Lenny & Larry's Muscle Brownie: Peanut butter

Product name: Lenny & Larry’s Muscle Brownie: Peanut butter
Purchase details: £2.50 for an 80g brownie (Americandy) 

Calories: 170 per 40g serving (340 per brownie) 

Country of origin: USA 

This is an unusual review for me in that, whilst I strive to maintain my ideal weight, I have absolutely no interest in becoming some kind of bodybuilding fanatic. The slogan on this Lenny & Larry’s Muscle Brownie: Peanut butter – ‘Eat Brownies, Get Muscles!’ – was slightly off-putting for me, then, since I wanted to eat brownies (who doesn’t?!) but I didn’t want the muscles.

You may well have guessed that it was the lure of peanut butter that caused me to buy this product but closer inspection of the wrapper also helped – the brownie  was ‘all natural’ and contained 20g of protein, and it was this that the brand focused on, since protein ‘combined with regular exercise and balanced nutrition’ could help build muscles. Since I’m not exactly a gym-goer, I decided I’d be safe eating this without running the risk of waking up with huge arms!

Lenny & Larry’s is a brand that has been going since 1993, but it is only recently that I’ve heard of them and, I suspected, their speciality was protein-rich foods rather than quality baked items. That said, the wrapper did promise a product that was freshly baked, and it was reassuring that it was also low in cholesterol and contained no trans fats.

The brownie’s wrapper had a nice colour scheme that reflected the peanut butter flavour but, looking at the image and ingredients list, I was disappointed to see that this flavour only came from peanut butter chips and a ‘coating’ – there wasn’t any mixed into the brownie mix. This set alarm bells off for me since I knew that my homemade peanut butter brownies are only so amazing because the peanut butter that’s incorporated into the brownie itself is the key to both the taste and the texture. 

This brownie was very square and uniform in appearance. It consisted of a very dark cake that was drizzled with the aforementioned peanut butter coating (this looks orange in my pictures but it was brown!) and filled with large peanut butter chips. I was actually pleased that the presentation of the coating wasn’t perfect as it made the product seem a bit more authentic since, otherwise, it looked pretty processed.

I felt the brownie was pretty small for the number of calories it contained but I thought it was even more stingy that a portion was only meant to be half of one! I, of course, ate the whole thing.

As I’ve mentioned with other American mass-produced baked goods, this brownie had an odd chocolatey smell, but there was also a slight hint of peanut butter. Texturally, the cake felt rubbery, and I couldn’t believe how hard I had to press to cut it with a knife – it was unbelievably dense.

Before I took the plunge with a full bite, I tried a bit of the peanut butter coating and found it went some way to achieving its desired flavour, but it certainly wasn’t peanut butter in its pure form and it had been sweetened.

Moving on to the product’s overall taste, it was a bit chocolatey and it did offer vague hints of peanut butter, but there was an additional flavour that was really weird. It almost tasted like raisins which, in itself, wasn’t a bad thing, but it was just completely out of place in a brownie. Unfortunately, it also left quite a strong aftertaste in the mouth.

Texturally, the brownie was hard and chewy with an occasional slight crisp that seemed to come from the peanut butter coating. The chips didn’t add any texture which was a shame as I think it would have benefitted from some kind of chunks to break up the density. The texture was acceptable in itself but, for a brownie, it wasn’t right at all.

I wasn’t expecting this Muscle Brownie: Peanut butter to be great but I’m afraid to say it was actually worse than I expected. That’s not to say it was out-and-out and horrible (it wasn’t) but when I eat my evening snacks, I want a tasty treat, and this didn’t deliver. I guess that’s the point, though – this brand exists to provide more interesting ways to pump protein into people on big health kicks. If that was my aim then, sure, this would be more enjoyable than some of the alternatives, but would I buy a Muscle Brownie again purely for pleasure? Sorry, but no. 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 6/10
Texture: 6/10
Overall score: 6.25/10