Three years ago, Gardnerville resident Holly Peck got tired of typical, store-bought protein bars.
"They don't have a lot of taste," she said. "Their ingredients are not as good as you'd think. Really, they're just glorified sugar snacks."
Peck, who has a master's degree in nutrition, got fed up enough to start a business with her friend, Gardnerville resident Anita Cohee.
"We wanted to make something with really good ingredients," said Cohee. "Something that would fill you up in every way, including brain power."
Peck started playing with different formulas, trying to find the right mix of slow-release carbohydrates and high-quality proteins.
"We started handing out samples where we work out, at World Gym in Minden," Peck said. "The gym made us stop because we were interfering with sales of their protein bars."
But that gave the women plenty of time to perfect the formula: rolled oats, egg whites, whey protein, organic peanut butter and organic, unrefined sugar. A new company, Cookie Girl, LLC, was born.
On Monday, the smell of fresh cookies permeated the hallways of the Minden Butter Manafacturing Co. building where Peck and Cohee base their operations out of an industrial-size kitchen. They were busy making little round balls from a dense glob of cookie dough, flattening and stacking them into trays.
"Our new cookie is the Energy Boy," said Peck. "It has only 230 calories (99 from fat) and only seven grams of sugar. But it has 12 grams of protein."
Peck said the Energy Boy comes in four flavors: toffee, butterscotch, raisin and chocolate chip.
"They're perfect cookies," said Cohee. "They have no flour, salt or preservatives. They have no trans fat but only the essential, healthy fat muscles need. They're good fuel."
Peck said the cookies are ideal for athletes.
"It's the perfect pickup for bicyclists or runners," she said. "One cookie will give you energy for at least two to three hours."
Students love them too, Peck said.
"We just started selling them at the high school," she said. "Why shouldn't kids have some milk with a nice, healthy cookie instead of going out to Taco Bell?"
Cookie Girl is prospering in other places, selling products to Define Fitness in Johnson Lane, Walley's Hot Springs Resort & Spa, Pony Espresso in the Gardnerville Ranchos, Kirkwood Ski Resort and even the same place the duo started, World Gym in Minden.
"People usually order them online," said Cohee. "We've shipped them to almost every state in the country, even overseas to Iraq."
For the true energy glutton, Cookie Girl sells the larger Cookie Boy Super Cookie.
"People buy less of them because they have more fat," said Peck. "They have 450 calories. But there's nothing like them."
Cookie Girl can be reached at 783-7663, (775) 450-7976 or (775) 750-2921. Visit www.cookieboy.biz for more information.
