Copycat Lenny and Larry’s Birthday Cake Cookies

Have you seen those Lenny and Larry’s Complete Cookies making the rounds? They’re vegan protein cookies that don’t taste like protein cookies usually do. I got a couple of them to try out on my last visit to supplement store. I tell you, they were delish but my single mom budget didn’t really like the price tag.

I love cutting protein bars, brownies and cookies into cubes and stirring them into my oatmeal, so I looked over the ingredient list to see if there was any way I could make this happen. The ingredients were pretty simple, and I had most of them already waiting in my kitchen arsenal. It took a couple of tries but I think I got pretty close.

The texture is not quite as dense as the real thing since I didn’t have the chickory root and fiber additives to mess with. I gave xanthan gum a try in place of the fiber to help hold the cookie together without egg. I also made a version without xanthan gum, and it was slightly less chewy but not bad. The flavor was the same so you could probably do without it if you don’t have any.

Copycat Lenny and Larry’s Birthday Cake Cookies 

• 1/4 cup (30g) white whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp (15g) vegan pea and rice vanilla protein powder
• 2 Tbsp (24g) sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 Tbsp (14g) dairy free butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp butter extract
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp (4g) colored sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl and add the butter. Mix with a fork to cream in the butter. The mixture will be dry and crumbly. Add the vanilla and water, and mix until the dough begins to come together.

Divide the dough in half and form each half into a small ball. I just rolled it a little between my palms. Put each ball onto a cookie sheet and press it flat to about 3 inches around and just under 1/2 inch  thick. Press 1/2 tsp of sprinkles into the top of each cookie.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Makes 2 cookies at approximately 172 calories each – 8g protein, 26g carbs, and 6g fat.

Notes

• I used Orgain Vanilla Bean which is a vegan pea and rice protein blend. Vegan proteins are a different texture than dairy based proteins so keep this in mind if you try a different one. The pea and rice are closer in texture and holding power to flour than you get with whey or casein. They also add a little fiber to the cookies.
• I used Smart Balance Original Dairy Free Spread for my fats. I’ve seen recipes that use coconut oil so that may work but it could change the texture and taste.
• If you like a sweeter cookie, you could increase the sugar in the recipe by another tablespoon or so. The butter extract is optional but it helps give it that birthday cake flavor.

One of the earlier versions I liked resulted in a bigger cookie with higher protein and lower carbs, but you could taste the protein powder flavoring coming through. I used 30g of protein and 12g of sugar in the recipe above. It wasn’t bad but I’m not sure it would pass the taste test of everyone since preferences vary. If you don’t mind the flavor of your protein powder, that’s an option.

Variation Updates:

I got an update that someone tried these with Kodiak Cakes mix in place of the flour and stevia in place of the sugar, and the cookies turned out well.

Someone used PE Select Snickerdoodle flavor which is a whey/casein blend, a gluten free all purpose flour (Jule’s Gluten Free), Smart Balance light instead of regular and 24 drops of liquid stevia instead of sugar. She also accidentally added almond extract instead of butter extract. They came out great per her feedback and the macros came out to: Cal: 116, Fat: 2.6, Carbs: 14.6, Protein 5.8.

As I get info on variations and how they work, I’ll post them here so you can try them out or avoid them as necessary. 🙂

Next up I’m going to try chocolate chip cookie and snickerdoodle variations to see how those turn out. If you’re interested in working with me to get meals together fast while working towards your health goals, I’d love to chat. Drop me an email, or come on over to Facebook and ask a question.