BF Review (and Recipe): Quest Cookies & Cream Protein Bar and Shannon's Quest Canoli

While we were all embroiled in The Bariatric Foodie Pledge, Quest went and released a new bar – Cookies and Cream! I did a quick and dirty review of it on social media, but I also asked my pal Shannon (of TacoCasserole picture fame) to give the bars a try. And I gave her a challenge. The Quest blog challenges Quest lovers to come up with creative ways to use the bars, so that’s the challenge I put to Shannon. So she played with her food to make a Quest cannoli! The recipe follows the review.

Enjoy and thanks to Shannon for the review!

Shannon’s Quest Bar Review

*The products used for this review were given by Quest Nutrition, however, neither the reviewer nor Bariatric Foodie was paid to perform this product review.

Product: Quest Cookies & Cream protein Bar

Stats: 180 calories, 7g fat, 22g carbs, 17g fiber, 1g sugar, 2g erythritol, 21g protein.

Cost: Varies, on Quest website it is $2.39 for a single bar, $24.99 (or $2.08/bar) for a box of 12.

*If you purchase Quest Bars using the ad on the right menu bar, Bariatric Foodie receives a small commission. 

Packaging:

The wrapper itself was very pleasing to me, the picture was crisp and I think the large cookie photographed on the package really makes it known what flavor you are getting.  Another thing about the packaging I like is that I can quickly see the amount of sugar and protein in the product. Just from a general standpoint, this makes things so much easier for me when I am looking to purchase a product, having that info right on the front, and somewhat highlighted makes my life easier.

Nutrition:

This product provides 21g of protein in one serving, and is 180 calories. I like that it packs such a punch because, if I am going to eat a protein bar as my meal (I very rarely do), I want to be able to get as much out of it as possible. Quest bars are regularly reviewed on Bariatric foodie, and I believe this bar is about on par with the others in their product line. As an aside, erythritol, the type of sugar alcohol used in this bar has very little effect on our bodies, unlike some others.

Aesthetics:

Upon opening the packaging I smelled the protein bar, and as with most of them I got a very, almost overly sweet smell, not really distinguished as to cookies and cream but definitely sweet.

The bar I had left over after playing with my food and making a cannoli had some very large chunks of cookie in it, which I very much enjoyed while eating the protein bar in the traditional way. It broke up the texture of the bar nicely. The bar itself was quite soft and easy to eat.

It did remind me a bit of cookies and cream, though not exactly and I don’t think my taste buds will ever be fully confused when it comes to a protein bar, the protein flavor is always there.  More than a cookies and cream flavor it reminded me of cookie dough. Never having tried their actual cookie dough flavor, I will say I think this would be an awesome addition chunked up into some protein ice cream. I also thoroughly enjoyed this as a cannoli, it really had a crunch and flavor that paired well with the cannoli filling.

I have generally been very impressed with Quest bars, and this one did not disappoint. As an emergency meal, or a snack, or even cooked into a yummy dessert they are, in my opinion, a decent choice.  In my area Quest bars are not so readily available, and the ones I have purchased locally have usually been very hard, nothing like this one. Because of this I limit myself to purchasing online only, and don’t often get the opportunity to do so, as my budget doesn’t always allow for it. That being said, if I were able to purchase Quest bars in the future this would be one on my list to buy.

Shannon’s Quest Cannoli

Ingredients:

• 1 Quest Cookies & Cream protein bar
• 4 oz. ricotta cheese (part-skim or regular, your choice)
• 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1.5 tbsp. no-calorie sweetener
• Macadamia or pistachio nuts, whipped cream, and Strawberry as garnish if desired

For this recipe you will also need: A cannoli-form or a ¼-inch metal dowel, a large, sturdy glass (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) and some parchment paper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F
2. Unwrap Quest bar and place between two pieces of sprayed wax paper. Put in microwave for about 8 seconds, test pliability with finger and put back in if you cannot easily smoosh the bar, this will make it easier to roll flat with a rolling pin.
3. Using your sprayed glass as a rolling pin, roll the bar down into a slight circular shape in between the wax paper and allow to cool slightly before peeling off one layer of wax paper.
4. Using a cannoli form, roll quest bar on the form and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
5. Place in preheated oven for 5-7 minutes until golden.
6. In a small bowl place ricotta, cocoa powder, and Splenda mix thoroughly until combined.  Transfer to a piping bag or small sandwich bag to fill the cannoli.  Refrigerate until ready to use
7. Remove cannoli from oven allow to cool well.
8. Remove cannoli form and fill with ricotta mixture.
9. Once filled, you can garnish as you like with nuts, or fruit and whipped cream or light cool whip.

The Quest of the Bariatric Foodie (Part Three)

This could be YOURS! Read on to find out how.



Man...this has been the most fun product review EVER! I'm sort of tentative about reviews. I know what I like and what I don't like (most of the time) so trying something new can be a bit stressful. But this one has been an absolute pleasure!

For my last two reviews I have the Peanut Butter Supreme bar and the Mixed Berry. Remember to read until the end to find out how you can win some of your own!

Peanut Butter Supreme

Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah! This is what I wanted out of the PB&J. Peanut Butter. Straight, no chaser.

This one I went straight to nuking. The only thing better than peanut butter is warm peanut butter. I only nuked it 15 seconds this time, though. I wanted the bar to still be in tact. And it was. Ohhhhh...yes it was!

I've been tasting the bars at work. That is a good and a bad thing. Good in that I have ten times more self control at work than at home. Bad because I can't yell out things like "HOLY PROTEIN BAR BATMAN!!!" Yeah. That might be awkward.

The peanut flavor is genuine. And complete. And everything I wanted it to be. It's as if someone made a candy bar just for me. Except it has protein in it. Lots of protein. This may require therapy. I don't know whether to feel guilty or good or both or neither and right now I'm feeling just a little bit vulnerable ok????

Let's move on...

Mixed Berry

I saved this one for last because...well...I'm not a big berry person. I have to get in the mood for them. In a choice between Team Fruity and Team Creamy, I am creamy all the way!

I nuked this one too (it's becoming standard operating procedure) and it was quite nice. Like a warm fruity cookie. It was very, very sweet. To me. I am one who likes sweet things to be offset with something savory or salty, so that is probably just a personal preference.

Lastly, this bar was so colorful! Good job Quest! There is REAL berries (just like real apples in the apple one) and I like that a lot. This bar is the most un-processed processed food I've ever eaten ;)

So there you have it. All six reviews. So now to the good stuff. You wanna win some for yourself?

Here's what you have to do:

Step One:

Pick the bar you think would best help YOU on your "Quest for Success!" Here is the first and second review, this is the third, just to refresh your memory.

Step Two:

Go to the Bariatric Foodie review post of the bar you liked best and copy the link from your address bar. Then post that link on the Bariatric Foodie Wall or Tweet it AND complete the following sentence as your status: “The ______ flavored Quest bar will help me stay on track because ______. Check it out!” (NOTE: You must have both the link to the Bariatric Foodie review AND that statement to enter.) For Twitter users, tag @BariatricFoodie so I know you did it!

Step Three:

For everyone who does this, I will enter names into a handy-dandy random  name generator and draw the prize - a free box of Quest bars - on MONDAY!

(Please remember to post both the link to the review and the statement. Thank you!)

WARNING: Choose wisely folks. The bar you "pimp" is the bar you win! So if you've never tried a Quest bar before, you might want to re-read (or for some of you, just plain read) the first, second and third set of reviews to make your choice.

As always, extra chances at the prize:

1. For Facebook users, after you post this message to the Bariatric Foodie Wall, click "share" to post it to YOUR feed! (one extra chance)
2. Begin following Bariatric Foodie on Twitter or like the Bariatric Foodie Facebook page. (one extra chance for each)
3. Add Bariatric Foodie to your blog's blogroll by grabbing my button! (button and HTML coding in the right menu bar - look to your right and up...just a liiiittle bit...there it is!). Post the link to your blog in the comments so I can credit you your one extra chance.

Any questions, leave them in the comments! I'm happy to answer.

The Quest of the Bariatric Foodie (Part Two)



Recap for those just joining in: I got me some Quest bars to review! I'm doing two at a time (there are six bars total) and at the end of the reviews Quest is going to give one of YOU a free box! But you need to read the reviews to do well in the contest so...read the reviews. This is review #2. Today I am going for brevity.

Apple Pie

Apple Pie...I have fond memories. I used to love it warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Yeah. I can't do that anymore. Not even with sugar free pie. I don't have reactive hypoglycemia, but when too many carbs are partying on my plate, I am subject to what I call a "very special moment."

Incidentally, Quest must have had the same fond memories as that is the picture on the bar. Way to identify with your target audience!!! (Marketing is so cooool.)

Opening this package was nice. It smells like apple pie spice. We already discussed the look of the bars. This one was no different.
One thing I'm liking about these bars is the care put into genuine flavoring. Looking at the ingredients list there are only a few words I can't pronounce and one of the main ingredients is, in fact, apples! Not apple flavoring or artificial flavoring (whatever that is) but apples! And it tastes like baked apples. Quest, do you bake your apples before you put them in the bar?

It seems like the only artificial thing going on is the sweetener (it uses some sucralose). For many of us RNYers that is a necessary evil. There is one thing in there called Lo Han Guo that I'd never heard of. I "Wikipedia'd" it. (Sidebar: Wikipedia knows EVERYTHING!) Apparently it is a fruit that is often used as a natural sweetener. So there ya go.

The taste? I liked it a lot. The ONLY criticism I'd give it is that with pie, you are looking for that little bit of buttery back-end from the crust. I didn't get so much of that. But overall, it was a great bar. I'd eat it again.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

There are actually two bars with peanut butter in them (the other is Peanut Butter Supreme - check back tomorrow for that one). The peanut butter bars, obviously, have the most to prove for me. I am a peanut butter crackhead...er, connisseur so any old peanut flavor will NOT do!

Verdict: Enhhh. It wasn't my favorite. It might be because it was peanut butter and jelly. I am of the school of thought that jelly gets in the way of my peanut butter goodness. I do not eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for that reason. Matter of fact, I even skip the bread and go for the peanut butter straight up on a spoon!

For what it's worth, the jelly flavor did taste like jelly. I'm not sure what KIND of jelly. I'm thinking strawberry. The ingredients didn't give me much of a clue but from the picture on front, I think my assumption is correct. My girls like PB&J's but with grape jelly. I wonder if they'd like this bar? Is it wrong that I don't want to share my bars to find out?

So final verdict: Since I loved the apple pie (and since I have another) next time I'm gonna nuke it. Perhaps maybe I'll get me some Vanilla Arctic Zero to put a spoonful or two on the top. I imagine some whippage with French Vanilla Davinci would also work well. This may be my saving grace this Thanksgiving.

The PB&J? Like I said...not a bad bar. Don't judge it on my neuroses! I am holding out hope for the Peanut Butter Supreme (which I genuinely have not tried yet). But for all you PB&J lovers in the house, it does quite well at mimicking the flavor of the sandwich.

Ok...so tomorrow, we explore Peanut Butter Supreme and Mixed Berry! Then you get to win your own box. Stay tuned!

The Quest of the Bariatric Foodie (Part One)

It seems Bariatric Foodie has entered a new era, an exciting era! Companies that make products that can benefit us WLS-folk are starting to contact me, asking if I'd like to try their products for review!

Excuse me for being a bit tickled by this. You have to understand where I am coming from on this. I started this blog three years ago with the intent of housing photos of all the food I was cooking (because I was, and remain, a recipe maniac). To see this site, and the community that supports it, flourish like this is akin to watching my child get a doctorate from Harvard. Mama is so proud!

(/end sappy moment)

This opportunity came by way of a Foodie who told the folks at Quest Nutritition about the blog. They checked it out, liked what they saw and very much wanted to let you guys know about their low-sugar/high-protein bars. So they asked me if I'd take a few to sample. I said yes and they sent me some bars to sample but here's the good part...they want to give one of YOU a whole box!!!

So...here's how it's going down. I tried to write the review of the bars in one post. Didn't work. I think the Iliad was shorter than that post. So I'm going to take on two at a time! AFTER I've reviewed them all, I'll let you know what you need to do to win a free box! Sound fair? No? Well...look...

(Do read the reviews, though. They'll give you a "leg up" in the giveaway!)

Anyhoo...let's get started, shall we?

Quest Protein bars! I never really thought much about them. I’m not a big protein bar eater. I think mostly because my mind is very much attached to volume eating and bars are little and fill me up which make my head want to explode. If I am full I want to have eaten a lot (or perceive myself as eating a lot). Therapy. I’m working on it.

Obligatory (and too frickin' long) legal beagle disclaimer: Bariatric Foodie received free products in exchange for providing a review of said products. As per Bariatric Foodie policy, all products submitted for review receive a fair and unbiased review, based on my personal opinion of the product. Potential buyers should always investigate products directly with the product manufacturer before purchasing. Neither Bariatric Foodie, nor its author, were monetarily compensated for this review.

S'anyway...when I decided to review the Quest bars I gave the rep instructions. “Only send me two of each bar you are sending me because I’ll never finish a whole case,” Nik said. Dutifully, they did that. They sent me two of six low-sugar, high protein bars. One for me to try and one for me to photo (because inevitably when folks send me one of something I tear into it and am halfway done before I realize that I didn’t take a picture).
Here are the flavors I got with the basic stats on them. (Scroll down the page for the stats)

Here are the first two bars I tried (click on the title for ordering info):

Vanilla Almond Crunch

This one I grabbed when I knew I wouldn’t have time for lunch and needed something. The bars themselves are interesting looking. They are very…shiny. Waxy? It smelled very good. Like a nice vanilla with just a hint of almond, although I’ve always been of the opinion that “almond smell” doesn’t smell very much like almonds, but I digress. I hoped the waxy look of it didn’t translate into its texture. In my hands it felt sort of like when you put cookie dough in the fridge and it gets really hard (so…y’know…then you have to eat it to save it from a cold, miserable death, right?).

I bit into it and it was…not waxy. Chewy, but not waxy. This is a small bites bar. Big bites might kill you. Sorry Quest but it’s true. Now at the precise moment I took this bite someone asked me a question and I did have a bit of trouble answering them. That was bad. But the bar was good. Nice, vanilla flavoring and smooth nuttiness. I could taste the protein but it wasn’t bothersome to me. It sort of blended. For those not as familiar as I with protein taste, it might not even register. I was encouraged. So a few days later I moved on to…

Chocolate Brownie

Oh. My. MARTHA!!! This one was waxy too but I wasn’t fazed by this point. I bit into it and…seriously regretted not accepting a whole case! Why did I do that??? It tastes…like a brownie. No seriously. I know people say that and then it doesn’t taste like a brownie but this one really does. Chocolatey, chewy. There is a slight bitterness not much unlike dark chocolate that I really dug.

Now the info they gave me with the package said one of their customers suggested nuking the bars for 30 seconds to create the effect of a cookie. So after eating half this bar (and teasing Pam by raving about it) I decided to nuke the rest.

After the "big nuke." Doesn't it LOOK like a real brownie now???? YUMMY!



SERIOUSLY???? The texture after nuking is spot ON. SPOT ON! It felt like a brownie…tasted like a brownie…I was forever changed by that eating experience. And I was up 20g of protein. WINNING!

So that's my impression of the first two bars. Stay tuned tomorrow to hear about the apple pie bar and the PB&J bar. And you KNOW I love me some peanut butter so Quest...get it right!