These cookies have 18g of protein and taste delicious - even my 5-year-old son thinks they're great
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- An adult who leads an active lifestyle needs a significant amount of protein; you can calculate exactly how much you need by converting your weight in pounds into kilograms, so divide by 2.2, and then multiplying that by 0.8.
- Protein cookies are a perfect on-the-go or post-workout snack that helps keep you full, provides nutrients you need, and also lets you enjoy a sweet treat.
- They're also a great way to get a bit more of this all-important nutrient into the diet of a picky young eater like my preschooler son.
When most people think of protein, they think of muscle. And while protein is critical for muscle growth, it does so much more than that for your body. It's important for the general health of your skin, tendons, internal organs, hormone production, and the list goes on. You could sum it up like this: Protein is critical for life itself.
But life can get so busy, it's often hard to get enough of all the important nutrients we need for optimal health. Thus, the rise of healthy products like meal replacement bars and shakes, powders you can whip into elixirs to compensate for the junk food we called lunch, and other products that combine nutrition and convenience but taste like cardboard.
As a category of food by itself, cookies are delicious through and through.
I recently tried out a brand called Munk Pack that offers protein cookies in a variety of flavors like Snickerdoodle, Double Dark Chocolate, and Oatmeal Raisin Spice. There are five varieties in total and each cookie comes individually wrapped, which is a good thing because you'll have to stop yourself from eating more than one at a time.
AmazonEach one comes individually wrapped so you won't be tempted to eat them all at once.
Munk Pack cookies are large and thick, think five or six of the circular cardboard coasters you get at a bar stacked on top one another. And they're seriously high in calories, but that's the point. Each Munk Pack cookie packs 360 calories. As for the protein? They have 18 grams each - that's approximately 22% of the daily protein needs for the average person based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet.
A single cookie also has 21% of your daily needed fiber and 12% of your recommended iron. As for carbs, there are 12% of those too, which is impressively low given the other stats.
I've eaten these cookies after workouts, during hikes, and when I'm behind on an assignment and can't take a break for lunch. And I've given a half a cookie to my son when his dinner was light on protein. Personally, I like the Oatmeal Raisin Spice the most while he likes the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. And if you won't take it from me, take it from him - he's five, so his opinions come out pretty honestly.
AmazonLenny and Larry's also makes a great cookie, it has a soft baked and crunchy version.
And if 18 grams of protein is a bit much for you but you like the concept, then try The Complete Cookie from Lenny & Larry's. They have 16 grams of protein per cookie in its soft baked variety, while its crunchy cookies scales it down to six grams per serving.