So I told you this review was coming up. I’ll just go ahead and break the suspense if you didn’t read my last Pepperidge Farm cookies review, Michelle’s Naturally Vegan cookies are the BEST vegan cookies I’ve ever eaten. And they’re better than some cookies out there too!! (Ahem, Chips Ahoy and Togo’s, I’m talking to you).

At any point in time I will usually have this stash of cookies in my drawer at work:

::grin::

Michelle has the cutest picture of herself on the front and touts that her cookies are all natural with nothing artificial, contain no trans fats, are fruit juice sweetened and are made with organic ingredients.

I’ve only eaten the Chokolada Chip cookies, but there’s a Peanut Butter Apricot that intrigued me. Now, on with the review!

A standard sized cookie, about the size of my palm. I’ll point out one negative in that the cookies are very crumbly. They take a tiny bit of effort to bite into, and it can get a bit messy but from then on it’s just heaven!! I don’t know how she achieves that “buttery” goodness in a vegan cookie, but somehow she did. This cookie always disappears too quickly Also worth noting is that I’m usually really picky about my chocolate chips in my cookies. I usually like more chocolate chips than less, but this cookie — as you can tell from the photos — don’t have as many as I would normally like. However, in this special cookie the ratio is very well balanced due to the very tasty dough. I can tell these cookies are sold much more fresh than other pre-packaged cookies (a downside is that one time I think I bought a bag of these cookies that had gone a little stale…). And might I mention that one of these chocolate chip cookies is a mere 135 calories??

When I first ate these cookies, I was so impressed that I actually emailed Michelle herself. She ever-so-kindly emailed me back, thanking me for the compliments. That’s another great thing: the customer service of a self-starter is wonderful! I gave one to my meat-eating friend and even he admitted it was one of the best he’s had. Unfortunately, you may not be able to find these cookies everywhere. I get mine at Miss Winston’s on 31st and Ocean Park in Santa Monica for $4.99 (my last post stating that these cookies were $4.69 needs to be corrected but it still doesn’t change my opinion about them!). The Whole Foods on National and Barrington sells it at a monstrous $5.69, but the Whole Foods on Lincoln and Rose doesn’t sell it at all which was appalling.

• Taste: 10
• Crust and center moistness: A little dry, but it’s buttery at the same time
• Value: $5 for 8 almost-fresh cookies, each at 135 calories; GREAT!!
• Overall: If you don’t do eggs or dairy or either, this is a MUST HAVE in your pantry. If you don’t steer in that direction, it’s still a REALLY REALLY good cookie. 10!!

So what do you think of the vegetarian / vegan trend getting into your baked goods? Do you believe that something lacking eggs and dairy could be this good?!