Healthy food doesn’t need to be bland and boring, and that includes dessert. With the right ingredients, you can make a cookie that’s healthy and delicious. Try a few of Tony Horton’s favorite protein cookies recipes to get started. These treats are low-sugar and include a big boost of protein to help support your fitness. Enjoy them before a workout or after dinner for dessert.
Learn how to make protein cookies below to discover a whole new kind of snack.
Protein Powder And Cookies
Cookies and protein powder may seem like an unlikely duo, but the two can work well together. Your favorite protein powder can lend flavor to your baked goods and even help bind them. For the recipes below, it even serves as a partial stand-in for flour and sugar. This allows you to enjoy low-sugar desserts with lots of flavor.
Why Protein Is Important For Any Diet
Everyone needs protein as part of their diet. It’s an essential macronutrient found in many parts of the body. It also creates the enzymes that control many of your body’s chemical reactions.1
But, your body can’t create all the protein it needs to function. Those extra proteins, called essential amino acids, must come from food. These protein-packed cookies may be a great way to provide that essential protein.2
Supplemental Protein And Exercise
An extra boost of protein can be particularly helpful for anyone who works out. That’s because protein may help repair and strengthen muscles that get strained during exercise.3
Selecting A Protein Powder
There are a variety of protein powders that you can add to your cookie recipe, including whey protein.
However, if you follow a vegan diet, you’ll want to choose a plant-based protein powder. These can also help build muscle, but you’ll need a blend of plant proteins — like pea and rice protein — to make sure you get all the necessary amino acids.4,5
The Potential Benefits Of Making Your Own Protein Cookies
You can buy protein snacks from the store, but these versions often contain preservatives or lots of added sugar. Making cookies at home gives you control over what ingredients go into your food. For example, these homemade protein cookies are low-sugar and contain no or low amounts of gluten. They also use coconut oil for a low-cholesterol alternative to butter.6
Delicious Protein Cookie Recipes
Make a batch of these tasty treats, and store them in an airtight container for the week. This way, you’ll always have a healthy and delicious snack to enjoy before a workout or after dinner.
Banana And Peanut Butter Protein Cookies
The key to this protein cookies recipe are the overripe bananas. A dark, spotted banana tends to contain lots of natural sugars, which lend healthy sweetness to this snack. Also, be sure to use an all-natural peanut butter without added sugars.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsweetened peanut butter
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 2 ripe bananas, peeled
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup monk fruit and Erythritol blend sweetener
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1½ cup cassava flour or almond flour
- 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add all your wet ingredients — peanut butter, coconut oil, bananas, vanilla, and eggs — to a mixing bowl or stand mixer. Mix until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, blend your dry ingredients. Then, slowly add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring as you add.
- Scoop about 2 Tbsp of the batter onto the baking trays with an ice cream scoop.
- Place the trays in the oven, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove, and let cool on a wire rack. Makes 14-20 cookies.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies
Make your own oat flour for this protein cookies recipe by grinding oats in a food processor. Also, you can keep them on the healthier side by using dark chocolate chips.
Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats- 1 cup vanilla protein powder or chocolate protein powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup monk fruit and Erythritol blend sweetener
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place one cup of the oats into a food processor, and grind until smooth. Add this, and all the other dry ingredients, into a bowl and mix.
- In a separate bowl, blend your eggs, vanilla, and coconut oil. When all those ingredients are well incorporated, slowly add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir.
- Add your chocolate chips at the end, and mix them in with your hands.
- Scoop about 2 Tbsp of the batter onto the baking trays with an ice cream scoop. They should be golf-ball sized balls.
- Place the trays in the oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove, and let cool on a wire rack. Makes 14-20 cookies.
Coconut Protein Cookies
You can achieve marvelous coconut flavor in a cookie by using multiple coconut ingredients. This recipe calls for coconut oil, coconut flour, and coconut flakes for an all-out coconut party.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup coconut flakes
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup monk fruit and Erythritol blend sweetener
- ¾ cup coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add all the dry ingredients into a bowl, and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, blend your eggs, vanilla, and coconut oil. Slowly add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir well.
- Scoop about 2 Tbsp of the cookie dough onto the baking trays with an ice cream scoop.
- Place the trays in the oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove, and let cool on a wire rack. Makes 14-20 cookies.
A Cookie For Any Occasion
The delicious protein cookie recipes above put a healthy spin on traditional cookies. You don’t need pounds of butter and sugar to make yummy treats. By using healthy ingredient alternatives you can easily make a snack that tastes good and does good for your body.
Plus, you can add protein powder to these cookies to help supplement your protein intake. This vital macronutrient can help support muscle development to improve your fitness. Now, that’s a piece of dessert you can feel good about snacking on.
Learn More:
The Perfect Treat: Healthy Protein Ice Cream Recipe
Your Diet: How Much Protein To Build Muscle And Lose Fat
What to Eat After a Run: Carbs or No Carbs?
Sources
1 https://www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/when-it-comes-to-protein-how-much-is-too-much
2 https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/
3 https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/6/376
4 https://health.clevelandclinic.org/7-tips-choosing-best-protein-powder/
5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3698202/
6 https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/coconut-oil
