Working out means more than just lifting weights or doing cardio. The gym isn’t the only place where you need to be on your A-game. Your diet needs to be on point too! You should be shoveling as much protein into your diet as you can!
But most fun snacks and energy bars don’t contain a lot of protein. And if you’re a vegan, getting that protein can be even harder! It’s time that you get introduced to Lenny & Larry’s! Lenny & Larry’s is a sweet toothed snack company, who felt the same way as you.
They now have a range of protein-heavy sweet treats, most of which are plant based. I’m going to chow down on a few of their selections and give you an honest review of how they taste as well as their actual nutritional value.
The History of Lenny & Larry's
The company was created in 1993 by two friends named Benny and Barry. They were bored of eating the same old food to keep their workouts in check. Looking at a picture of the two, they had gains for days, and clearly working out was their main joy in life.
In the 1990s work outs were in fashion, but food design was bad. Benny and Barry clearly weren’t having fun with the food on their plate, and that's when they created Lenny & Larry's. I believe the original idea was to “Make Clean Eating Cool”….. A very 90s slogan.
The company has had a couple of redirections since then, including creating vegan snacks and planet based alternatives. Now I am warning you, these aren’t necessarily healthy snacks, but they are snacks created to make life easier and more fun for a fitness fanatic. Lenny & Larry’s are a junk food brand, and should be treated like it! You shouldn’t eat only Lenny & Larry’s cookies just because the original owners are buff.
So now you know a little bit about them, we should dive into the actual snacks. I’ll give you my honest opinion on taste, and also source some nutritional information for you so you know what you’re actually eating.
The Complete Cookie has a couple of flavors to pick from, and you can even buy a selection box if you wanted. I’ve chosen the classic chocolate chip flavor. Chocolate chip is the nation's most loved flavor, so for Lenny & Larry’s to make a vegan version it has to stand up against what we already know a chocolate chip cookie will be like.
Look
In all honesty, I was expecting a “too soft” cookie, but when I opened up the packet it looked just like you’d expect any cookie to look like.
Don’t get me wrong, it is soft, but being in that packet for so long, I expected the cookie to get mushy. I’m glad to be wrong!
Taste
This is what really matters, we want a tasty protein cookie to replace our current boring snacks. So far, this experience has told me a lot. I either have some old fashioned hang up with vegan food, or Lenny & Larry’s are a genius company.
With the first bite, I can tell you that Lenny & Larry’s Chocolate Chip Complete Cookie tastes like a normal cookie!
Nutrition
At this point, my mind wondered if there was anything special about this cookie at all. Was it really vegan? Does it really have extra protein in it? Is it good for me? All these questions because the cookie tasted so normal.
The ingredients show that there are no dairy, meat, or fish (why would there be fish?) products in the cookie, so it’s definitely vegan!
Cookies normally have on average 1g of protein per serving. The Complete Cookie Chocolate Chip has 8g. With these small numbers, that is still a massive improvement! We cannot deny the extra protein you’d get from swapping your snacks around.
But we have to remember that this is still a cookie. The majority of the ingredients are carbohydrates (11g) and sugars (12g). This isn’t a healthy cookie, it’s a cookie with extra protein.
Comparisons
I wanted to compare this cookie to the best selling protein bar on the market right now, and that's Quest Nutrition. Quest Nutrition has 20-21g of protein, whereas The Complete Chocolate Chip Cookie has 8g.
Quest Nutrition has 4-6g of carbohydrates which is less than Lenny & Larry's 11g. And lastly, Quest Nutrition has less than 2g of sugar which is ridiculously low in comparison to The Complete Chocolate Chip Cookie’s 12g.
But with that lack of sugar, I can tell you that Quest Nutrition does not taste good. It tastes fine at best. If I want to eat a snack and feel a little cheeky, I would rather pick up the Complete Chocolate Chip Cookie than the Quest Nutrition Protein Bar.
Next to try is The Boss Cookie. Lenny & Larry's saw that many of their customers liked the Complete Cookie but didn’t like the amount of sugar that was in it, so this is why they created the Boss Cookie. Designed to have even more protein and even less sugar.
Look
This cookie is soft. It's a soft baked cookie, and it didn’t sweat in the packaging which is something that always puts me off packaged food. You can pick it apart with your fingers, which is good if you only want little bites.
To be honest, it looks very similar to the Complete Cookie, and if it didn’t come in different packaging, I would have thought they were the same.
Taste
With the first bite, I could tell that this cookie was not the same as the Complete Cookie. It does not taste like a cookie.
The customers asked for less sugar and Lenny & Larry’s delivered. If you wanted a snack that tasted good but had more protein than the average sweet, I would suggest the Complete Cookie over The Boss Cookie, without a doubt.
At this point, I thought it was fair to compare the Boss Cookie to the Quest Nutrition because they seemed to be closer in ingredients than the Complete Cookie was. And I have compared them too, but hold your horses because you need to know that those ingredients are first.
Nutrition
The first thing I have to say is that The Boss is not vegan. There is milk in this cookie. Lenny & Larry's have tried to make it very clear to their customers that this is a completely different cookie, and I can tell that they don’t want vegans and people with milk allergies to be affected by the change.
When it comes to protein the Boss Cookie jumps up to 18g, that's 10g more than the Complete Cookie. Its carbohydrates weigh at 18g, which is more than the Complete Cookie. But the sugar weight is 1g! That’s loads less than the Complete Cookie.
The Boss Cookie is clearly trying to get closer to the classic protein bar and away from the classic cookie treat.
Comparison
Now we get to look at how the Boss Cookie differs from the current best selling protein bar, Quest Nation. It tastes so much better than Quest Nation, without a doubt. It might be the extra carbohydrates the Boss Cookie has in comparison to Quest Nation, but in terms of taste, it’s Complete Cookie, Boss Cookie then Quest Nation.
Boss Cookie has a little less protein than the Quest Nation, and the same amount of sugar, making it a good protein intake. It’s less of a cheeky treat and more of a power bar.
Lenny and Larry Buying Guide
Final Verdict
If you want to eat a snack, but try to stay on your high protein diet, then I would recommend The Complete Cookie. Lenny & Larry’s have made an excellent vegan snack. But don’t mistake the snack for an actual healthy alternative, it has way too much sugar for that. It’s more of a cookie with protein sprinkles on top.
If you want something that isn’t so sugary, then get ready for a lack of flavor too. That being said, The Boss Cookie tastes better than the current best seller on Amazon. The Boss Cookie is a healthy alternative because of the lack of sugar. So you can power up without having to worry about what you are eating.
I would absolutely recommend Larry & Lenny’s for any gym buff! They have different cookies of different needs in the day.