Protein Puck
Harvest Moon
TL:DR
In 2 Sentences
A whole‑food, vegan, gluten‑free puck with no protein isolates or sugar alcohols; its apple‑cinnamon‑pecan flavor comes from the actual foods. It’s more like a compact trail meal than a typical 20‑gram protein bar.
When to choose Protein Puck Harvest Moon
Choose it for long mornings, hikes, travel days, or a grab‑and‑go breakfast when you want steady energy from real ingredients—not when you’re chasing maximum protein per calorie.
What's in the Protein Puck bar?
Protein Puck’s Harvest Moon tastes like a crisp fall morning—real apples and cinnamon layered over a nut-and-seed base with buttery pecans in the mix. Its protein is fully plant-based, coming naturally from almond butter, oats, and a medley of seeds and nuts rather than isolates.
That whole‑food approach brings fiber, minerals, and heart‑friendly fats—and it also makes this one of the more calorie‑dense bars in the category, with both fat and carbs sitting near the top.
Translation: big, steady energy for long mornings or trail miles, with apple‑cinnamon‑pecan flavor that actually comes from apples, cinnamon, and pecans.
- Protein
- 12 g
- Fat
- 27 g
- Carbohydrates
- 40 g
- Sugar
- 18 g
- Calories
- 440
Protein
1215MIDThe 12 grams of protein arrive from whole foods—almond butter and almonds, pecans, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, flax, and oats—rather than whey or soy isolates. That means a broad plant‑protein blend with fiber and healthy fats riding along, but not the concentrated 20‑gram punch you see in isolate‑based bars. Think snack‑level protein from real ingredients, with slower, more satisfying digestion.
Fat
279HIGHMost of the fat comes from almond butter, almonds, pecans, and seeds, so it’s largely unsaturated—monounsaturated from almonds and pecans, polyunsaturated from sunflower and pumpkin, plus a plant omega‑3 (ALA) bump from flax. This is a high‑fat bar, which helps with fullness and makes the energy release feel gradual. If you watch omega‑6, note sunflower leans that way, tempered by the MUFAs and ALA in the mix.
Carbs
4020HIGHCarbs here are a mix of whole and refined sources: gluten‑free rolled oats and apples provide fiber‑rich, slower energy, while agave adds quicker, added‑sugar sweetness. Oat beta‑glucan helps smooth the blood‑sugar curve; fruit sugars and agave give a faster lift. Overall, it leans sustained rather than spiky, but it’s still a higher‑carb bar best suited to active days or meal‑sized snacks.
Sugar
184HIGHSweetness comes from apples and agave. In bars, agave is typically a refined, fructose‑forward syrup that keeps glucose spikes gentler but still counts as added sugar, while apples bring natural fruit sugars. With 18 grams of sugar, expect a naturally sweet bar tempered by fat and fiber—not an ultra‑low‑sugar product.
Calories
440210HIGHMost of the 440 calories come from the nuts, seeds, and almond butter (fat is calorie‑dense), with oats and agave contributing the next biggest share and protein a smaller slice. It eats like a compact meal more than a nibble, which can be perfect before a long hike, a late lunch, or breakfast on the go. If you’re counting, portion awareness matters more here than with a minimalist bar.
Vitamins & Minerals
Two nutrients pop above 10% DV: potassium (about 35%) and iron (around 15%). Potassium is naturally high in nuts, seeds, and apples, while iron shows up strongly in pumpkin seeds, oats, and flax. These aren’t fortification effects—just the dividends of whole ingredients.
Additives
The label reads like a pantry: almond butter, oats, nuts, seeds, apples, and cinnamon. The only notably refined ingredient is agave, which is processed from agave plants into syrup; everything else is minimally processed and recognizable. No artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, emulsifiers, or protein isolates in the mix.
Ingredient List
Ground roasted almonds
Oat grain
Agave plants
Pecan tree nuts
Sunflower plant seeds
Flax plant seeds
Pumpkin seeds (Cucurbita spp.)
Almond tree seeds
Malus domestica fruit
Inner bark of cinnamon trees
What are people saying?
Sources
Range
“My favorites are protein puck and nature valley chewy. I know nature valley is known for the really dry bars but chewy fixes that.”
Main Praise
Fans show up for two things: taste and staying power. Amazon reviewers call it “absolutely delicious,” “fresh, not overly sweet, and not chalky,” and several say one puck can stretch across two snacks thanks to how filling it is.
The apple‑cinnamon profile reads like homemade oatmeal rather than a lab-built flavor, and the chewy, nut‑and‑seed texture gets consistent thumbs‑up from people who dislike powdery bars. On Reddit, it pops up in favorite‑bar threads as a solid, satisfying option, and local coverage credited its quick word‑of‑mouth rise to one simple factor: it tastes good.
Bonus points for the ingredient list that reads like a pantry, not a chemistry set—no isolates, no sugar alcohols, and naturally plant‑based.
Main Criticism
The same traits people love—hearty ingredients and real sweetness—also drive the main critiques. It’s calorie‑dense (440 per puck) with 27 grams of fat, so if you define a protein bar as “20+ grams for 200 calories,” this isn’t it.
Sugar sits at 18 grams from apples and agave, which some reviewers flag if they’re watching added sugars closely. Texture isn’t universally adored: one Amazon reviewer, rooster, reported a hard, bland batch that needed a microwave assist, suggesting occasional quality or storage variability.
And a vegan reviewer on abillion liked the bar but thought the price was on the high side.
The Middle Ground
So where does the truth land? Harvest Moon is less a lean protein bar and more a whole‑food energy puck with moderate protein.
That’s a feature, not a bug, if your goal is sustained fuel from nuts, oats, and seeds rather than a low‑calorie protein spike.
An r/Protein commenter even framed it as a meal‑replacement‑style option—“relatively healthy besides agave”—which tracks with the nutrition: 12 grams of protein supported by fiber and unsaturated fats, plus potassium and iron naturally present from the ingredients.
If you judge bars by protein-per-calorie, you’ll side with the r/vegan commenter who (about another brand) called this style a “fat source with some protein. ” Fair.
But if you want real‑food ingredients, no sugar alcohols, and flavors born from apples and cinnamon instead of flavor labs, it slots in beautifully. The scattered texture complaints look like outliers next to a 4.
3‑star average across hundreds of ratings, though it’s reasonable to split the puck or pair it with water/coffee so the portion fits your day.
What's the bottom line?
Protein Puck’s Harvest Moon is a tasty, apple‑cinnamon, pantry‑ingredient puck that behaves like breakfast you can throw in a bag. ” If you’re heading into a long morning, a hike, or a travel day, it shines. If you’re counting every calorie or chasing 20+ grams of protein per bar, it won’t be your hero.
The move many happy reviewers make: split it in half. You keep the chewy, apple‑cinnamon comfort, get steadier energy, and sidestep the “too much of a good thing” problem—no microwave required.