If you don’t already know by now, I am always looking for new protein supplements to try, for the purpose of not only finding the highest quality products out there and sharing them with you guys, but to also to keep things interesting for myself! I recently had the opportunity to try three of No Cow‘s (previously D’s Naturals) newest product, protein cookies.
I feel like I want to address early on the photos in this post – I know that they aren’t my best work. Not that my photos are always really stellar, but I had some trouble with the lighting the day I was doing this review, and by the time I noticed how not ideal the photos came out, the cookies were long since eaten. I also try to do the most minimal editing on photos for a review, so that the edits don’t distort the product at all. The most I did on these photos was edit the white balance a bit.
One more disclaimer – I want to preface my review with the fact that I am not vegan, don’t have any food allergies (knock on wood), and don’t currently practice any sort of restrictive dieting. Even though I don’t really need to eliminate any specific ingredients or types of products from my diet for health purposes, I genuinely enjoy exploring products that are branded with such an angle (i.e. vegan), because I find that those brands are more conscious of quality of ingredients and are marketing to a more ingredient-focused type of person.
No Cow’s business model and strategy is that it offers products that are high in protein, free from dairy, gluten, soy, and GMOs, are vegan, and are low in sugar. What a mouthful, huh? The brand focuses not only on the macros of its products, but also the micros (which is something that I think often gets lost, especially in protein supplements, since a large emphasis is placed on the importance of macros). No Cow prides itself in being a no bullshit company – a strong statement in my opinion, and one that I have a high respect for if it proves true. I also appreciate No Cow’s story – It all started with a fitness enthused 18 year old looking for a protein bar that didn’t give him a stomach ache. Sound familiar? The difference between him and me, though, is that he solved his problem by creating a dope one.
Let’s get into the review before I start to lose you. There are a few things that are consistent across all cookies:
- Consistency – The consistency of these are that of a firm but chewy cookie, somewhere right in the middle of the gooey/crunchy spectrum. Basically, when you break it apart it breaks clean, but doesn’t make crumbs.
- Sweetness – These cookies are not overly sweet. If you’re looking for a product that’s pumped with sweeteners and mimics something you’d find in an Entenmann’s box, this cookie isn’t for you. The sweetness is subtle, but definitely enough.
Here are the stats for each cookie:
| Flavor | Protein | Carb | Fat | Calories |
| Double Chocolate | 12 | 19 | 16 | 240 |
| Chocolate Chip | 12 | 19 | 16 | 240 |
| Peanut Butter | 13 | 17 | 17 | 250 |
Now for the more detailed flavor reviews, I’ll start with my favorite:
Double Chocolate
This cookie has a very rich and deep dark chocolate flavor, which I absolutely love. It’s not overly sweet, and the cocoa flavor really carries this cookie far. I also heated it up for about 20 seconds, and this didn’t change the consistency but the chocolate chips did melt a bit and the cocoa flavor got even more rich with the heat. There also wasn’t a protein aftertaste, which is a bonus when it comes to any protein supp in my opinion.
Chocolate Chip
This cookie was more plain than the double chocolate, but I still think it’s worth a try so you can decide on your own if you like it. There wasn’t a dominant flavor in this cookie that really stood out, and it had fewer chocolate chips than in the double chocolate one. That said, the flavor was still good, not overly sweet, and no protein aftertaste. I think this one will really depend on your personal chocolate chip cookie preference.
Peanut Butter
This cookie, in my opinion, was a bit of a let down. I was really excited to bite into it because it had so many actual peanut chunks and I was expecting a huge peanut butter flavor. There’s definitely a salty and sweet peanut flavor, but the cookie doesn’t have that overwhelming peanut butter flavor that I look for when something is labeled peanut butter. Also, I think this cookie would be better labeled as a peanut cookie, instead of peanut butter, only because it doesn’t have that velvety consistency I expected. Overall, still a good cookie but if you’re trying to decide between this one or one of the other flavors, my recommendation goes with one of the others.
FYI – there is another flavor, Snickerdoodle, that I will add to this post if I can get my hands on one.
Overall, these cookies are a great product! They have a very good macro spread, a satisfying but not overly sweet flavor, and a good cookie consistency. I’d love to know what you think about them. Do you agree with my reviews, or are my tastebuds all wrong?
Stay fit and flavorful, all!
Maddie Danza 