think! Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar: Nutrition & Labelgrade B (78/100)

The short answer

The think! Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar delivers 20g of protein for 230 calories with 0g of sugar. That’s 33.3g of protein per 100g — genuinely dense, on par with Quest and Barebells. The catch is how it gets to zero sugar: this bar is sweetened almost entirely with maltitol syrup, a sugar alcohol, rather than the sucralose or stevia most rivals use. It earns a B (78/100) — held back from a higher grade by a long, sugar-alcohol-led ingredient list, not by its macros.

Why the B

The honest read: this bar is all engine, modest chassis. The A+ protein score is fully deserved — 20g in a 60g bar is excellent. The C+ on ingredients is where the trade-offs live, and it’s the maltitol that drives both the perfect sugar score and the ingredient ding. The sugar “A+” is technically true but worth an asterisk: a bar sweetened with maltitol is not the same as a bar that’s genuinely low in digestible carbs (see below).

The maltitol trade-off — the one thing to know

Here is what separates this bar from its shelf-mates. The second ingredient is maltitol syrup, and there is no sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, stevia, or monk fruit anywhere on the list. That’s unusual — most “sugar-free” protein bars reach for a non-nutritive sweetener to hit zero sugar without the carbs. think! does it the old-school way, with a sugar alcohol.

That choice cuts two ways, and you should pick based on which side you fall on:

• If you avoid artificial sweeteners, this is a rare 20g-protein, 0g-sugar bar with no sucralose or aspartame. For people who don’t tolerate or simply dislike those, that’s a real selling point.
• If your gut is sensitive to sugar alcohols, maltitol is the worst offender of the bunch. It’s only partially absorbed; the rest ferments in the large intestine, which is what produces the gas, bloating, and laxative effect sugar alcohols are infamous for. One bar is a moderate dose, but tolerance varies enormously.

There’s also a labeling nuance worth understanding: maltitol counts in the 23g of total carbs but not in the 0g sugar line. So “0g sugar” does not mean “no blood-sugar impact.” Maltitol has a moderate glycemic load, which is why strict keto dieters generally skip maltitol-sweetened bars in favor of erythritol or allulose, which pass through largely inert.

How it stacks up against Quest and Barebells

This bar competes in the most crowded shelf in the category, and the protein numbers are nearly a wash. The real differences are texture and sweetener:

Net: if you want fiber and don’t mind sucralose, Quest wins. If you want the softest, most dessert-like bite, Barebells. think! is the pick when you specifically want to dodge sucralose and stevia — provided maltitol agrees with you. It’s a clear, defensible niche, not a knock.

Who it’s for

A solid 20g-protein, 0g-sugar bar for someone who wants their sweetness from a sugar alcohol rather than a non-nutritive sweetener. It’s a fine on-the-go protein top-up — roughly the protein of 2.3 oz of cooked chicken in a shelf-stable wrapper. Skip it if you’re sensitive to sugar alcohols, if you’re doing strict keto (the maltitol carbs aren’t “free”), or if you’re chasing fiber, where a soluble-fiber bar like Quest does more.

Ingredients

Protein blend (soy protein isolate, calcium caseinate, whey protein isolate), maltitol syrup, vegetable glycerin, water, almond butter, cocoa butter, alkalized cocoa, chocolate, sunflower oil, lecithin, sodium caseinate, natural flavor, tapioca starch, milk fat, salt. (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 2608367.)

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Scope: This page applies specifically to Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar, Brownie Crunch (2.1 oz/60 g) · UPC 753656701271. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.