Roasted Sunflower Protein Cookies

Perfect lunchbox or after-school/after work snack! Full of healthy fats and satiating protein to keep you fuller, longer.

I buy my flours, sugar, flaxseed etc. from Vitacost. For $10 off your first order, use my link!

Roasted Sunflower Protein Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1 scoop (33 grams) vanilla whey protein (I used Cellucor)
1/4 cup coconut sugar (or regular)
3 tablespoons nut butter of choice (I used sunflower butter)
1 flax egg (or regular egg)*
3 tablespoons roasted sunflower seed kernels
2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix all ingredients until a dough forms. Divide into 9 cookies shapes. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake for 12 minutes. Enjoy!

*Flax egg: Mix together 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons water. Allow to sit 5 minutes before use.

Nutrition Info (1 cookie): 97 calories, 4 g Fat, 9.5 g Carbohydrates, 4.5 g Protein

Coconut Oatmeal Squares

These squares taste even better than they look!!!

I was using up some random ingredients I had in my pantry. If you don't have sweet rice flour, substitute almost any flour other than coconut or almond.

Not only is the macronutrient ratio (protein/carbs/fat) AMAZING, but they are super satisfying and perfect for snacking!!

Coconut Oatmeal Squares

Ingredients:

1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
3/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (33 grams)
1/3 cup granulated stevia
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
pinch of salt
1/2 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons nut butter of choice
3/4 cup unsweetened cashew milk
1 teaspoon mini chocolate chips (or more!!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Stir together dry ingredients (oatmeal through the flaxeeds) in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients (yogurt through the cashew milk) and stir to combine.

2. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Add the mixture to the loaf pan. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips on top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

3. Allow to cool, then cut into 12 squares!

Nutrition Information: 114 Calories, 3.5 grams Fat, 14 grams CHO, 6 grams Protein

Gingerbread Protein Cookies

Every Christmas,  we have a cookie bake-off at my parents' house. There's six of us in my family, so we team up and each team tries to make the tastiest, most festive cookies. Our family and friends are the unofficial cookie judges, and the cookie that gets the most positive feedback wins. The winning team wins nothing, just the glory of being the year's cookie champs.

During our cookie bake-off, I stick to the original recipes. However, I got the itch to make one healthier cookie, and make a batch before the competition began. My family loved them, and my mom even asked me to write down the recipe to send into a cookie contest she saw in a magazine. I love when I convince others that healthy tastes good :).

Gingerbread Protein Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup oatmeal
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1 banana
2 tablespoons almond milk
2 packets Truvia

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Blend oatmeal into flour (I use my Ninja food processor for this).
3. Slice the banana. Add all ingredients into a blender (or use a hand mixer). Blend until smooth.
4.  Roll the dough into 10 uniform balls. Flatten slightly with the back of a spoon.
5. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

For the frosting, I just mixed together some plain Greek yogurt with vanilla casein. Casein protein powder makes the yogurt thick like frosting. Whey protein will not have the same effect. Make sure your cookies are completely cool before adding the frosting or the yogurt will melt!

Nutrition information (1 cookie without frosting): 60 Calories, 1.4 grams Fat, 7.7 grams Carbs, 4 grams Protein

Whipped Vanilla Protein Cake

Moist, fluffy, delicious cake. Need I say more? Threw this together for my sister, but totally stole a piece for tasting purposes. Probably my best cake ever. And it's so simple to make!

I buy my flours and stevia online from Vitacost. It's an online grocery store that has so many fun, healthy ingredients. Here's a discount link for money off your first order: 

Whipped Vanilla Protein Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Cellucor Whipped Vanilla protein powder (or other vanilla whey)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 packets stevia
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a loaf pan or square baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Blend all ingredients together in a large food processor or blender. Make sure you don't over mix! I like to stir the bottom with a spatula to make sure the dry ingredients don't stick and clump at the bottom in between mixing.
3. Add to your loaf pan or baking dish. Cook about 30-40 minutes or until knife comes out clean. For the frosting, I just mixed together Greek yogurt with vanilla casein. Casein protein makes the greek yogurt thicker and more frosting-like. If you only have whey protein, that's fine too!

For the ENTIRE CAKE without frosting (I cut mine into 4 servings, divide as you wish):  694 calories, 14.7 grams of fat, 74 g carbohydrates, 64.4 grams protein

Tips for Fluffy Pancakes

I've been getting a lot of questions about how I get my pancakes so thick and fluffy :) So here are some ingredients and tips to make your own!

Ingredients:

Baking Powder

Psyllium husk

Coconut flour 

Cauliflower 

You can order psyllium husk and coconut flour from Vitacost. It's an online health/grocery store where I order the majority of my ingredients from. Use this link for a discount off your first order:

Baking powder is a mix of baking soda and an acid. It is a leavening agent, which means its added to recipes in order to produce carbon dioxide to give rise to the finished product. Make sure your baking powder is fresh- old baking powder will make your product flat. No one wants flat pancakes! 

Psyllium husk helps to bind your pancakes and gives them extra texture and fluff! I use about 1/2 tablespoon to 1 tablespoon in my recipes. It's also a great source of fiber.

Coconut flour makes light, fluffy pancakes. It absorbs more liquid than other flours, so you'll need to add extra water, milk, etc. when cooking with this. It can be used alone or mixed with another type of flour to make delicious pancakes, breads, cakes, bars- anything!

Cauliflower in pancakes?! Yes, and I swear you don't taste it! Cauliflower makes your pancakes dense and cake-like. To incorporate cauliflower for that cake-like look and texture, simply process raw cauliflower in a food processor or blender, then place in a bowl and microwave for 40 seconds (I usually use about 1/3-1/2 cup for my recipes). Blend it with your other pancake ingredients until smooth.

Pancake Techniques:

While preparing your pancake ingredients, make sure you pre-heat your pan. I usually preheat my non-stick pan over medium high heat and spray with no n-stick spray (you can also use coconut oil or other oil). Make sure it's hot before you add your batter. Do not use high heat. Keep it on medium and be patient :)

DO NOT over mix. This will lead to flat, sad looking pancakes. 

Make sure your batter is thick. Thick batter= thick pancakes.

Hope this helps! More questions? Ask away!

Chocolate Hemp Heart Cookies

A soft-baked protein cookie? Hard to come by. But THESE ... yes, soft-baked chocolate-y deliciousness. I got the inspiration from finding Manobita Harvest Hemp Hearts on sale at Whole Foods. Hemp seeds are great on top of anything- oatmeal, salads, yogurt, stir-fries, etc., so I figured they would also be great on cookies as well! They also deliver 10 g of Omega-3 and Omega-6 per 30 g serving! Following the hemp theme, I used hemp protein in this recipe. Hemp protein absorbs more liquid than whey protein. It is very similar to using coconut flour or Sunwarrior protein. You can buy hemp protein and hemp hearts very cheap at iherb.com (use my discount code for up to $10 off your first order: ZSG766). I bet the chocolate flavored hemp protein would make these cookies even more delicious!

Chocolate Hemp Heart Cookies

Ingredients:

1/4 cup hemp protein powder
1 large, ripe banana (mine was 5.5 ounces)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg
2 tablespoons nut butter (I used Wild Friend's Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter)
1 teaspoon hemp hearts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place all ingredients except the hemp hearts into a blender. Blend until mixed thoroughly.
3. Spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray (or line with parchment paper).
4. Add cookie batter by the spoonful, forming into 8 circular cookies. Sprinkle the top of the cookies evenly with the hemp seeds.
5. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Nutrition Info for one cookie: 71 calories, 3 g Fat, 7 g CHO (3 g Fiber), 4 g Protein

*Nutrition info will be slightly different depending on the brand of nut butter you use.

Paleo Coconut Biscuits

After hearing how much @leahpetersfitness loved her loaf of Paleo Coconut Bread, I went to my local Gluten-free shop to pick up a loaf to try. The sales person told me he had just sold the last loaf, and that he would be getting a new delivery the next day. I had to go to Whole Foods anyway, so I figured I would buy it there. Unfortunately, my Whole Foods didn't carry it. So, I decided to make my own Paleo Coconut Bread. I wasn't sure how it would come out, so I didn't want to waste ingredients on an entire loaf of bread in case it didn't come out right. So, I made "biscuits" instead, and cooked them in a muffin tin. These little guys came out FANTASTIC. They are very similar to the macro breakdown of the Paleo Coconut Bread (1 g Fat, 6 g CHO (5 g Fiber), 5 g Protein). They are both gluten and dairy free. Oh, and about 10 times cheaper to make than buying them at the store : ) . Next time, I'm increasing the amount of ingredients and making a loaf of bread!

Paleo Coconut Biscuits

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut flour
2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon guar gum
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup egg whites
1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray.
2. Mix together the coconut flour, flaxseed, baking powder, guar gum, and sea salt. You don't want any clumps of flour!
3. In a separate bowel, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add the water, whisk again. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until well combined.
4. Divide batter evenly in the muffin tin. Bake for about 13 minutes, or until knife comes out clean.

Makes 6 muffins (Make larger ones if you like, just note that the macros will change)

Macros: 1.4 g Fat, 4.6 g CHO (3.6 Fiber), 4.1 protein

Savory Protein Quiche

I don't particularly love quiche, but I couldn't refuse this challenge. I am on a mission to modify every calorie, fat, and carbohydrate-laden recipe to make them healthier. A typical quiche is made with white flour and butter, then filled with eggs, cheese, milk, heavy cream, etc. There are many variations, but the crust is usually standard- perfect candidate for a nutrition upgrade :)

I got inspired to try this recipe after Anna posted it. She used pea protein in her recipe, which I have, but I have a special place in my heart (or should I say stomach?) for using brown rice protein for savory-ish recipes. I took her advice and added some flaxseed to mine. The texture of this crust is unbelievable- it held together and stood its ground after I cut into it. It is such a great mini-meal or snack.

Note: I do not own any special kind of quiche tin. I simply baked mine in a muffin tin. Going forward, I will be keeping my eye out for a small quiche tin :)

Brown Rice Protein Quiche

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons egg whites
2 scoops brown rice protein powder
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 tablespoon flaxseed
Salt and onion powder to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Blend all ingredients together (I used my Ninja).
3. Scoop out your batter and roll into a ball. Place into a mini quiche tin or muffin tin sprayed with non-stick spray.
4. Use your fingers to form the dough into the shape of the tin. Spread fairly thin.
5. Bake about 15-20 minutes, or until it starts to brown. Take it out and allow your quiche to cool slightly.
6. Top with your fillings and bake until fillings are set.

After I baked my quiche crust, I filled it with egg beaters mixed with a little cottage cheese and seasonings- definitely recommend this!