Think Thin Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar

Think Thin Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

For decades now energy bars have come in two distinct formats. The candy format and the dirt format. Invariably, an energy bar is either going to taste like you're eating an Oreo cookie or is going to give someone a realistic view of the way dirt happens to taste. 

An energy bar or protein bar company will usually try to make its bars taste like candy by filling them with the nutritional equivalent of a bag of M&Ms or they will try and try to get people to eat their sawdust-inspired concoctions withe promise of "oh, but they're so healthy for you!"

How can someone expect to get healthier if they're eating something that's covered in a pound of chocolate? And who cares if something is healthy for you if it tastes like you're eating the softly woven strands of a pair of muddied shoelaces?

Think Thin Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Unfortunately, it's often absolutely impossible to determine whether an energy bar is actually going to taste good (like candy) or if it's going to be hard to get through the whole thing without tossing it out. At the grocery store, there have got to be at least fifty different brands of health food style bars out there that promise everything from a "low glycemic index" to a high protein jolt of energy.

For the Think Thin brand of energy bars, they have all the markings of a regular candy bar (they're usually covered in what appears to be a candy or chocolate coating) and yet the bars are usually stamped with keywords like "high protein" and "natural," which are definitely supposed to inspire confidence in whoever tries the bars.

But it's hard to actually believe an energy bar is healthy when the whole thing is covered in a layer of chocolate (as the Brownie Crunch variety is). And one of the interesting things about this particular company and their "health" bars is that they suggest on the front that the bar has zero grams of sugar and yet on the ingredients for the bar, there is 20g of "sugar alcohol" listed.

Think Thin Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Most people will never have heard of sugar alcohols before, so here's a rundown: it's essentially a "hydrogenated form of carbohydrate," and this means that it's often something that is used to reduce the intensity of fake sweeteners. The Think Thin people are (likely) utilizing sugar alcohols so as to provide sweetness in their protein bars without causing a spike in that person's blood sugar.

So, given the fact that these bars actually taste good and seem to be a great choice for a boost of protein in the middle of the day or perhaps before a large workout, the fact that they have this "sugar alcohol" as part of their ingredients is something that you might have to consider as sugar alcohols do impact the blood sugar somewhat so if you're sensitive to sugar, don't pop too many of these things.

And really, you shouldn't have to as they are nicely filling and are probably a much better way to pass the day or prepare for a workout than eating an actual candy bar. This variety does indeed taste like a brownie and has the nice bonus of a chocolate shell around its exterior. As a protein bar (and something that is advertised as a healthy option), these bars are quite good and are worth a try if you're looking for a gluten-free energy bar option.

Think Thin Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Think Thin Browning Crunch High Protein Bar Report Card

The Good Stuff:

This thing tastes like a brownie and it's got the advertised protein in it. As protein bars are notoriously low on taste or are often just a candy bar disguised by some clever marketing, the Think Thin people seem to have pulled only a minor amount of tomfoolery with the fact that they print "zero sugar" on the front of the bar yet there is a level of sugar alcohols in the bar. Fake sugar, but a type of sweetener nevertheless.

What Could be Improved:

The bar is quite dense and although that's almost to be expected with protein bars, this variety could benefit from a less compact nature. It tastes good, so it's definitely worth a try, but it is a little dense sort of beast (and it'll probably make you thirsty as well so have a glass of water nearby!).

Lucy's Cinnamon Thin Cookies

Lucy's Cinnamon Thin Cookies
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

There are generally a few methods for making cookies that don't have wheat gluten in them. One method results in a rather crispy cookie that is prone to exploding into a shower of small cookie crumbs every time someone takes a bite. Another method is some strange recipe where the cookie doesn't look anything like a cookie and the consistency doesn't seem very dessert-like either.

And then there are also cookies that a dry and taste like cake that's been sitting out on the counter for a few days along with cookies that simply fall apart if you stare at them too hard. With all of the strange recipes for cookies out there that don't include wheat gluten, it's almost like a game to try and figure out why most bakeries are trying to make cookies that just don't look like cookies.

Lucy's Cinnamon Thin Cookies
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

The cookies from Lucy's bakery seem to fall into the very first category mentioned. The cement cookie. Surprisingly, this shouldn't put you off eating the cookies as the recipes used do tend to be pretty tasty and are worth potential damage to one's tooth enamel.

For the cinnamon variety, one could almost pretend that the consistency of a very stiff cookie was fine and accepted since the usual recipe for a ginger snap is often going to be . . . snappy.

The nutritional content of these cookies isn't too out of this world although it's kind of odd that in this small package of four cookies, that the manufacturer would bother with making a serving size of 1.3 in a single bag. They should just put the number of calories that are in the entire snack size bag on the back and not expect people to notice that there's a third more calories in the bag than the simple number that's printed on the back of the bag next to the word "calories."

Lucy's does have a few different kinds of cookies and their sugar variety offers pretty much the same exact consistency (cement) although taste-wise, both recipes are rather good. Indeed if the cookies were made in such a way that they were softer, they'd honestly be a true competitor for wheat-filled cookies. As it is, the cinnamon variety is something that seems to work well with the idea of a ginger snap, which someone might expect to have a harder consistency.

Lucy's Cinnamon Thin Cookies
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Lucy's Cinnamon Thin Cookies Report Card

The Good Stuff:

If you like cinnamon and you enjoy cookies, Lucy's recipe is a winner (just like their sugar cookies). And the convenient snack-size packs are great for tossing into the lunch box of a child who's going to school or someone who might want a snack with their afternoon tea while at work.

What Could Change:

As noted above, these cookies are certainly a little on the stiff side and if the taste of the cookies wasn't so superior, they would definitely not get a very high mark. Not only does the hard nature of the cookies make them a bit of a crunchy experience, but they really do have a crumb-factor of 11.5 on the Richter-scale. Make sure you have a napkin ready for all those crumbs or are able to eat them over the sink.

Mrs Leeper's Creamy Tuna Pasta

Mrs Leeper's Creamy Tuna Pasta
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

There are what seems like a hundred different "Helper" style meals in the average grocery store that combine some combination of meat (or fish), cheese and pasta into a big bowl with all sort of different seasonings included. Unfortunately, all of these hodgepodge style meals are such that wheat flour is a primary ingredient due to the noodles.

Without tripping too much on the toes of Betty Crocker and her legion of "Helper" meals, the Mrs. Leeper's folks have created a series of gluten-free pasta options that utilize corn pasta instead of wheat flour pasta as Betty has been so apt to do these many years. And the use of corn pasta is likely a good choice as the other option for such pasta dishes has usually been rice pasta and as anyone who is familiar with different types pasta is aware, rice pasta is rather delicate and corn pasta has a bit of strength to it.

Mrs Leeper's Creamy Tuna Pasta
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

If one were to compare "Tuna Helper" to the cloned version from Mrs. Leepers, the overall taste is a little different simply because corn pasta offers a different type of taste anyway, but the cheese sauce tastes different too, and this is likely on purpose as Mrs Leeper's probably needs to differentiate Creamy Tuna from Tuna Helper anyway for proprietary reasons.

Regarding the taste of the pasta as it was meant to be eaten with the added milk, butter and tuna, the meal is what one would expect for the combination of these particular foods and it would seem that the company's long history of offering gluten-free pasta in various formats has given them a lot of time to experiment with different recipes. The company also offers a variety of different pasta meals with combinations like Beef Stroganoff, Cheeseburger Mac and Beef Lasagna. 

Their Creamy Tuna recipe is a fun meal to try if you're willing to mix up all those ingredients and let it simmer for a year and a half (well, perhaps just twelve months as it likely depends on the type of pan you use and the quality of its heat transference). Such meals do tend to require very little preparation and a long amount of time spent on the stove so it's best to be patient when making such a meal.

Mrs Leeper's Creamy Tuna Pasta
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

As the back of the box would indicate, it's necessary to have some milk, tuna and butter on hand to mix in the pan although if someone were short the tuna, it might be possible to just make the plain pasta with the cheese (although, why would you? that would mean you were going to a lot of trouble to make a glorified version of macaroni and cheese)

Assuming you're patient enough to see this meal to its conclusion, these sorts of recipes do generally suggest that the cook allow the finished meal to settle for a bit in the pan after the pasta is at the desired consistency and this wait is a fairly important part of getting a good result out of this recipe as the cheese mixture will really firm up and adhere to the pasta much better if it's allowed to sit for just a short while after it's finished on the stove. Impatient cooks might find that the finished meal is too soupy. This is easily avoided by leaving it on the stove for a while without the heat on. About five minutes is all it needs.

The calories and fat in this particular meal aren't too out of line with one might assume the would be in a meal that was composed of a bunch of pasta, cheese and some tuna and so while it can be tempting to dump the entire batch into a large bowl and have at it, that's probably not an activity that anyone outside of a marathoner should consider.

Mrs Leeper's Creamy Tuna Pasta
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Mrs Leeper's Creamy Tuna Pasta Report Card

The Good Stuff:

For anyone who has ever had Tuna Helper and had to switch over to a gluten-free lifestyle due to allergies, this particular Tuna Helper clone is a decent replacement and the corn pasta does hold up rather well to the rigors of boiling so the time that the mixture must simmer and settle isn't a problem and the end result has a pleasing consistency. 

What Could Improve:

The final verdict on this pasta is that it's a suitable replacement for the Betty Crocker style of tuna and pasta, but it could use a bit of extra kick with the seasonings that are included with the cheese mixture. It's also a good idea to toss some extra tuna in as the recipe seems to low-ball it on the amount that would work well for the overall mixture.