Are Lenny & Larry Cookies Healthy?

A cookie that’s also healthy – is that even possible? For many of us, it would be a dream come true!

Cookies marketed as healthy might not always be great for you though, so it’s important to do some digging to see what the nutrition information looks like.

An example is Lenny & Larry cookies, which are higher in protein than most regular cookies. Does that mean they’re good for you?

Lenny & Larry protein cookies are higher in protein and fiber than most cookies, which are some of their advantages. The Complete Cookies aren’t low in calories, fat, or added sugar, which is similar to regular cookies. The Lenny & Larry BOSS! And Keto cookies are free of added sugar, though. Overall, protein cookies may be a better choice when compared to regular cookies, but shouldn’t be thought of as healthy.

DISCLAIMER: While this information was prepared by a certified dietitian, it is NOT a medical advice. Please consult your own medical professional before altering your diet. The information is strictly for educational purposes.

Another closely-related flavor is Double Chocolate, with similar ingredients and nutrition facts.

Ingredients:

  • Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)
  • Protein Blend (Vital Wheat Gluten, Pea Protein, Rice Protein)
  • Chicory Root Fiber
  • Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Unsweetened Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dextrose, Natural Vanilla Extract)
  • Cane Sugar
  • Invert Sugar
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • Palm Fruit Oil
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Natural Flavor
  • Baking Soda
  • Salt
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Guar Gum
  • Calories: 210
  • Total Fat: 6 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3 g
  • Sodium: 115 mg (19% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 30 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5 g
  • Total Sugars: 12 g
  • Added Sugar: 9 g
  • Protein: 8 g
Chocolate Chip 

Ingredients:

  • Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)
  • Protein Blend (Vital Wheat Gluten, Pea Protein, Rice Protein)
  • Cane Sugar
  • Chicory Root Fiber
  • Palm Fruit Oil
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • White Chips (Sugar, Palm Kernel And Palm Fruit Oil, Natural Flavor, Sunflower Lecithin [Emulsifier], Salt)
  • Invert Sugar
  • Macadamia Nuts
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Natural Flavor
  • Baking Soda
  • Salt
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Guar Gum
  • Calories: 230
  • Total Fat: 9 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
  • Sodium: 190 mg (8% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 27 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5 g
  • Sugars: 12 g
  • Added Sugars: 12 g
  • Protein: 8 g

Ingredients:

  • Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)
  • Protein Blend (Vital Wheat Gluten, Pea Protein, Rice Protein)
  • Cane Sugar
  • Palm Fruit Oil
  • Chicory Root Fiber
  • Invert Sugar
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Molasses
  • Natural Flavor
  • Baking Soda
  • Cinnamon
  • Salt
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Guar Gum
  • Calories: 230
  • Total Fat: 8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
  • Sodium: 250 mg (11% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 29 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5 g
  • Sugars: 14 g
  • Added Sugars: 14 g
  • Protein: 8 g
Snickerdoodle

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)
  • Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Unsweetened Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dextrose, Natural Vanilla Extract)
  • Invert Sugar
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • Cane Sugar
  • Peanuts
  • Palm Fruit Oil
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Natural Flavors
  • Baking Soda
  • Salt
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Guar Gum
  • Calories: 220
  • Total Fat: 8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 2 g
  • Sodium: 180 mg (8% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 28 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5 g
  • Sugars: 11 g
  • Added Sugars: 8 g
  • Protein: 8 g
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Ingredients:

  • Enriched Wheat Flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid)
  • Protein Blend (Vital Wheat Gluten, Pea Protein, Rice Protein)
  • Cane Sugar
  • Palm Fruit Oil
  • Chicory Root Fiber
  • Molasses
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • Invert Syrup
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Natural Flavor
  • Baking Soda
  • Salt
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Guar Gum
  • Calories: 220
  • Total Fat: 8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3 g
  • Sodium: 150 mg (7% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 28 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5 g
  • Sugars: 12 g
  • Added Sugars: 11 g
  • Protein: 8 g 
Cookie - Gingerbread

Ingredients:

  • Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)
  • Protein Blend (Vital Wheat Gluten, Pea Protein, Rice Protein)
  • Cane Sugar
  • Chicory Root Fiber
  • Palm Fruit Oil
  • Invert Sugar
  • Pumpkin Puree
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • Molasses
  • Natural Flavor
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Baking Soda
  • Salt
  • Cinnamon
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Guar Gum
  • Calories: 220
  • Total Fat: 7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3 g
  • Sodium: 160 mg (7% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 29 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5 g
  • Sugars: 13 g
  • Added Sugars: 13 g
  • Protein: 8 g

Ingredients:

  • Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)
  • Protein Blend (Vital Wheat Gluten, Pea Protein, Rice Protein)
  • Chicory Root Fiber
  • Invert Sugar
  • Cane Sugar
  • White Chips (Sugar, Palm Kernel And Palm Fruit Oil, Natural Flavor, Sunflower Lecithin [Emulsifier], Salt)
  • Palm Fruit Oil
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • Cocoa Processed With Alkali
  • Red Sprinkles (Sugar; Palm Kernel And Palm Fruit Oil; Corn Starch; Sunflower Lecithin; Colored With Vegetable Juice, Annatto Extract, Spirulina Extract, Turmeric, And Beta-Carotene; Maltodextrin; Carnauba Wax; Cellulose Gum)
  • Natural Flavor
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Molasses
  • Baking Soda
  • Salt
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Guar Gum
  • Calories: 220
  • Total Fat: 7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3 g
  • Sodium: 160 mg (7% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 29 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5 g
  • Sugars: 13 g
  • Added Sugars: 13 g
  • Protein: 8 gPeppermint Chocolate

The BOSS! line of cookies are free of added sugars and low in net carbohydrates, which makes them suitable for people on low-carbohydrate diets.

Ingredients:

  • Protein Blend (hydrolyzed milk protein isolate, milk protein isolate)
  • Allulose
  • Butter (sweet cream)
  • Palm Fruit Oil
  • Soluble Corn Fiber
  • Unsweetened Chocolate
  • Erythritol
  • Chicory Root Fiber
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • Wheat Protein Isolate
  • Cocoa processed with alkali
  • Palm Kernel Oil
  • Natural Flavor
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Dextrose
  • Cocoa butter
  • Salt
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Steviol Glycosides (stevia extract)
  • Mixed Tocopherols
  • Calories: 220
  • Total Fat: 12 g
  • Saturated Fat: 7 g
  • Sodium: 105 mg (5% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 18 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 6 g
  • Sugars: 1 g
  • Added Sugars: 0 g
  • Sugar Alcohol: 3 g
  • Protein: 18 g

Chocolate Chunk

The Keto cookie is keto-friendly with only three grams of net carbohydrates per serving.

Ingredients:

  • Palm Fruit Oil (Sustainably Sourced)
  • Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips (Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Sunflower Lecithin, Natural Vanilla Extract)
  • Peanut Butter (Roasted Peanuts)
  • Protein Blend (Pea Protein, Almond Protein)
  • Chicory Root Fiber
  • Organic Erythritol
  • Grain-Free Flour Blend (Lupin Flour, Arrowroot Flour)
  • Vegetable Glycerine
  • Natural Flavor
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Baking Soda
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Stevioside (Stevia Extract)
  • Salt
  • Mixed Tocopherols
  • Calories: 200
  • Total Fat: 17 g
  • Saturated Fat: 7 g
  • Sodium: 160 mg (7% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 15 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 5 g
  • Sugars: 1 g
  • Added Sugars: 0 g
  • Sugar Alcohol: 7 g
  • Protein: 9 g
Keto Cookie - Chocolate Chip

Comparison of Lenny & Larry Cookies

Nutrition info per servingComplete Cookie (ChocolateChip)BOSS! Cookie (Chocolate Chunk)Keto Cookie (Chocolate Chip)
Calories:210220200
Total Fat:6 g12 g17 g
Saturated Fat:3 g7 g7 g
Sodium:115 mg105 mg160 mg
Total Carbohydrates:30 g18 g15 g
Fiber:5 g6 g5 g
Total Sugars:12 g1 g1 g
Added Sugar:9 g0 g0 g
Protein:8 g18 g9 g

What Makes a Food “Healthy”?

Calories

If you’re trying to lose weight, you might be paying close attention to the calories in foods. High-calorie foods are often thought of as “unhealthy”, but this isn’t always the case.

What’s more important is where those calories are coming from. Eating fewer calories than you burn consistently can aid in weight loss. 

Lenny & Larry cookies contain around 220 calories for one serving (half a cookie) or 440 calories for the whole cookie.

The BOSS! and keto cookies are lower in calories with around 200-220 calories for one whole cookie.

Sodium

Processed and ready-to-make foods like crackers can be high in sodium (salt). High-salt diets can worsen chronic health conditions like high blood pressure and kidney disease.

The recommended amount of sodium to eat per day is fewer than 2,300 milligrams, yet the average American eats around 3,400 milligrams of sodium daily.

Foods with fewer than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving are considered low-sodium.

Try to avoid regularly eating foods with more than 20% of the daily value of sodium per serving.

Fat

There is a lot of debate about the amount of fat to eat in your diet to be healthy.

Foods high in unsaturated fat like the kind found in plants (nuts, seeds, avocados, vegetable oils) are considered healthier than saturated fat (the kind found in butter, meat, and other animal products). 

Saturated fat can raise your bad cholesterol, but it’s not necessarily bad for you. What’s more important is that your diet is well-balanced, low in processed foods with refined ingredients, and coupled with regular physical activity.

Lenny & Larry Complete Cookies contain around 7-8 grams of fat per serving and the keto and BOSS! cookies are higher in fat with around 12-17 grams of fat per serving. 

Fiber

The typical Western diet is high in refined carbohydrates from ingredients like enriched flour and refined sugars.

Most people fall short of the recommended 25-35 grams of fiber per day. A food is considered to be a good source of fiber when it contains at least three grams of fiber per serving.

Lenny & Larry cookies are high in fiber since they contain chicory root fiber. Most cookies aren’t high in fiber, which is one of the nutritional advantages of Lenny & Larry cookies.

Sugar

Not all sugar is created equally. Foods are considered healthier when they have natural sugar instead of added sugar.

It’s still possible to get too much natural sugar at once, such as from drinking too much fruit juice.

Added sugar intake should be less than 36 grams per day for men and less than 25 grams per day for women according to the American Heart Association.

The Complete Cookies are high in added sugar like regular cookies. The keto and BOSS! cookies are low in sugar because they use sugar alcohols and other types of non-nutritive sugar substitutes like stevia. 

Protein

Foods rich in protein help make you feel full and satisfied, which can aid in weight loss and minimize cravings. Protein also helps build lean muscle and aids in wound healing.

Protein cookies like Lenny & Larry’s Complete Cookies are a good source of protein with around 8 grams of protein per serving and the keto and BOSS! cookies contain 9 and 18 grams of protein per serving, respectively.

Lenny & Larry Cookies and Your Health

Are Protein Cookies Good for You?

Protein cookies are higher in protein and fiber compared to regular cookies, which is one of their nutritional advantages.

They can still be high in added sugar, so they shouldn’t be considered healthy. They may be a better option compared to regular cookies with similar calorie, fat, and sugar content since they are higher in protein and fiber than regular cookies.

The BOSS! and keto cookies are free of added sugar, which is beneficial for people on keto or other low-carb diets.

They’re still high in saturated fat and aren’t a significant source of beneficial nutrients, so still shouldn’t be considered healthy just because they don’t contain sugar.

Are Lenny & Larry Cookies Fattening?

Lenny & Larry Complete Cookies are high in added sugar and/or fat, so eating a large amount of them could provide extra calories to your diet.

Extra calories that aren’t burned off may lead to weight gain in the form of fat.

However, no one food is necessarily more fattening than another – it all depends on your total caloric intake and activity level to determine if you gain weight in the form of fat.

Do Lenny and Larry Cookies Make You Gassy?

Lenny & Larry cookies contain chicory root fiber, which might make you gassy if you’re not used to eating a high-fiber diet.

The BOSS! and keto cookies contain sugar alcohols and other sugar substitutes which can cause digestive upset in some people, such as feeling gassy.

Healthier Alternatives to Lenny & Larry Cookies

These cookies aren’t as high in protein as Lenny & Larry’s but are lower in added sugars and fat.

Ingredients:

  • Organic Cane Sugar
  • Organic Pea Starch
  • Organic Pea Protein
  • Organic Chickpea Powder
  • Organic Brown Rice Flour
  • Organic Tapioca Starch
  • Sea Salt
  • Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Xanthan Gum, Organic Vanilla Extract

Nutritional Information (per 1/20 bag:

  • Calories: 70
  • Total Fat: 0.5 g
  • Saturated Fat: 0 g
  • Sodium: 90 mg (4% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 12 g
  • Fiber: 0 g
  • Total Sugars: 8 g
  • Added Sugars: 7 g
  • Protein: 4 g

Larabars are sweetened naturally with dates and contain heart-healthy fats from nuts and seeds.

Ingredients:

  • Cashews
  • Dates

Nutritional Information (per bar):

  • Calories: 230
  • Total Fat: 13 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
  • Sodium: 5 mg (0% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 23 g
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Total Sugars: 18 g
  • Added Sugars: 0 g
  • Protein: 6 g

3.Hu Grain-Free Cookies

These cookies don’t contain added sugar, grains, dairy, or sugar alternatives.

They aren’t high in protein, but otherwise are a decent choice thanks to their high fiber content and no added sugar. They’re also Paleo-friendly and may be suitable for those on special diets.

Ingredients:

  • Date
  • Organic Coconut Oil
  • Organic Cocoa Butter
  • Organic Unsweetened Chocolate
  • Fiber (From Chicory Root Or The Agave Plant)
  • Cassava Flour
  • Cashew Flour
  • Egg (Free-Range, Certified Humane)
  • Flaxseed
  • Sea Salt
  • Baking Soda
  • Vanilla Bean
  • Organic Rosemary Extract (Organic Rosemary, Organic Coconut Oil)

Nutritional Information (per 7 cookies):

  • Calories: 120
  • Total Fat: 8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 5 g
  • Sodium: 105 mg (5% DV)
  • Total Carbohydrate: 13 g
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Total Sugars: 7 g
  • Added Sugars: 0 g
  • Protein: 1 g
Nutrition info per servingOrganic Protein Sugar Cookie MixCashew Cookie LarabarHu Grain-Free Cookies
Calories:70230120
Total Fat:0.5 g13 g8 g
Saturated Fat:0 g1.5 g5 g
Sodium:90 mg5 mg105 mg
Total Carbohydrates:12 g23 g13 g
Fiber:0 g3 g3 g
Total Sugars:8 g18 g7 g
Added Sugar:7 g0 g0 g
Protein:4 g6 g1 g

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