Beyond the Protein Bar: Cookies, Wafers, Chips and Brownies Compared

For years the high-protein snack aisle was bars, and only bars. That is no longer the case. Alongside the classic 45–60g bar you will now find cookies at 75g, wafers at under 40g, brownies, savoury protein chips and ready-to-drink shakes — all sold on roughly the same promise and all priced quite differently.

The problem is that a box of 7 and a box of 24 are hard to compare at a glance, and pack weights vary by a factor of three. This guide is about the numbers that make those formats comparable, using products from the NE Commerce range.

Two numbers, not one

Every high-protein snack label gives you protein per pack and protein per 100g. Both matter, and they answer different questions.

Protein per pack tells you what you actually get when you eat the thing. That is the figure to use when you are deciding whether a snack does the job you want it to do.

Protein per 100g tells you how concentrated it is, which is the only fair way to compare a 37g wafer with a 113g cookie. A big snack with a modest percentage and a small snack with a high one can land in the same place per pack, while feeling completely different to eat.

For a claim of "high protein" to appear on a UK label at all, at least 20% of the energy in the product must come from protein — a regulated threshold rather than a marketing choice. "Source of protein" is the lower tier at 12%. Worth knowing which of the two phrases you are looking at.

The formats

Bars: the dense default

Most bars land between 45g and 60g. They are dense, they take a while to eat, and they travel better than anything else in the category. The range runs from single bars for trying a flavour — Per4m Protein Bar at £2.99 — up to multipacks such as Barebells Soft Protein Bar at 12x55g for £30.99 or Mars Snickers Hi‑Protein at 12x57g for £33.99. See Bars.

Cookies: bigger packs, softer texture

Cookies are the heavyweight of the aisle, typically 60–113g, which means more of everything — protein, but also carbohydrate and calories. Read the calorie line here more carefully than anywhere else in the category, because a 113g cookie is closer to a small meal than a snack.

Examples in range: Mars Protein Cookie at 12x60g for £23.99, MyProtein Performance Cookie at 12x75g for £28.99, MyProtein Protein Filled Cookie at 12x75g for £20.99, and Lenny & Larry's The Complete at 12x113g for £25.99.

Wafers: the light option

Wafers sit at the other end, usually 37–42g, crisp rather than chewy, and lower in calories per unit simply because there is less of them. Applied Nutrition Protein Wafer is 12x39g at £18.99, MyProtein Protein Wafers 10x42g at £18.99, OSHEE Protein Crispy Wafer 12x37g at £15.99, Nutramino Nutra‑Go 12x39g at £19.99, and NICK'S Protein Wafer 24x40g at £37.99.

Because wafers are small, always check protein per pack rather than assuming it matches a bar.

Brownies and baked-style snacks

A middle ground: softer than a bar, smaller than a cookie, usually around 60g. Mountain Joe's Protein Brownie is 10x60g at £16.99 and Bulk Vegan Protein Brownie is 12x60g at £18.99.

Savoury: protein chips and crisps

The most recent addition, and the one most people forget exists. If you do not want another chocolate-flavoured snack, this is the aisle to look at. Applied Nutrition Protein Chips are 7x50g at £14.99, QNT Protein Chips 12x50g at £27.99, and The Curators Protein Chips 20x35g at £30.99.

Note the odd box counts — 7 and 20 rather than the usual 12 — which is exactly why per-unit maths matters.

Ready-to-drink shakes

Not a snack in the strict sense, but it competes for the same moment. Barebells Milkshake is 8x330ml at £21.99 and Grenade Protein 8x330ml at £21.99. You are carrying liquid, so the cost per serving is higher and the pack is heavier, but there is nothing to unwrap. The full range is in Ready to Drink.

Comparing price properly

Box counts in this category are all over the place: 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 20 and 24 all appear above. So the pack price tells you almost nothing until you divide it.

box price ÷ units in box = price per unit

Run it on the examples: OSHEE wafers at £15.99 for 12 come to £1.33 each. Applied Nutrition Protein Chips at £14.99 for 7 come to £2.14 each. The Curators at £30.99 for 20 come to £1.55 each — cheaper per unit than the chips that looked half the price on the shelf.

If you are buying primarily for protein, take it one step further and work out the price per 20g of protein, using the protein-per-pack figure. That is the number that puts a wafer, a cookie and a shake on the same scale.

What else is on the label

Three lines are worth a look before you commit to a box of twelve.

• Polyols. Sugar alcohols such as maltitol and erythritol appear under the carbohydrate heading and are common in lower-sugar snacks. Where a product contains more than 10% polyols, UK labelling rules require the statement that excessive consumption may produce laxative effects — a useful signal if you are new to the category and planning to eat several in a day.
• Fibre. Chicory root fibre and similar ingredients build texture in low-sugar products. Worth easing into rather than going straight to three a day.
• Protein source. Milk and whey proteins are complete proteins. Collagen also counts as protein on the label but has a different amino acid profile, so a snack leaning on it is a different product to one built on whey.

Buy a mixed box first

Texture is the thing people get wrong, and it is entirely personal. Crisp wafer, dense bar, soft-baked cookie and savoury chip are four genuinely different eating experiences, and no amount of macro-reading tells you which one you will still want in week three.

Buying a couple of singles across two or three formats before committing to a 24‑pack is the cheapest mistake-avoidance in the category. Once you know what you like, the multipack maths above will nearly always save you money over singles.

Shop at NE Commerce

Bars, cookies, wafers, brownies and savoury options sit together in Protein Bars & Snacks, with shakes in Ready to Drink and cooking and baking ingredients in Foods & Flavourings. Order by 3pm Monday to Friday for same-day dispatch.

A quick note

This article is general information, not medical or nutritional advice. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, and should not be used to prevent or treat any illness. Always read the product label, do your own research, and speak to a qualified doctor, pharmacist or registered nutritionist before starting a new supplement — especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, taking medication or managing a health condition.