4 Easy And Delicious Protein Desserts Anyone Can Make!
When you're trying to improve your health and fitness, having a sweet tooth is considered a bad thing. Most desserts are high in fat and carbohydrates yet extremely low in protein.
There are countless healthy dessert recipes on the Internet that are high in protein. They are designed for individuals in the fitness world that want to fit dessert into their nutritional plans.
Often, healthy desserts listed as low in calories or fat are also low in satisfaction. Once you taste them you are disappointed. Having personally tried and tested countless protein recipes found on the Internet, I can tell you that more than a few went straight into the trashcan after a few bites.
I wasted far too many servings of protein while searching for desserts that tasted good without turning them into a cheat meal.
Here we are two years later. I've found the best of the best. These desserts are hands down the best I've tasted. And they have macros that will fit most nutritional plans.
Dessert Recipe Substitutions
Most recipes I've tried had to be adjusted numerous times. I've made better substitutions that satisfy taste. I've only decided to share these once the cook (me!) was satisfied with the result.
These high protein dessert recipes are the final tasty revisions. But I want to make some suggestions regarding substitutions. Choose a quality protein.
MTS Nutrition's Machine Whey is the protein used in these recipes because I have personally experienced great results using this brand in recipes.
Make sure you like the taste of the protein you are using for each recipe. If it doesn't taste good in the shaker it won't taste good in the recipe. That is why I go with MTS Machine whey. All the flavors are amazing.
These recipes will use Truvia as the sweetener, a no-calorie sweetener derived from Stevia. It is a little sweeter than some of the other no-calorie sweeteners, so you may need to adjust the quantity if you use another sweetener.
Keep in mind that fat-free, reduced-fat, and regular cream cheese have drastically different calories and macros. Substituting regular Greek yogurt and fat-free Greek yogurt has both consistency and caloric ramifications.
4 High Protein Dessert Recipes That Taste Amazing!
Dessert #1 - Mint Chocolate Protein Cheesecake
You can search "cheesecake calories" on Google and quickly learn that plain cheesecake contains 91 calories, 6 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbohydrates, and 1.6 grams of protein PER OUNCE! I don't want to limit myself to just one ounce of cheesecake; this first cheesecake has only 6.5 grams of fat in the 5-ounce serving!
Ingredients:
40 grams (1 serving) Mint Cookies and Cream Machine Whey
3.5 ounces Mint Chocolate Chip Regular Greek Yogurt
8 ounces Fat-Free Cream Cheese
3.5 ounces Vanilla Fat Free Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 tablespoon Heavy Cream
Green food coloring - optional
Cooking instructions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Line 6-inch glass cooking bowl or cheesecake pan with buttered or sprayed parchment paper and set aside.
Combine and mix whey, Truvia and pudding mix in a bowl and set aside.
Beat cream cheese in a stand mixer until softened.
Add yogurt/vanilla extract/cream to cream cheese and thoroughly blend.
Add protein/Truvia/pudding mix to cream cheese mixture and blend.
Add eggs and slowly blend into mixture.
Immediately pour into pan and place in oven.
*Important* DO NOT OPEN OVEN WHILE CHEESECAKE IS COOKING!
Cook at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn oven down to 200 degrees and cook an additional 60 minutes.
Turn oven off, crack the oven door and let cheesecake sit for 20 minutes. Remove cheesecake and cool on a rack for an hour. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
The macros per 5 ounce serving:
Calories: 214
Fat: 6.5 g
Carbs: 15 g
Protein: 21.5 g
This recipe makes a cheesecake that weighs approximately 20 ounces, providing 4 servings that are each 5 ounces! Mint chocolate floods your mouth with a creamy cheesecake texture that is both delicious and macro-friendly. It is excellent as is and goes great with some mint chocolate chip ice cream as well.
Dessert #2 - Layered and Frosted Red Velvet Protein Cake
Recipes for protein cakes are all over the Internet. They have varying levels of quality. This dessert option is a great-tasting protein cake with excellent texture.
Red velvet cake flavor is everywhere and MTS Nutrition makes an excellent protein that tastes like a red velvet cake exploded in your mouth. I wanted to make a dessert that looks and tastes like a red velvet cake while allowing those of us in the fitness world to be able to enjoy both the taste and the macros.
Layering the cake with frosting improves both the taste and visual presentation.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a wire whisk until smooth and use immediately due to the pudding powder.
Spread frosting on top of the two lowest slices of cake. Stack the three pieces of cake, pressing firmly to set cake together. Cover the entire cake with frosting.
Refrigerate at least one hour to allow the frosting to set before serving.
The macros per 4 ounce serving:
Calories: 173
Fat: 2.25 g
Carbs: 15.75 g
Protein: 20 g
This red velvet cake weighs just over 16 ounces and provides four 4 servings that are approximately 4 ounces each. The cake, with the layers and covering of frosting, is moist and has an excellent red velvet taste sandwiched with a tasty cream cheese frosting.
Dessert #3 - Chocolate Protein Pancakes With Strawberry Filling
Pancakes can be a quick and easy dessert when a few choice ingredients are added. This dessert features sweetened chocolate protein pancakes layered with a strawberry filling that includes fresh strawberries and then topped with chocolate syrup. These flavors go great together!
Ingredients:
1/3 cup complete pancake mix.
19 grams (1/2 serving) Cookies and Cream Machine Whey
9 tablespoons Liquid Egg Whites (mine come from a carton)
2 teaspoons Cocoa Powder
2 teaspoons Truvia
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Cooking instructions:
Preheat a pan or skillet for cooking.
Mix all ingredients completely in a bowl or large measuring cup.
Make similar sized pancakes for stacking.
Allow pancakes to cool while you make the filling.
Filling:
6 ounces Fat-Free Strawberry Yogurt
2 ounces Fat-Free Cream Cheese
2 teaspoon Truvia
Strawberries
Mix all yogurt, cream cheese and Truvia in a bowl with a wire whisk until smooth. Slice 10 strawberries in half; leave an additional one whole for the top!
Layer pancakes with cream cheese and yogurt filling and strawberries. Top with no calorie chocolate syrup.
The macros per serving (Half of stack pictured):
Calories: 252
Fat: 4.5 g
Carbs: 31.5 g
Protein: 40g
This chocolate protein pancake dessert is incredible. The pancakes are loaded with a creamy chocolate flavor that compliments the strawberries as you rush for another bite. The cream cheese and yogurt filling really tie this dessert together.
Dessert #4 - Deluxe Caramel Sutra Protein Cheesecake
This cheesecake varies slightly from the mint chocolate cheesecake. Some of the substitutions affect consistency and calories. MTS Machine Caramel Sutra protein is used with a caramel chocolate yogurt, while chocolate milk, caramel extract, and white chocolate pudding powder all add depth to the flavor.
Finally, half of the fat-free cream cheese is replaced with reduced-fat cream cheese, adding flavor and calories with the accompanying fat.
Ingredients:
40 grams (1 serving) Caramel Sutra Machine Whey
2 tablespoons Truvia
25 grams Regular White Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix
Line 6-inch glass cooking bowl or cheesecake pan with buttered or sprayed parchment paper and set aside.
Combine and mix whey, Truvia and pudding mix in a bowl and set aside.
Beat cream cheese in a stand mixer until softened.
Add yogurt/vanilla extract/milk/caramel extract to cream cheese and thoroughly blend.
Add protein/Truvia/pudding mix to cream cheese mixture and blend.
Add eggs and slowly blend into mixture.
Immediately pour into pan and place in oven.
*Important* DO NOT OPEN OVEN WHILE CHEESECAKE IS COOKING!
Cook at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn oven down to 200 degrees and cook an additional 60 minutes.
Turn oven off, crack the oven door and let cheesecake sit for 20 minutes. Cool cheesecake on a rack for an hour. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
The macros per 5 ounce serving:
Calories: 292
Fat: 12.75 g
Carbs: 24.5 g
Protein: 19.25 g
This caramel sutra cheesecake weighs in at just over 20 ounces, providing 4 of the best tasting 5-ounce cheesecake servings around. The ingredients are similar to the mint chocolate cheesecake and the process is the same but these two cheesecakes are a bit different.
The additional fat from the cream cheese and the yogurt yield a cheesecake that is a little creamier and the depth of the flavors will bring a smile to every taster!
The two cheesecakes are a great example to show how you can alter these, or any, recipe to your personal tastes with a few substitutions. The pancakes are something easy that everyone can quickly make. Protein cakes like the one in the red velvet cake provide quick and simple bases to add protein to your snacks.
Remember that substitutions change the finished product to varying degrees - sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Use these recipes "as is" but also experiment to broaden your nutritional intake.
These high protein dessert recipes have been altered from the recipes I found on the Internet after trial and error. I encourage you to do the same.