Today I want to introduce you to Love & Chew, a cookie company based in San Francisco that specializes in producing delicious gluten-free and vegan cookies.
Their banana bread flavor, my personal favorite, is the epitome of a guilt-free, plant-based and gluten-free treat. In this blog post, I’ll take you through some of the amazing qualities that make Love & Chew cookies stand out in the dessert category. Thanks to Love & Chew for sending me a care package of cookies to try!
Certified Vegan, Gluten-Free, and Refined Sugar-Free Goodness
One of the most impressive aspects of Love & Chew cookies is that they are certified vegan and gluten-free. Surprisingly, they also contain no refined sugar. Unlike many gluten-free baked goods, which can be loaded with sugar, Love & Chew cookies keep it natural. The main ingredients, blanched almonds and date paste, deliver a pleasant natural sweetness without the need for added sweeteners.
Another aspect I love about these cookies is their simple ingredient list. Often, gluten-free baked treats can contain a myriad of binders and artificial ingredients. However, Love & Chew’s cookies are made from clean, pronounceable ingredients like bananas and baking soda.
An Inspirational Company with a Heart
Love & Chew’s founder, Lauren Chu, has an inspiring story behind her cookie creation. When her stepmom adopted a plant-based diet, Lauren began cooking with her and Love & Chew cookies were born, based on her stepmom’s original recipe. The family connection in the process makes these cookies even more special.
In addition to being an AAPI-owned and women-owned business, Love & Chew donates a portion of its proceeds to charities in San Francisco that support young women. Their commitment to making a difference is truly commendable.
The Taste Test
So, the big question in evaluating any baked good is, “Does it taste good?” I was fortunate enough to receive some samples from Love & Chew to try for myself. Upon opening the package, I could see the cookies were loaded with pieces of real banana and sprinkled with chia seeds (often regarded as a superfood).
The banana bread flavor is delicious, with a dense and chewy consistency that reminds me of the inside of a Fig Newton. The chia seeds add a subtle crunch and an extra nutritional kick. But most importantly, these cookies are incredibly satisfying.
Little kids might not necessarily eat one and think “cookie.” But for adults, they’re a healthy and yummy alternative.
Perfect Snack for Post-Workout or Busy Days
In my opinion, the best use for Love & Chew cookies is as a post-workout or pre-workout snack, or even as a quick grab-and-go breakfast when you’re short on time. With a decent amount of protein and no added sugar, they provide a nice energy boost without the dreaded sugar crash later on.
Whether you’re gluten-free, vegan, or neither, Love & Chew cookies are a delicious and convenient snack. Their individual wrapping makes them perfect for tossing into your gym bag or packing for a day out with the kids.
Key Takeaways
- Love & Chew cookies are plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, and have no refined sugar.
- The main ingredients are blanched almonds and date paste.
- The company was founded by Lauren Chu, who started making these cookies with her stepmom.
- A portion of the proceeds are donated to charities in San Francisco that help young women.
- They are AAPI-owned and women-owned.
- The banana bread flavor has banana pieces, chia seeds, and no added sugar.
- The cookie has a chewy consistency and is great for pre or post-workout snacks.
- It has a lot of protein and makes it easy to take with you on the go.
Video Transcript
Im Thomas Smith and today I want to share something here. This is Love & Chews cookies. They’re a cookie company based in San Francisco and they make these really awesome gluten-free and vegan, plant-based cookies. So this is their banana bread flavor. This is my favorite flavor of the Love & Chew cookies.
You can see there’s a couple of things that are really great about this. Firstly, like I mentioned, plant-based, so they’re totally vegan, they’re actually certified vegan. And they are gluten-free, they’re certified gluten-free as well. And despite that, they actually have no refined sugar, which is kind of surprising. A lot of gluten-free baked goods end up with a lot of sugar in them. And this actually, if you look at the ingredient list here, the main ingredients are blanched almonds and date paste. And that’s gonna add a bit of sweetness, some natural sweetness there, but they’re not actually adding any additional sweeteners.
So I love that. I also love that it’s really simple ingredients. Again, often when gluten-free, you end up with a lot of binders and kind of artificial ingredients in there. And here, these are all pronounceable things: bananas, baking soda, just really simple ingredient list. And I like that that’s something that’s nice, clean ingredients there.
And the company is really inspiring too. It’s founded by Lauren Chu. And she started out making these cookies actually with her stepmom. Her stepmom went into a plant-based diet. And Lauren started cooking alongside her. And the cookies are actually based on her stepmom’s original recipe. So that’s really exciting. I think it’s great to see that family connection.
And the company actually donates a portion of its proceeds to charities in San Francisco that help young women. So I think that’s a really exciting and awesome thing. They’re also an AAPI-owned and women-owned business.
And they sent me some of these cookies to try out. So obviously with any kind of baked good, the question is, does it taste good? So let’s go ahead and open it up. So here’s the cookie itself. You can see it’s got a lot of these little pieces of banana in there. And if I can zoom in, you can see there’s some chia seeds as well. So they call it a superfood cookie. Chia seeds are considered by some to be a superfood and very nutritious, a lot of nutritional density packed into these tiny seeds. So it’s nice to see that integrated in.
And yeah, let’s go ahead and try it. So again, the banana bread is my favorite flavor. And they’re really delicious. I think the chew part is definitely accurate. They definitely have a really nice chewy consistency to them. It’s not kind of crunchy and buttery and flaky like you would get with a cookie that has wheat flour, that has gluten in it, and that would have probably butter and other kind of animal ingredients. It’s very much dense. It’s almost like, I tell people, it’s like if you took the inside of a Fig Newton, kind of amplified it into a whole cookie, made it a little bit denser. That’s what it tastes like to me. There’s a little tiny bit of crunch from the chia seeds, but they’re really subtle and just blends in and adds that extra bit of nutritional kind of kick.
And to me, the best thing for these, and what I use them for, it’s a great post-workout or pre-workout snack or a snack to take with you if you just can’t find time to have breakfast. Couple of these work really great. It does have a lot of protein. And again, because it doesn’t have that added sugar, I find you get a nice boost and it’ll kind of keep you going and feeling good, but without the crash of having a lot of sugar in there or anything like that.
So if you’re gluten-free or you’re on a plant-based diet or vegan, I think this would be a great cookie alternative. But even if you’re like me and you’re not any of those things, I still think this is a really great pre or post-workout snack. And because they’re individually wrapped, it’s so easy to just throw it in a gym bag, throw it in a bag if you’re going out with your kids, and it makes it super easy to take these with you. And again, they’re really tasty.
So thank you again to Love & Chew for sending these to me to check out. And I definitely encourage you to try out these cookies.
