Satisfying the Cookie Monster

ATTENTION. Everyone of all ages. Stop what you are doing right away. It is cookie time. By that I mean… it's time for you to saddle up in your high chair, get your cold glasses of milk, and get ready to be taken back to your childhood through bites into best cookies of all time! Okay maybe time travel won't actually happen… but I am sure salivating mouths and dropping jaws will. I introduce to you… "fully functional" cookies that will satisfy any dessert lover (heck, they'll satisfy any non-dessert lover as well)… Cookie Department Cookies.

I was given the wonderful opportunity by Akiva and Pam, the founders of The Cookie Department, to sample and share my thoughts on these cookies with you all. A big thanks (but maybe a little darn you!) to those two for getting me hooked on their cookies. Now I know where a lot of my money will be going (reason for the little bit of darn you!).
Akiva and Pam have started a great company. I believe that they are going to be very successful and prosperous once the word on their cookies gets out. They have created a great team and business slogan that perfectly fits in with foodies of all sorts, even fit foodies like me! Their team works around the clock and bakes batches of their cookies daily to send out to stores and folks who order them.
They start with all natural and simple ingredients, like organic coffee and maca root, and bake sweet and creative cookies with a purpose. Oh and I forgot to mention, these cookies are literally making the world a better place. Not only are they supplying our tastebuds with marvelous flavors, The Cookie Department uses local ingredients to support local communities and works to reduce their carbon footprint by using recycled materials to create their packaging. Fresh and fully functional cookies made by such a customer-world-oriented company! What more could you want?!

If I haven't sold you on this company and their cookies, I guess we'll get into the flavors :p
The flavors of cookies include: the Great Full (vegan sweet potato and cranberry), the Chocolate Chip Nookie, the Tough Cookie (peanut butter and protein), the Snap Back (ginger detox), and the Awaken Baked (chocolate espresso). A new flavor is being released soon known as the Cherry Bomb, which is a gluten-free, probiotic, chocolate-cherry cookie. I can't wait to try that one! The cookies come in two sizes: 3 ounces or 1.5 ounces(known as their "break size"). You can order them in assorted packs or single flavor packs HERE. They are having a 20% off special until March 31st if you use the code "INSTAGRAM" at check out. So grab these to try while they're on sale!

Now… let's get to taste testing…

The first one I wanted to try was the Great Full vegan sweet potato wellness cookie because it had sweet potato in it. Anything with sweet potato in it is very inviting to me. Especially if cranberry is included as well. Within the first second of opening the wrapper I was already amazed. Sweet swirls of potato and berries filled my nose My mouth is watering right now as I think about the smell and first bite of this cookie. Biting into it was easy. It was so soft and chewy and moist… like it was just taken out of the oven. The texture flashed me back to the days where my mom would pull fresh and fluffy cookies out of the oven and serve them to me on a huge platter. But now… the cookies had better ingredients and even better taste (sorry mom!). It was hard to believe. I pinched myself and nothing happened. This delectable cookie was real.

What I loved so much about this cookie was the texture. It was so moist and fluffy at the same time. But I also loved the taste. The brown sugar was perfectly balanced with the tart cranberries and rich sweet potato. The Cookie Department nailed this one. I'd say it was one of my favorites.
I shared a bite with my mom, the expert dessert connoisseur, and even she admitted they were so wonderful. She is always skeptical about the food and desserts I eat but she loved this wellness cookie so much. In fact, I went to my cookie box a few days after I received them and all the great full cookies were gone (besides one that I hid… shh. Don't tell her!). She is ordering a box of these this week. And I'm really hoping she sends some my way too ;).

Up next was the Snap Back ginger detox cookie.

I loved this one. Ever since I was little there has been a special place in my heart for ginger snap cookies because my Grandma made them whenever we visited her in Oregon. Now she only makes them on special occasions so I have been missing out on my ginger snap fix. But this cookie filled that fix immediately. The spice of this cookie was perfectly paired with the sugary and buttery flavor. All brought together with a superb texture: moist yet sugar-grainy. I think that is what I love about ginger cookies so much. The bits of sugar that come along with the moistness. You nailed this one too, Akiva and Pam. Well done.

I was ready for some chocolate so it was time to bite into the Chocolate Chip Nookie vitality cookie.

Buttery, chocolatey, velvety, fluffy goodness. It was like the cookies I was talking about earlier from my childhood. I heated this one up so the chocolate chips would get melty and it was seriously perfect. For some reason, I didn't like this one as much straight from the package… heating it up changed the game though. And of course I had a cool glass of almond milk on the side to dip it in. Everyone and their grandma thinks their chocolate chip recipe is the best but I am sorry to you all… this is the best. This cookie's ingredients surpass any grandmother's recipe I have seen. With the rich chocolate chips, buttery dough, and boost from maca, I'd consider this thing vital.

Fourth up, the Tough Cookie.

I believe that a peanut butter cookie is the answer to anything in life, be it a hardship or a celebration. In either instance, sitting down and eating a peanut butter cookie is just sweet relief and comfort. The Cookie department has brought such a delicious peanut butter cookie to the table. The peanut flavor isn't too overpowering of the buttery cookie flavor. It almost tastes like a peanut butter blondie. Quite delicious. The texture is spot on. Flawlessly fluffy yet nutty.

This cookie gives you the feeling of warmth and satisfaction. On top of that, you get 5 grams of protein from whey powder and a whole lot of crunchy peanut bits. It is amazing.

Last, but certainly not least, the Awaken Baked espresso cookie.

I saved this one for last because I am a coffee (and chocolate) addict and had a feeling this would be my favorite. That feeling was right. This cookie was unbelievable. When I opened the package, I got a whiff of espresso and when a coffee addict gets a whiff of espresso, it's like that espresso got injected straight into their blood stream. I was ecstatic to bite into this bad boy. I didn't get a picture of the cookie before I bit into it… I was about 4 bites in when I realized I should probably capture it to share with you guys. And look at that chocolate chunk. So rich. So heavenly. So divine.
What I was worried about with this cookie before I tried it was if the chocolate to coffee proportions would be balanced. I don't know why I would worry about that when The Cookie Department made this cookie, but it is definitely something other cookie-makers mess up on. But this. This ratio was perfect. Ideal amount of buzz balanced with just enough rich and chill chocolate. It was definitely my favorite. And got me extra jittery (because I dipped it into my coffee… which I suggest you do as well).


Overall, these cookies hit it out of the ballpark. They were magnificent. If I had to rank them it would go like this:
1. Awaken Baked
2. Great Full
3. Tough Cookie
4. Snap Back
5. Chocolate Chip Nookie

Being the cookie monster I am I thoroughly enjoyed getting to try these cookies. The texture and flavor went above and beyond my expectations. I strongly suggest and encourage you head over to The Cookie Department and read about this caring and customer-oriented company and their mission. You can order the cookies through the website and find if they are near you. Here is a link to their online store.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review and have been persuaded to invest in these fully functional cookies. Let me know if you end up getting any and how you like them. But for now… I must go enjoy another cookie dipped in coffee. Have a lovely Monday everyone!

Disclaimer: The Cookie Department sent me these products free of charge, but I received no compensation of any kind for this review. All of the above opinions expressed are my own.