Product Review: ANSI Gourmet Cheesecake Bar

ANSI's representatives were kind enough to send me a sample of a bar I have been wanting to try forever: Gourmet Cheesecake Bars.

I repeat. Cheesecake.

Top Left (Peanut butter), Top Right (Strawberry), Bottom (Cookie Dough)

That word alone is a head turner for me.  ANSI took one of the most indulgent desserts I can think of and turned it into a protein bar.  I am a huge advocate for healthy desserts, and ANSI gave me a chance to have my cheesecake, and eat it, too (pun intended).  

They sent me a sample of each of the flavors they have available: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Strawberry, and Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter.

Each bar has about 20 grams of protein, low sugar, and all are under 200 calories.  It works perfectly for a dessert substitute, post workout snack, or something sweet to hold you over until dinner!  I stashed them in my purse so I could have them on the go.  I also bought more and realized they are even better refrigerated (which makes sense because cheesecake is best served cold). 

Cookie Dough

• This flavor was delicious.  I love that it had chunks of chocolate and a slight but not overwhelming hint of cookie dough flavor. 

Strawberry

• This flavor did not include chocolate chips, and I was still satisfied.  It really did taste like strawberry cheesecake!  It was a nice change from the other two flavors because it had a fruity hint while still maintaining the cheesecake base flavor.  I think chips would have masked the fruitiness of the strawberry, so this flavoring decision made sense to me.

Peanut Butter

• This one was my favorite of the three.  Chocolate, peanut butter, and cheesecake all rolled into one.  Those are honestly my 3 favorite things, and I am very pleased with how this company pulled them together.  
• There was an equal balance of both cheesecake and peanut butter, and chunks of chocolate to make it all the better.  This bar was pulled together very nicely by all 3 flavors.  

I have recently purchased these bars at my local Vitamin Shoppe because I craved them again after trying all of the flavors.  Again, they are very good on their own but if you refrigerate them, they rock even more (especially enjoying them as a post-run snack during this hot summer). I also tried baking them.  I found that I enjoyed the Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter flavor baked the most.  It turned into a warm, peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.  It was an awesome replacement for dessert, to say the least!

-->When I bake protein bars, I either stick them in my toaster oven on a small baking sheet or I use the oven at home.  I put the oven on 450 degrees broil, and carefully watch it bake so it doesn't burn.  It only takes a few minutes.  Keep an eye on your bar so it doesn't burn because they cook fast! 



I honestly recommend these bars, and hope you enjoy them as much as I did!  If you are interested in purchasing them, I found them randomly at my local Vitamin Shoppe (as I mentioned previously).  I hope that they will grow and extend their businesses to other stores soon!  For now, either call ahead and possibly GNC or the VS will have it.  If not, you can buy them online!  They have plenty of other products to browse as well. 
Here is the website (they are also on amazon, too).
http://www.nutrientscience.com/