Soft Baked Pumpkin Butter Cookies

The sweetness from the vanilla protein powder and the pumpkin butter is enough, so there's no sugar added! Baking up a storm during this winter blizzard we're having :)

Soft Baked Pumpkin Butter Cookies

Makes 6

Ingredients:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/4 cup pumpkin butter
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Combine the egg, protein powder, coconut flour, pumpkin butter, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. This WILL be sticky.

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Add cookie dough by the spoonful. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

Per one cookie: 1.4 g Fat, 8.4 g Carbs, 5.5 g Protein

Maple Oatmeal Protein Muffins

I made this muffins yesterday as a snack for my brother's weight lifting competition. Glad I did because we were there FOREVER. It was so much fun though- so proud of him!

These muffins have a warm maple flavor that made my apartment smell like a bakery in the Fall. Super healthy option for a light breakfast, or mid-day snack.

Maple Oatmeal Protein Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup oatmeal
1 scoop vanilla whey protein (I use Cellucor)
3 tablespoons granulated stevia
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1/4 cup lite maple syrup (NOT sugar-free. You can also use regular if you prefer.)
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon maple extract

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. In a food processor or blender, mix the oatmeal, whey protein, granulated stevia, and baking powder. Place in a bowl and set aside.

3. Add the egg, syrup, apple sauce, oil, and extract to the food processor. Blend until smooth. Add the dry ingredients back into the food processor and blend until smooth.

4. Add the batter to the muffin tins. Cook about 12-15 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Optional Cream Cheese Filling:

Combine 6 tablespoons low-fat or fat-cream cheese with 1 teaspoon maple syrup. Blend until smooth. Using a knife, cut a small circle in the muffin (do not go all the way through). Add the filling to the hole (I like to place my filling in a plastic bag and cut off a small corner at the end to "pipe" my filling).

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

Baked oatmeal is a great make-ahead for busy mornings. You can top this with fruit, yogurt, syrup, nuts- whatever you like! It's like eating cake for breakfast :)

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

- 2 cups dry oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 packets stevia
- dash of salt
- 2/3 cup unsweetened vanilla cashew milk (or whatever milk you prefer)
- 1 egg plus 2 egg whites, beaten
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 (6 oz) container blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.

2. Spray a 12x9 pan (or you can use a round cake pan) with cooking spray. Add oatmeal mixture to the pan.

3. Top with blueberries and bake 25-30 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

I topped mine with Greek yogurt "frosting" (Greek yogurt mixed with whey protein) and more peanut butter!

Serves 4

Vanilla Birthday Cake with Vanilla Frosting

It was my roommate's birthday last Wednesday, so I obviously had to make her a protein cake. This cake was a little random. No plan. Just throwing ingredients in the food processor and hoping for the best. It worked :)

Note: I cooked this in a loaf pan. If you are cooking in a cake pan, I would double or triple the recipe.

Vanilla Birthday Cake with Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:

1/3 cup millet flour (or whole wheat pastry flour should work)
1/3 cup vanilla whey protein powder
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 packet stevia
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drains (can use chickpeas or cannelini)
1/3 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 egg

Frosting:
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
3 tablespoon vanilla whey protein powder

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2.  Throw all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
3. Add to a loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake about 25-30 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Transfer to a large plate or cooling rack and cool completely.
4. To make the frosting, mix together the Greek yogurt and protein powder. Spread evenly over the top of the cake. I cut my cake into four pieces and layered them, but that doubles the serving size. Do what you like!

For 1 slice (of 4): 164 Cal, 19 g C, 13 g P, 4 g F, 3 g Sugar

Healthy Twinkies

Fun fact about Twinkies: The original filling was banana flavored! It wasn't until bananas were being rationed in WWII that Hostess changed it to vanilla.

Another fact that is probably NOT surprising: Twinkies are not so nutritious.

So, I went on a quest to make a healthier version of the beloved Twinkie. They came out totally cake-like with a perfect creamy vanilla filling!

I get my flours, extracts and stevia from Vitacost (cheap, and delivered right to your door!).

Ok here's the recipe!

Healthy Twinkies

Ingredients for the Twinkie:

1/4 cup light spelt flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup granulated stevia
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or butter extract
1 egg
1/3 cup almond milk
1/2 cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

Filling:

1/3 cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon sugar-free vanilla Jell-O pudding mix

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the egg, milk, and Greek yogurt to a blender or large food processor and blend until combined. Add the dry ingredients and blend until smooth (Don't overmix!!).

3. Spray a canoe pan with cooking spray (I got mine on clearance at Sur La Table- mine has 6 "canoes"). Divide batter evenly amongst pan. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until knife comes out clean.

4. To make the filling, combine the Greek yogurt and pudding mix. Add mixture to the bottom corner of a small Ziploc plastic bag. Cut a small hole in the bottom corner of the bag (this is where the filling will come out).

5. To add the icing to the Twinkie, use a chopstick or a knife to hollow out the Twinkie by pushing it through horizontally (don't go all the way). Pipe the frosting in each Twinkie.

Keep in the fridge!

Serves 6

Nutrition Facts Healthy Twinkie (per one): 65 calories, 1.8 g Fat, 9.1 g Carbohydrates, 5.5 g Protein, 2.7 g Sugar

Nutrition Facts Original Twinkie (per one Twinkie): 140 calories, 4.5 grams Fat (2.5 Saturated Fat), 24 g Carbohydrates, 1 g Protein, 18 g Sugar

Italian Turkey Meatballs

My mom makes the best meatballs- so these turkey meatballs are based off her original recipe, but I swapped out some of the ingredients to make them more nutritious. This is a leaner version, but still full of flavor. I love serving them over spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce.

Italian Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 lb 94% ground turkey
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup low-fat (or regular) shredded Mozzarella cheese
5 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
Salt
Pepper
Oregano

*I used my Ninja food processor to chop the onion, garlic, and garlic

Directions:

1. Add oatmeal to a food processor and blend until it becomes oat flour.
2. Lightly beat the egg in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly (don't overmix).
3. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Roll the turkey mixture into uniform balls (I made 18) and place on the baking pan. Cook for about 12 minutes. You can add them to your favorite sauce, or eat as is!

For one (out of 18) meatball: 47 calories, 2 g fat, 2 g carbohydrates, 6 grams protein

Dark Chocolate Protein Cookies

I woke up this morning at 3:30 a.m. and could NOT go back to sleep. Whenever this happens I usually find something to clean, bake, or cook until the rest of the world wakes up. This morning I decided to stalk Anna's blog for some baking inspiration. Most of my protein cookies have been fails, and I wanted to step up my game. So after reading through some of her recipes and tips for protein cookies, Dark Chocolate Protein Cookies were born! Finally, a protein cookie that's moist, perfectly chewy, and doesn't taste like rubber :)

                         

Dark Chocolate Protein Cookies

1/4 cup chocolate whey protein (I use Cellucor)
1/4 cup quinoa flour (could probably sub oat flour)
2 tablespoons almond flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon butter extract (optional, but adds some flavor)
10-20 drops liquid stevia (depending on how sweet you like it!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Beat egg. Combine egg with all remaining ingredients (I mixed it in a large bowl).
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Drop cookie batter by the tablespoon onto the paper. Flatten the tops slightly with the back of a spoon for a better shape (don't get too crazy- the batter is sticky!).
4. Bake 10 minutes or until done.

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

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.

Strawberry Protein Cheesecake

My parents were coming home from vacation yesterday, so I thought it would be nice have a nice meal waiting for them- including dessert. They traveled to Vienna, Budapest, and Prague for the past ten days. My dad posted pictures of their trip everyday on Facebook to keep us updated. The scenery, castles, and old buildings looked like they were right out of a fairytale. Definitely adding it to my LONG list of places I want to go.

They returned bearing gifts : ) . . . and what excited me the most? HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA. Yea, the real deal. I added it to my super egg white omelette that night.

 OK, recipe time. I had to use up some fat-free ricotta cheese, so I thought I'd attempt to make a cheesecake. I have never made a cheesecake in my life. So I knew going in, this could be a complete disaster or a pleasant surprise. Luckily, it came out great! My sister said it tastes just like cheesecake! The one and only downside to this experiment was that it probably would've come out better if I owned a cheesecake pan. I used a small brownie pan instead, so they are kind of more like cheesecake bars. I don't mind the shape at all because they are perfect for crumbling into my protein fro-yo. If you are lucky enough to have a cheesecake pan, I would probably double the recipe to make it fit.

Strawberry Protein Cheesecake 

Ingredients:

1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 scoop Cellucor Strawberry Milkshake protein powder
3 tablespoons stevia (or to taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Blend together all ingredients. Pour into a small cheesecake pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Bake for 45 minutes, or until set.

How easy is that?!

Serves 6

Nutrition Information (1 slice) : 74 calories, 1 g Fat, 4.1 g CHO, 11.1 g Protein

Egg White Sandwich on Cauliflower "Flatbread"

I was experimenting with a new cauliflower pizza crust recipe the other night as part of my meal prep for the week. My original plan was to make the crust and throw it in the fridge until I was ready to add my toppings and eat it the next day.

I was running a little behind the next morning, and adding toppings and cooking my pizza in the oven seemed like it would take too long. Thinking of what would take the least amount of time, I took half of my crust, spread it with a Light Laughing Cow wedge, topped with with some chopped cooked broccoli, and a hard boiled egg white. Folded it in half and let grilled it on my George Foreman. Result? Another option for a clean and healthy egg sandwich!

Cauliflower Flatbread

Ingredients:

2 cups riced cauliflower (I used my Ninja)
1 tablespoon flaxseed
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1/2 cup of egg beaters
Garlic powder, oregano, and basil, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat a pizza stone on 450. Let it heat up for about 5 minutes then lower your temperature to 425. (Or skip the preheating step and just use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper if you don't have a pizza stone).
2. Mix all ingredients together (mix well- no clumps!)
3. Place your newly formed "dough" onto your pizza stone or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Form your dough into a ball, then spread it out into the shape of a pizza (I used the back of my spoon to spread it out evenly). It should be about 1/2 an inch thick.
4. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until it starts to turn golden brown.
5. From here, you can add toppings and put it back in the oven to make a delicious cauliflower pizza, OR let the crust cool and make a flatbread! Fill it with whatever you like!

Nutrition Facts (for half the crust): 93 calories, 8 g CHO, 2 g Fat, 9 g Protein

One whole head of cauliflower yields A LOT of riced cauliflower to play with. What did I do what some leftovers? I used it to create a cauliflower fried "rice" dish.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

How to:

I sauteed together about 1 cup of riced cauliflower, few slices of frying peppers, about 1/3 cup cooked, chopped broccoli, julienned carrots, diced cooked shrimp, about a teaspoon's worth of powdered ginger, some garlic powder, and a sprinkle of stevia. Towards the end of cooking, I added 1/3 cup egg whites. When the egg whites were cooked through, I topped it with some Sriracha and served it over a pre-cooked mashed up sweet potato. I brought to work and ate it cold (cause that's just how I do). Flavor explosion!!

Use whatever veggies and protein combinations you like!

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!