KIND Protein Bars Review – Double Dark Chocolate Nut – And Are The KIND Protein Bars Vegan?

KIND started in 2004 with Daniel Lubetzky on a mission to make the world a little kinder one delicious and nutritious snack at a time. When the first KIND fruit and nut bars were introduced, they were the first snack of its ‘kind’ – create a satisfying and delicious whole food plant-based snack with real ingredients. No artificial flavors, preservatives, or sweeteners. KIND relies on simple high quality ingredients to create exceptional tasting products with unparalleled nutrition.

The KIND company is not only focused on creating delicious wholesome plant-based snack foods, but the business is a vehicle for social change. The KIND Foundation, Empatico, and Feed the Truth are all non-profits aimed to support local and global communities on different platforms since the company’s inception. Daniel Lubetzky, founder and CEO of KIND, has created an economically sustainable and socially impactful business.

The KIND product line includes the KIND bars, KIND Kids, KIND protein, KIND healthy grains clusters, and KIND healthy grains bars, KIND breakfast bars, pressed by KIND, fruit bites, and KIND minis. Today, we’re going to focus on one of the newer product lines, the KIND protein bars.

Disclaimer: When you click on any of the images in this blog post (not the image gallery), you will be redirected to view the product on Amazon.

The first question is: Are KIND protein bars vegan?

KIND Protein bars come in 4 flavors (Crunchy Peanut Butter, White Chocolate Cinnamon Almond, Toasted Caramel Nut, and Double Dark Chocolate Nut) and 3 of the flavors have a dairy product ingredient (milk powder is present in the Crunchy Peanut Butter, White Chocolate Cinnamon Almond, and Toasted Caramel Nut flavors) which would then not be vegan.

The Double Dark Chocolate Nut flavor is milk free but does contain honey. Now, I’ve been a vegan for a long, long time and I know that some vegans are morally opposed to consuming honey (and that’s totally fine) and there are other vegans who look at honey as a sweetener metabolized the same way any other sugar or syrup would be metabolized (because yes, this is the case) and do not avoid it (that’s totally fine too). For those reasons, KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar is technically not vegan but for those of you predominately plant-based, this protein bar will absolutely still fit with your plant-based diet and lifestyle.

Because KIND plant-based protein bars are widely available and more economical than other plant-based protein bars on the market, I wanted to review the KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar to see how it stacks up. So, for those of you out there looking to consume more plant-based protein on-the-go, keep reading what I (a plant-based vegan dietitian) and my very omnivore non-vegan husband had to say about the KIND protein bars or head over to Amazon and see what others have to say!

Taste Experience

When you first open the plant-based protein bar package, get ready for the sweet smell of decadent chocolate and high quality roasted nuts! You know that fake sweetener/ingredient smell with some bars? There’s non of that in the KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar. Not only does it smell different than most plant-based protein bars, but the KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar looks different. The medium sized protein bar is loaded with whole almonds and peanut halves you can see. There’s no weird nougat layer, just a ton of almonds, peanuts, and soy crisps pressed together with a subtle syrup (glucose syrup per the ingredient list). The bottom of the protein bar is coated with a thin chocolate layer that tastes like a dark chocolate you’d find in a fancy chocolate shop. That same chocolate is drizzled on top to create a beautiful (and almost homemade looking) plant-based protein bar if I do say so myself.

First bite and y’all…give me more of where that came from! This is a protein bar that does not taste like a protein bar! If you like creamy dark chocolate and a hefty dose of crunchy nuts, this bar is for you! I honestly cannot taste the soy crisps but I appreciate the texture that blends so perfectly with the peanuts and almonds. Have you ever had a Hershey Dark Chocolate Bar with Almonds? The KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar reminds me of that but with a heck of a lot more nuts and texture and less, but just enough, chocolate.

What I LOVE most about the KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar is that it you can taste the quality sourced plant-based ingredients. This might be the first protein bar I’ve ever tasted that in no way shape or form tastes like a protein bar, plant-based or not. It would be easy to eat the KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar everyday (if not multiple times per day!) because there’s no dryness, no chalkiness, no grit, and no aftertaste. This plant-based vegan protein bar is wholesome and beyond tasty!

One caveat, the thin chocolate layer melts easily. It still tastes delicious but will get a bit messy – a delicious mess, but messy… so don’t plan on leaving this plant-based protein bar in your gym bag that’s plopped in the trunk of your car outside in the sun all day (or something of the sorts). DO plan on stocking KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar at your desk, in your purse, in lunch boxes, in your pantry and wherever you need a high plant-based protein whole foods nutrition bar to sustain your energy and help meet you plant-based protein needs with a big dose of delish.

Nutrition

Each KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar has 250 calories from wholesome plant-based ingredients. This tends to be higher on the caloric scale compared to some vegan and non-vegan snack and protein bars but when we see that the first two ingredients are peanuts and almonds, we know that nuts are more calorically dense as they have a higher percentage of fat and fat is more calorically dense than protein or carbohydrates (9 calories per gram of fat compared to 4 calories per gram in protein and carbohydrates). With that being said, we can expect the fat content to be on the higher end.

With 17 grams of total fat per bar, KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar definitely has a considerable amount of fat BUT there is only 4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat with the majority of that fat coming from the peanuts and almonds. This helps promote overall satiety and satisfaction along with providing fat soluble vitamins found in peanuts and almonds like Vitamin E (20% RDA per KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar).

The plant-based KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar has a relatively conservative 125mg of sodium per protein bar but what I love is that the salt crystals are sprinkled throughout the bar so some bites are a bit saltier and other bites are sweeter to create a perfect harmony for the taste buds and without increasing the salt content to crazy levels like in a lot of other plant-based vegan protein bars.

The KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar contains 17 grams of total carbohydrate with 5 grams of fiber to help boost your blood glucose level but provide sustained nutrition versus a sharp blood sugar spike. In fact, the KIND plant-based protein bar has a low glycemic index in part to the wholesome ingredients, fiber, protein, and fat content. The plant-based protein bar is gluten free and a great choice for anyone following a gluten free plant-based diet.

Compared to a lot of plant-based protein bars, snack bars, and nutrition bars on the market, the KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar has less sugar without artificial sweeteners. KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar has 8 grams of total sugar with 6 grams of added sugar compared to 20 grams of sugar in leading protein bar brands. This is impressive feat in a snack food and protein/energy bar landscape with a considerable amount of added sugar. In case you’re wondering, the American Heart Association recommends 20 grams of sugar per day for women, 36 grams of sugar for men (assuming they need more calories and energy), and only 12 grams of sugar for children.

Ahhh, and onward to the protein content of the KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar. Each plant-based vegan protein bar contains 12 grams of protein from the peanuts, almonds, and soy protein isolate. This is a considerable amount comparable to about 2 medium sized eggs and more than enough plant-based protein for a sustained energy. We’re all looking to increase out plant-based protein intake for one reason or another and if solid nutrition speaks to you (plus tastiness!), check out the KIND Plant-Based Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bars here.

The Non-Vegan Review

Hmmm, is honey vegan or not? What a difficult question to address. I suppose on the one hand it’s no different than milking a cow, but on the other hand, we’re not forcefully taking baby calves from their mothers when it comes to harvesting honey. Also, honey bees store the pollen in a honey sack, not in their stomachs, so you could say that honey is really just bees transporting pollen back to the hive and processing the pollen into honey. And, bees usually produce way more honey than they need, so as long as it’s harvested responsibly, I’m going to say that YES, honey is Vegan. What’s your take on it? Comment below please.

Ok, back to the reviews. Kind has been in the business of making bars for a long time now and they know what they are doing. These Double Dark Chocolate Nut bars are to die for. Super delicious and absolutely packed with wholesome ingredients. Beware though, they do have HONEY (the point to my rant above). You can get these at a steal on Amazon by clicking on this BIG LINK and helping support this site. Non-vegan husband out!

Parting Thoughts

If you’re interested in increasing your plant-based protein intake, aiming to find a sustainable snack that tastes good, or just need something healthy to grab when life gets crazy, KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar has your name all over. This plant-based protein bar is the first protein bar that doesn’t taste like a protein bar; it tastes insanely better! With crunchy nuts and creamy chocolate, it’s a match made in heaven! If you eat predominately plant-based, this is the bar for you. It’s not technically vegan because it does contain honey, but as mentioned earlier, some vegans I know are ok with consuming honey and if that is you my friend, stock up and save on the KIND Protein Double Dark Chocolate Nut Bar. Keep in mind the other flavors do contain milk products but thank you KIND for making this one dairy free to be enjoyed by me and hopefully you too! (Trust me on this one)