal in the rush of the morning, and I am incredibly picky with the way food tastes. I like nearly every flavor of Luna bars and find them relatively economical, too, which is a bonus. I've never personally been able to choke down a Quest, Cliff, or Kind bar even when I was dieting because they were so bland and dry, so that should show you how good I think Luna bars are lol

I just tried the Go Macro bars recently and I like them, they taste real.

I really like Huel, they have a great mix of protein, carbs and fats that are good for you, plus a lot of vitamins and minerals. And they taste good to boot.

Cliff Builders Bars! They're around 250-280 calories and have 20G of protein, so they're quite nutritionally dense. They're also delicious

I love the chocolate/peanut butter luna bars. They taste like candy to me.

I also like some flavors of GoMacro bars.

Edit: got the product name wrong

I’m a big fan of Power Crunch bars. They’re the only protein bars I like because they’re not chalky (they actually have wafers on the inside like Nutty Buddy bars) and there’s no strong artificial sweetener aftertaste. My faves are peanut butter fudge, chocolate mint, and triple chocolate. 13g protein, 5g sugar, 215-220 cals.

Nick's are awesome, straight up like a Snickers. The power crunch bars are great if you like wafers but they only have 12 grams of protein per bar. Sometimes I might not eat for a while and I splurge on a met Rx big 100 bar. Not the best ingredients but omg delicious

built puff bars r the GOATTT!! barebells r friking candy bars dude.. super high cal for no reason blah

If you like bouncy marshmallow texture, built puffs are my favorite. The coconut one is best but I also like chocolate and churro.

A few good ones here:

• FitCrunch has a great macros/taste ratio.
• For better macros and a small step backwards in taste, I really like the Pure Protein Galactic Brownie flavor.
• Simply Protein has great macros and is kind of like a Rice Krispie treat.
• Not a protein bar, but Aldi's protein puffs (I like the nacho cheese flavor) are the best protein/calories/taste/price combo anywhere.

I like Kind bars the best.

there's no real answer here.

to me. the best would be something you make yourself, where you control the ingredients, and can have some idea of the nutrition.

pre-made stuff. really depends on what you can tolerate. I know a lot of those work out protein bars to me are disgusting. like chewing chalky rubber.

to a certain extent. calories by weight is what you should consider. nutrition really doesn't matter. especially if it's like a couple days. nothing catastrophic is going to happen to your body in a short period of time if you're eating junk food vs the pinnacle of nutrition.

but what does tend to matter is the amt of weight on your back. sugar and fat tend to be the best calorie to weight ration foods. nuts. candy. fats.

I normally bring something that is either seeds or nuts. high fat. often times a good source of salt. maybe magnesium. straight up roasted pea nuts/salted peanuts. or like sunflower seeds. but i sometimes also do peanut M&Ms. and a lot of times i bring skittles on trail. Or even like a snickers bar.

but... if you're dead set on some pre-packaged thing.

I personally enjoy. honey stinger waffles. the calories to weight on these is good. plus i like them.

bougie bar: Kate's real food bars. these taste good, and seem less... process.

if i didn't go specifically to an REI or store to get those. I get clif bars. clif also makes good runner gels. (or i think they call them clif shots)

Just my 2 cents, I'm not a dietitian.

Beef jerky, banana chips, and trial mix all work well enough. I eat RX bars sometimes.

Your sugary snack bar isn't a disaster. You need a 200 or 300 calories an hour once your glycogen stores run low, and eating those calories as sugar is basically fine. There are lots of outdoor products that contain little more than sugar or glucose.

My main problem with Nature Valley bars is that they tend to be tiny. To get the number of calories you need, you have to eat a lot of them, which creates a lot of wrappers that junk up your pack. Cliff bars are similar, but they give you 250 calories each, which seems better to me.

You may benefit from adding electrolytes as well, especially if it is hot. There are lots of fancy products, but mixing plain old Gatorade powder into your water is a cheap option (I put in less than half of what they suggest). Get the sugary Gatorade, you want the calories.

Eating sugar while sitting on the couch is bad. Eating sugar while working at a huge caloric deficit isn't so bad. There might be some advantage to consuming those calories as glucose instead of table sugar (which is glucose and fructose). Once again, be thoughtful about the packaging. Packing around a dozen tiny glucose tubes gets old, and some experts actually recommend plain old sugar.

I love RX + Lara bars!

This is not meant as sarcasm, but the best ones are the ones you can eat. There are so many kinds/types/flavors, Sugary, savory etc. it’s best to sample a few with a higher calorie count and pick the ones with a texture and taste that you like. What works for me may not work for you.

I’ve gone on too many outings and not eaten what I’ve packed because they just didn’t taste good even though my friends gave a highly recommend. So, have a tasting party and enjoy!

Barebells are the best, basically indistinguishable from a candy bar. Pricey though

Barebells marshmellow peanut road. Literally like a snickers protein bar!!! As someone who HATES protein bars, I literally will eat one for dessert and feel satisfied, they are so good!

I really love the Aldi brand elevation line. I’ve liked them all and I’m super picky about tasting the protein.

Built Puff if you like marshmallow. They are very similar to chocolate covered marshmallows that you often see around Easter and Christmas. Only 150 calories or so.

Barebells taste like a regular crispy chocolately candy bar. Around 200 calories.

Prime Bites if you want a thick and chewy brownie. 230 or so in calories.

RX bars, but admittedly less protein than some of the others

Go macro sunflower butter & oatmeal chocolate chip bars (contain coconut). And I like the legendary foods protein pastry in chocolate cake & brown sugar cinnamon, as well as the quest protein cheese crackers that look like cheezits

SOME one protein bar flavors, they all say "may contain almonds" afaik but the birthday cake, maple donut, and lemon cake are favorites of mine

Go macro protein bars. There are 2 flavors that are nut free, maple sea salt and I can't remember the other one. I called them directly and was told they make those 2 flavors first on clean equipment before they make the others. Anything from enjoy life is nut free, and for a sweet tooth/chocolate there is Vermont but free chocolate.

nature valley actually came out with “lunch box bars” made in a peanut free facility! only two flavors so far but all of the information is on their website.

orgain chocolate chip snack bars for protein. they contain a little pea protein though so avoid if you are sensitive to that

Nature Valley protein bars. Very balanced between protein and carbs, and just a little sweet.

If you're ok with sugar alcohols (they apparently upset some people's digestion) I've really liked Barebell's. I get them at Trader Joes. They don't spike me at all.

Simply Protein at Costco

I always just used the fairlife protein milks to hold me over, tastes like chocolate milk 😂

Fitcrunch!

Nature valley protein chewy bars do it for me. They are 16g carb but never make me spike. I think it’s because of the nuts, it’s a good combination of nut/granola bar. Only 10g protein, so that could be better. My blood sugar might go up a tad with these, but not enough to make a difference. I specifically like the peanut butter dark chocolate ones (not sure how the other flavors are for carbs/protein). Kirkland has a very similar one but I think the nature valley ones taste slightly better. Kirklands are cheaper.

I love Pow'r Crunch vanilla bars. IIRC they have 11 carbs and 14g protein.

I eat a lot of cheese and nuts

Yeah, nothing really hits like sugar hits.

That is why sugar is so addictive.

I like the Pure Protein bars, as they are delicious, and come in lots of crazy flavors. Also partial to the Power Crunch chocolate mint. It's like a big chocolate covered wafer cookie, with really good carb to protein stats.

The Aldi Elevation bars are OK, but the sugar alcohols mess me up sometimes. What I won't put up with for the cut-rate protein bars!

I like Simply Protein. But I can't have dairy, so they're one of the few options I can have. They're a lot more simple and lower calorie than most others, and the texture is kind of like rice krispie squares, which is unique and fun. I get them at Costco in a pack of 3 flavours (chocolate almond, chocolate peanut, and lemon coconut).

Barbells are my favorite. They don’t taste like protein bars but pack 20g of protein in 200cal.

Pure protein Galactic Brownie is really good w 20g protein, 180 cals. Like all barebells are great as well, they kinda all taste like candy bars

David Bars. They’re expensive but amazing numbers

I find the fiber in Quest bars and Kirkland bars crazy satiating, so if fullness is an issue go with them. David bars are also probably great just because they're so low calorie