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Maryland Cookies are a delicious treat that have been enjoyed by generations of Marylanders since their creation in the 19th century. Whether you’re looking for something sweet to accompany your afternoon tea or an after-dinner dessert, Maryland Cookies are sure to satisfy your taste buds. However, are Maryland Cookies vegan?
Maryland Vegan is their only vegan cookie flavor because it doesn’t contain any ingredient derived from animals. Maryland Sugar Free Choc Chip Cookies could also be vegan,but they contain iron, niacin and thiamin which could be sourced from animals.
Below is a table showing Maryland Cookie flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status |
| Maryland Choc Chip Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Double Choc Chip Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Choc Chip and Hazelnut Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Sugar Free Choc Chip Cookies | Maybe, contains Iron, Niacin and Thiamin. |
| Maryland Coconut Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Hazelnutter Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Mint To Be Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Vegan Cookies | Vegan. |
| Maryland Ooh How Jammie Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Minis Choc Chip Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Minis Double Choc Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Minis Choc Orange Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Birthday Cake Minis Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Big and Chunky Milk & Dark Choc Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Big & Chunky White Choc Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Chunkies Milk & Dark Choc Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Chunkies White Choc Brownie Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Chunkies Birthday Cake Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
| Maryland Triple Choc Cookies | No, contains Milk. |
Maryland Cookies Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.
- Ammonium bicarbonate
- Calcium carbonate
- Chocolate chips
- Cocoa butter
- Cocoa mass
- E442
- E476
- Fat reduced cocoa powder
- Flavourings
- Iron
- Niacin and Thiamin
- Palm oil
- Partially inverted sugar syrup
- Salt
- Shea
- Sodium bicarbonate
- Soya lecithin
- Sugar
- Wheat flour
- Whey or whey derivatives (Milk)
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Milk
Milk comes from cows and anything derived from animals is not vegan-friendly.
Questionable Ingredients
Palm Oil
The first questionable ingredient is palm oil which is a very controversial ingredient. There are many reasons for it but one of the main reason is the deforestation taking place, which is not only harmful to the environment, but the animals.
This is an issue that has been brought to the public’s attention and many people took a stand and boycotted products that contain palm oil. However there is a way for the palm oil to be more vegan-friendly and it’s called RSPO.
This is a non-profit organisation that helps companies to produce and buy sustainable palm oil. This way the production has a minimal impact on the environment.
Sugar
Sugar is an ingredient that is used in many products and this can be a problem for vegans. Two of the most common sugar types are beet sugar and cane sugar, with the latter being the most popular sugar in candy and sweets.
Beet sugar and raw cane sugar is always vegan, however before cane sugar is used, it’s often refined in order to fit the product better. In the refining process the sugar is also bleached and a common bleaching method is to use bone char from dead cows.
Exploiting animals in the production process would make the sugar non-vegan in many vegans eyes.
Flavourings
Flavourings has a similar problem as natural flavors, it’s an umbrella term, which means that companies can put whatever ingredient they wish to accomplish their taste inside flavourings without needing to disclose all ingredients.
This means that the ingredients could be derived from animals and vegans would never know because it’s not listed on the ingredients label.
Iron, Niacin and Thiamin
These three ingredient are questionable because they can be sourced from animals.
Conclusion
It’s great that Maryland Cookies has at least one vegan flavor, but one more flavor could be vegan as well, however it contains iron, niacin and thiamin. It’s not all cookie brands that has vegan alternatives and the best part of the Maryland vegan cookie is that it tastes amazing.
Thanks for reading, take care!
