Ever get sick of eating traditional chalky vegan protein bars? I feel ya, so do I! That’s why I was super excited to see Enjoy Life Foods Chocolate Protein Bites! I love the idea of simply noshing on a quick energy ball snack that’s got protein, fiber, and whole food goodness. So do the Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites stack up?? Today we’ll scope it out! We’re reviewing the Sunseed Butter Flavor. You can also find the Enjoy Life Protein Bites in cinnamon spice, dark raspberry, dipped banana, and of course the sunseed butter flavor we’ll be reviewing today.
Enjoy Life Foods makes all of their snacks, cereals, baked goods, and other treats in specific conditions to be completely allergy free from the top 14 allergens and also gluten free. All Enjoy Life Foods products are free from gluten and 14 common food allergens – wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, casein, soy, egg, sesame, sulfites, lupin, mustard, fish, shellfish and crustaceans. Most of their products are made in their own allergen free facility (that also happens to be the largest in the country) in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Many of the Enjoy Life cookies, snack bars, protein bars, chocolates, and breakfast foods are also certified Low FODMAP friendly if you have IBS/other GI issues and are following a Low FODMAP diet under the guidance of a dietitian or medical provider.
Check out the Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites HERE or keep reading for our review!
Taste Experience
These round nuggets of inspiration have a chocolate outside layer and a sunbutter nougat on the inside that’s just soft enough and just rich enough. My first bite could have been then entire Enjoy Life Protein Bite but I did bite in half to be able to see the inside of the protein bite. I’m glad I did because I didn’t expect the chocolate layer or the nougat ball in the middle – I thought it was just 1 solid energy ball type thing. This to me makes it tastier and feel much more special than any old energy ball I could make at home.
The Enjoy Life Protein Bites are rich in chocolate but the inside counters the sweet coating and overall the vegan protein bites are not overly sweet. Personally, I love this but if you’re used to candy bars and looking forward to a chocolate coating like on your favorite candy bar, you better keep looking because these bites are not that. In general, the protein bites don’t taste very protein powdery at all and taste much more so like a homemade vegan snack.
The chocolate coating did melt a bit as I was holding it and because of that, I wouldn’t recommend that you keep these snacks in your car or anywhere that could get pretty warm and make the Enjoy Life protein bites melt into a ooey gooey mess. However, if you plan on keeping the Enjoy Life Protein Bites in a temperature controlled setting, I would definitely recommend stocking up!
The best part about the vegan protein bites is that if you’re not super hungry, you don’t have to worry about eating an entire bar or wonder what to do with the leftovers if you decide not to eat it all. With the protein bites, you can pop one in when you want a sweet little sustainable snack or you have the afternoon munchies for something sweet but you also want something healthy and satisfying. These are the perfect fix for that with 2 grams of protein per ball – in fact – let’s dive more into the nutrition of these vegan Enjoy Life Protein Bites in the Sunseed Butter flavor….
Nutrition
The Sunseed Butter Enjoy Life Protein Bites are pretty power packed for being so small! In only 3 vegan protein bite balls, you’ll find 160 calories with 10 grams of total fat. The fat is coming mostly from the cocoa butter in the chocolate morsels and also a bit in the sunflower seeds. There are 5 grams of total fat (25% of the daily value) and while these are a healthy snack, they do provide a decent amount of saturated fat and it wouldn’t be advisable to consume substantially more.
Each Enjoy Life Protein Bites serving provides only 25 mg of salt so that makes these a true sweet treat where the chocolate morsels will have the primary taste. Speaking of chocolate and sweet, these protein bites contain 17 grams of carbohydrates in 3 bites with 4 grams of fiber (that’s a decent amount for the size!), 7 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein. Unpacking that a bit more…despite these being on the sweet tasting side, they are considerably lower in sugar than many conventional treats or even lower in sugar than other vegan snacks. Plus, with the 4 grams of fiber, that will help stabilize hunger levels and blood sugar levels. So low sugar and high fiber but still tasty? Definitely a winning combination.
When it comes to protein, the sources is mostly from the rice protein. The sunseed butter protein bites do contain pumpkin seeds and chia that would contribute a bit of plant-based protein as well. However, even if you didn’t consume the whole serving size and you literally only wanted a bite of this vegan snack, 1 protein ball contains 2 grams of protein and about 53 calories – just enough to help boost your blood sugar while keeping calories low and consuming a nutrient dense snack. If you want a sweet chocolate snack that’s also vegan, gluten-free, with a decent amount of protein, try Enjoy Life Protein Bites in Sunseed Butter and you’ll have a hard time sticking to just a couple of these delectable protein bites!
Parting Thoughts
Enjoy Life Chocolate Protein Bites in the Sunseed Butter flavor are tasty, rich and chocolately and feel like a divine gluten-free and vegan treat. However under further investigation, it’s clear these vegan snacks are also healthy and nutritious with little added sugar, a good source of fiber, and a good source of protein. It doesn’t matter if you have a tiny appetite and you only 1 protein bite to keep hunger at bay or if you use these protein bites as a healthy alternative for chocolate vegan truffles, or if you use the protein bites as a post-workout/afternoon snack to help your body fuel appropriately. All are viable options with these versatile, tasty, and nutritious protein bites. Enjoy Life has been creating allergen free, dairy-free, and gluten-free products for years and this new product line is sure to make a splash! Try out Enjoy Life Chocolate Protein Bites in Sunseed Butter HERE and good luck trying to stick to the portion size because these little morsels are incredibly tasty!
