Review: Trader Joe's Soft Baked Snickerdoodles

Trader Joe's has a lot of great vegan products. Their vegan soft-baked snickerdoodles are also gluten free and allergen friendly. 

These plant-based cookies are very soft and a little chewy. They're not dry or crumbly at all. 

They have some unexpected ingredients to keep them so soft and allergen-friendly (full ingredient list below). I can taste a subtle hint of fruit from the dates and fruit juice. 

These are so soft it's hard to compare them to other cookies. They're very good, but not what I picture when I think of snickerdoodles. They remind me more of molasses cookies even though they don't have any molasses in them. 

I was disappointed by how much plastic packaging there is. It doesn't seem necessary to have them in a tray. It was hard to open and not resealable. 

Trader Joe's Soft Baked Snickerdoodles ingredients:

Sorghum flour, brown sugar, dates, sunflower oil and/or safflower oil, pear juice concentrate, water, rice syrup, grape juice concentrate, flaxseed meal, baking soda, xantham gum, salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract (water, ethyl alcohol, vanilla bean extractives), natural flavors, rosemary extract (to preserve).

Review: Trader Joe's Soft Baked Snickerdoodles

First impressions: Soft baked is accurate, they are very soft. 

Taste: Sweet with a subtle fruity taste

Texture: Very soft, a little bit chewy

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe
Better than other vegan options? Close but I think Sprouts has some better vegan cookies

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 4/5

Review: Ben & Jerry's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Chunks

I can always count on Ben & Jerry's to indulge my sweet tooth. They've come out with several vegan products over the past few years and now have 15 flavors of non-dairy ice cream. Their newest creation is a line of snackable cookie dough including vegan chocolate chip cookie dough. The cinnamon bun dough is also vegan. 

Whenever I make cookies, I usually end up eating as much of the dough as I bake, so I had to try these. 

You can find them in the freezer section at the store by the ice cream. I found them at Target and the vegan cookie dough was next to the Ben & Jerry's vegan ice cream pints, separate from their non-vegan cookie dough flavors. 

These cookie dough chunks are the same size, taste, and texture as the cookie dough pieces in ice cream. It was hard to eat a lot at once because they're so rich and sweet.

The resealable pouch is great for having a little bit when you want a snack. These would also be perfect to put on top of sundaes. 

Ben & Jerry's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ingredients:

Wheat flour, brown sugar, sugar, coconut oil, semisweet chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin (emulsifier), and vanilla extract), water, expeller pressed soybean oil, tapioca flour, molasses, pure vanilla extract, salt, sunflower lecithin. 

Review: Ben & Jerry's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

First impressions: Yum

Taste: Sweet, rich, buttery

Texture: Soft like the cookie dough pieces in ice cream 

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? Yes, but the other vegan cookie dough I tried was also gluten free, so it's not a fair comparison

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Sprouts Bite-Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sprouts has a line of bagged cookies in the cookie aisle and they're all vegan! They also have vanilla wafers, animal cookies, ginger snaps, lemon snaps, and sometimes oatmeal.

These bite-sized chocolate chip cookies remind me of Famous Amos cookies. The bite size is fun to snack on. They're crunchy but not too hard.

Another thing I love about these vegan cookies, is that they're also less expensive than a lot of other options (vegan and non-vegan). The regular price is $1.99 and sometimes they go on sale.

If you're looking for bigger and softer vegan chocolate chip cookies, Sprouts has some of those too in the bakery area of the store.

Sprouts Bite-Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies ingredients:

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, palm oil (sustainably sourced), cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, salt, leavening (sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, mono calcium phosphate) natural flavors, and soy lecithin. 

Review: Sprouts Bite-Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies

First impressions: Wow these are vegan? 

Taste: Chocolatey and satisfying

Texture: Light and crunchy

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Sprouts Vanilla Wafers

These vegan vanilla wafers are part of a line of vegan cookies from Sprouts in the cookie aisle. They also have chocolate chip, animal cookies, ginger snaps, and lemon snaps.

Sprouts has even more vegan cookies in the bakery section if you want bigger and softer cookies.

I loved Nabisco Nilla Wafers as a kid, and was excited to find a vegan version. These are smaller and less uniform than Nabisco's, but have a similar vanilla flavor and satisfying melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Sprouts Old-Fashioned Vanilla Wafers ingredients:

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, palm oil, contains 2% or less of natural flavors, salt, leavening (sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate), and soy lecithin.

Review: Sprouts Old-Fashioned Vanilla Wafers

First impressions: Remind me so much of Nilla Wafers

Taste: Not too sweet vanilla flavor

Texture: Thin and crispy, softer in the middle

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Kroger Simple Truth Plant-Based Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I ate plenty of Pillsbury cookie dough as a kid, but hadn't found a vegan version until recently. And it's unexpectedly from Kroger, where they happen to have an impressive selection of vegan products throughout the store. Kroger seems to be investing in the plant-based trend and I am all here for it. Hopefully this will encourage other major stores to do the same.

The ingredient list looks long, but most of the big words are the added vitamins to the flour. It looks like chickpea flour is the egg replacer here. And I was surprised to see vanilla bean seeds in the chocolate chips - maybe that's why they taste so good. 

Simple Truth Plant-Based Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ingredients: Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, ascorbic acid added as a dough conditioner), semi-sweet chocolate (organic cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], vanilla bean seeds), palm oil, brown sugar, sugar, chickpea flour, water, salt, natural flavor, baking soda.

This egg-free and dairy-free cookie dough was so satisfying. It tastes just like regular cookie dough. It was hard for me to stop eating it and save some for baking. (Note that the package still says not to eat raw cookie dough.)

You should resist the temptation to eat all of the cookie dough though. It's worth saving some for baking because they are delicious fresh out of the oven (and smell heavenly). I still couldn't tell they were vegan.

The chocolate was the right amount of ooey and gooey. The inside was soft and chewy and the edges were crispy. Writing this makes me want to go make more.

Review: Kroger Simple Truth Plant-Based Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

First impressions: Can't stop eating it

Taste: Like other store bought cookie dough. Chocolatey and satisfying, sweet but not too sweet.

Texture: Soft in the middle with crispy edges

Can you tell it's vegan? Not at all

Worth buying again? Yes, I have more in my fridge right now.

Overall: 5/5

Review: Sprouts Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was pleasantly surprised to find these vegan chocolate chip cookies on display with the rest of the freshly baked (non-vegan) cookies at Sprouts. They were the same price too! They looked so good I had to try them. 

Some vegan cookies can be dry or dense. These were soft and chewy like chocolate chip cookies should be. I would not guess that they're vegan if I didn't know. 

The only downside to these is after a few days they seemed to dry out faster than non-vegan cookies. So that just means you have an excuse to eat them quickly.

The egg replacer in these vegan cookies is chickpea flour, which happens to be my go-to egg replacer for baking. Chickpea flour can be used as an egg replacer in a lot of recipes, from baking to crepes to quiches. Chickpeas are the same thing as garbanzo beans, so you might see it called garbanzo bean flour in the store. I've even heard that aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas) can be used to make a meringue, but I haven't tried that myself yet. 

Sprouts also has some prepackaged vegan cookies in the cookie aisle, including chocolate chip and vanilla wafers. 

Sprouts vegan chocolate chip cookies ingredients: 

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, ascorbic acid add as a dough conditioner), semi-sweet chocolate (organic cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], vanilla bean seeds), palm shortening, sugar, brown sugar, water, chickpea flour, salt, natural vanilla flavor, baking soda. 

Review: Sprouts Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

First impressions: These don't look vegan.

Taste: Sweet, chocolatey, satisfying 

Texture: Soft and chewy

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? Yes, my favorite vegan chocolate chip cookie so far. 

Worth buying again? Yes, I already have.

Overall: 5/5

Review: The Complete Cookie - Peanut Butter

Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie is a vegan cookie that's more like a nutrition bar. I thought peanut butter might be a good flavor to balance out the added protein. I did like this better than the white chocolatey macadamia Complete Cookie, but it still has an aftertaste that reminded me of a PowerBar. 

The texture was soft and made me think of the peanut butter Grandma's cookies at first. After eating a lot of it though it started to feel dense and dry. 

If you're craving a cookie, this might not hit the spot. But it's not bad when you consider it has 16 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber while being eggless and dairy free. If you're on a road trip or stopping for a quick snack at the gas station, this will probably be more filling than other options. 

Peanut butter Complete Cookie ingredients: Enriched Wheat Flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Chicory Root Fiber, Peanut Butter, Protein Blend (vital wheat gluten, pea protein, rice protein), Invert Sugar, Vegetable Glycerine, Cane Sugar, Peanuts, Palm Fruit Oil, Sunflower Lecithin, Natural Flavors, Baking Soda, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum.

Review: Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie Peanut Butter

Taste: Strong peanut flavor, sweet, slight nutrition bar aftertaste 

Texture: Soft, dense, a little dry 

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe, you can tell it's a nutrition food

Worth buying again? I would eat this again but it's not at the top of my grocery list

Overall: 4/5

Review: Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie - White Chocolaty Macadamia

The Complete Cookie from Lenny & Larry's is a giant vegan cookie with added protein,  fiber, and other nutrients. They have a lot of flavors including traditional favorites and some fun, unusual flavors like chocolate donut and apple pie. 

Is it the best cookie ever? No. But for a vegan cookie that's basically a protein bar, it's not bad.

The first ingredient is their protein blend, and you can tell. It has a little bit of a nutrition bar, health food taste. I consider it a delicious vegan protein bar, but wouldn't compare it to other vegan cookies. 

It's really big and dense. I liked it at first, but it was hard to finish. I might like a smaller version more. I see on their website that they also have smaller, crunchy cookies. Those might be better.

As far as the white chocolaty macadamia flavor goes, I thought the white chips and macadamia nut pieces were too small and that there weren't enough of them. When I think of white chocolate macadamia cookies, I picture big pieces of both.

I generally prefer less processed foods with shorter ingredient lists. But the long list here makes more sense because of the added protein and fiber. Plus most vegan baked goods will have extra ingredients in order to replace the eggs. 

Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie White Chocolaty Macadamia ingredients: Protein blend (vital wheat gluten, pea protein, rice protein), enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable glycerine, chicory root fiber, cane sugar, invert sugar, palm margarine (palm oil, palm fractions, water, salt, emulsifiers [sunflower lecithin, distilled monoglycerides], natural flavor, citric acid, mixed tocopherols [antioxidant], vitamin A, beta-carotene [color]), white chips (sugar, palm kernel and palm oil, natural flavor, sunflower lecithin [emulsifier], salt), oligofructose, macadamia nuts, sunflower lecithin, natural flavor, salt, baking soda, cultured dextrose, xanthan gum, guar gum. 

Review: Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie White Chocolaty Macadamia

First impressions: Wow, this is big.

Taste: Some nutritional aftertaste, not too sweet, hint of cinnamon. I would like to have had more white chocolatey pieces. 

Texture: Soft, but a little dense. 

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes. 

Worth buying again? I liked the peanut butter flavor more

Overall: 4/5

What did you think? Leave your own review here!

Review: Hail Merry Cookie Dough Bites

Vegan cookie dough bites! What a great idea! 

I loved eating raw cookie dough as a kid (and adult). Vegan cookie dough makes a lot of sense. You don't have to worry about uncooked eggs, and they won't be baked so it's less important to find the best egg replacer so they rise properly. 

I really wanted to like these. They looked adorable. 

But they didn't taste as good as I hoped they would. They tasted like dry, coconut balls. I didn't finish eating them, and it's a small package. 

All of Hail Merry's products are vegan, gluten free, and grain free. I wonder if a vegan cookie dough with wheat flour might have a closer texture to what I was expecting. Although I'd like to try their other products, and am glad there's a company that caters to people who can't eat those ingredients.

Hail Merry Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites ingredients: Organic Maple Syrup, Almond Flour, Organic Shredded Coconut, Organic Chocolate Chips (Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Liquor, Organic Cocoa Butter), Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Vanilla, Celtic Sea Salt.

Review: Hail Merry Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

First impressions: "Cute! Oh... not very good though."

Taste: I mainly tasted coconut, and wished it had more chocolate.

Texture: Dry

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe not, but you can tell it's gluten free. 

Worth buying again? I wouldn't buy this again but still want to try their other products. 

Overall: 3/5