Flavors Tried: Brownie Batter, Coconut Marshmallow, Churro
Price: $29.95 for 12 bars ($2.50 per bar)
Nutrition (varies by flavor): 140 Calories, 2.5g Fat, 14g Carbs (0g Fiber, 6g Sugar), 17g Protein
Built Bar is one of the most popular protein bars out right now, but the general consensus amongst customers is that the Built Bar Puffs are superior to their regular bars.
Now, I won’t get into my suspicions about why Built Bar is as popular as it is. If you’re curious about that, you can read my original Built Bar review.
Rather, I’m just interested in one thing: are these bars as good as everybody makes them sound?
Built Puffs are described as marshmallows with a “perfect fluffy texture” covered by 100% chocolate. I’ve tried a lot of protein bars, and I can’t say I’ve ever come across a marshmallow-based protein bar.
There have been protein bars, such as ONE Crunch Bars, that are similar to Rice Krispies Treats, but never a bar that makes marshmallows the star.
Built Bar Puffs Texture
Before we get into each individual flavor, we should talk about the texture. Do these bars actually resemble chocolate-covered marshmallows?
Sort of.
While the interior of these Built Puffs are certainly soft and fluffy, they are still much denser than a regular marshmallow. Of course, considering there are 17 grams of protein in each bar, that is to be expected.
However, I find it a bit too chewy for my tastes. If you take marshmallow fluff and stir in some whey protein powder, I’d imagine that this is the consistency you’d get. It’s thick, chewy, and almost slimy.
To be fair, it’s not horribly off-putting, I just like to be critical and honest. I would describe the texture & consistency much closer to Peeps than regular marshmallows.
If you can get over the slimy, almost gelatinous mouth feel, you may really dig these bars…
Coconut Marshmallow Built Bar Puffs
This was the first flavor I tried, and I’m glad I tried it first, because it’s rather plain. It truly does taste like a chocolate-covered marshmallow, so it’s certainly not a bad thing.
If you’re a big coconut fan, you may be disappointed in this one. I didn’t find the coconut flavor to be very prominent at all, so you end up mostly tasting the chocolate coating and not much else.
To Built Bar’s credit, the chocolate coating is delicious. A lot of protein bars have very artificial-tasting chocolate, but Built Bar nails it.
The bar itself is not bad, but not the flavor I was expecting. Imagine a dense & chewy marshmallow with subtle sweetness, add some dark chocolate, and you’ve got yourself the Coconut Marshmallow Built Puffs. All in all, you mostly end up tasting chocolate when you eat this.
Churro Built Puffs
I was really disappointed to see that this bar is also chocolate coated, but it seems that most Built Bars have a chocolate coating.
For churro flavor, I was really hoping there would be a white chocolate coating to let the cinnamon sugar really shine. When you cover cinnamon in dark chocolate, it ends up just tasting like chocolate, and that’s exactly the case here.
While you can taste a very subtle cinnamon flavor, you mostly just taste the dark chocolate exterior, so it ends up eating very similar to the Coconut Marshmallow Built Puffs.
Brownie Batter Built Puffs
The Brownie Batter Built Puffs are the clear winner, and definitely the one flavor I would recommend. If I had to do it all over again, I would just order a box of the brownie batter flavor and none of the others.
The interior of the bar does resemble brownie batter and not just chocolate, which is always really welcomed (similar to Misfits protein bars). When you combine that with the rich chocolate coating, you end up with a really delicious protein bar.
Yes, the bar is still chewy, but I can deal with that when the flavor is great. For 140 calories and 17 grams of protein, I’ll happily snack on these Built Bar Puffs.
Built Bar Puffs Overall Thoughts
All in all, while I don’t find these bars quite as amazing as people told me they were, I think they’re solid protein bars.
Considering they are so different from other protein bars out there, it’s a great way to change things up, especially for such favorable macros.
If I was presented with original Built Bars and Built Puffs, I would take the puffs every single time. For me, they’re a definite improvement over regular Built Bars.
Of course, they’re far from my favorite protein bar. I don’t love the chewy and slimy nature of these bars, and I’d much rather eat a protein bar like ONE bar or Barebells. But, that’s all subjective, so you may absolutely love the Built Puffs texture.
If you’re on a diet and your calories are limited, you’d be hard-pressed to find a bar as impressive nutritionally as Built Puffs. While I believe you can do better in terms of taste, they’re a solid option.
