PROTEIN CUPCAKES. What more could anyone want in life? These were my first stab at healthy baked goods. I modified a recipe that my trainer sent out, and they are pretty delicious for “fake” cupcakes. I might eat the entire container sitting on my desk today, and I probably wouldn’t feel that bad about it.
Nutritional Overview
Calories: 160
Carbs: 17
Fat: 9
Protein: 5
Serves: 24
Cook time: 35 minutes (15 prep + 20 baking)
Ingredients:
– 3 scoops chocolate protein powder
– 1c. whole wheat flour
– 1/2c. unsweetened cocoa powder
– 1/2c. raw cane sugar
– 1/2c. Splenda
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 1 tsp. baking soda
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 1/2c. coconut oil – melted
– 4 egg whites (~1c. liquid measure)
– 1c. unsweetened applesauce
– 1c. unsweetened almond milk
– 1 tsp. vinegar
– 3 tsp. vanilla
– 1/2c. dark chocolate chips
– 1/2c. Reese’s peanut butter chips
For topping:
– 1 tbsp. all-natural honey
– 1/3c. water
– 1/4c. Stevia
– 2 tbsp. all-natural peanut butter
– 1 tbsp. Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
– 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350 and grease/line 2 muffin tins
- Mix all dry ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl (flour, protein powder, cocoa powder, sugar, Splenda, baking powder, baking soda, salt)
- Add milk, vinegar, vanilla, and applesauce to the dry mixture and whisk to combine
- Add melted coconut oil (I just microwaved/stirred a couple of globs in a measuring cup, then poured it into the bowl as soon as it was in liquid form) — NOTE: Do NOT add coconut oil and almond milk at the same time. The cold almond milk will cause the oil to harden back up, resulting in a chunky batter — you don’t want chunks in your batter!
- Whip egg whites until they start to form soft peaks (Pro tip: if you’re having a hard time getting your whites to peak, add a tbsp of sugar or try cleaning off your beater and popping it in the freezer for 15min. Either of these tactics will help!)
- Taste-test your batter. Add some Stevia if it isn’t sweet enough
- Gently fold in your egg whites, 1/3 at a time, until the batter is almost completely combined
- Fold in your dark chocolate and peanut butter chips until evenly combined
- Fill muffin tins with batter until 75-80% full
- Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes (I baked at full temperature for 15, then turned the oven off and let them sit for another 10-15)
- While your cupcakes are baking, combine all “For topping” ingredients into a bowl
- Mix together as best you can (this might be a little challenging with the consistency of the ingredients, so it’s fine if they’re not all perfectly mixed)
- Pop the bowl in the microwave and zap it for 20-second increments, stirring in between each, until the topping mixture is clump-free and even (it will thicken up a bit after cooling for a few minutes)
- Once your cupcakes are cooled, top each one with 1tsp. of the topping mixture
- OPTIONAL: Top with rainbow sprinkles (because, just like with the protein pancakes, they make everything 100x better) or a dust of powdered sugar
- EAT. SHARE. ENJOY.
Mackenzie's Clean Eats 