Dark Chocolate Chip Protein Brownie Bites

Gooey. Fudgey. Chocolatey. Perfection. These brownie bites will definitely impress you. The pictures really don't do them justice. They are so soft and gooey with a decadent chocolate flavor that will have you addicted! If you like your brownies more chewy, increase the cooking time by 2 minutes. If you like them gooey, check them around 6 minutes. I liked these gooey ~ they practically melt in your mouth. Let's not forget that they are "healthyfied"! Although they taste really naughty, I don't feel as guilty putting down a few of these since there are only 70 calories/brownie bite. Enjoy!

Ingredients

¼ cup all natural almond butter

3 tablespoons plain greek yogurt

3 egg whites

1 scoop Lean Body For Her chocolate whey protein powder

¼ cup coconut flour(or 1/3 cup oat flour)

½ cup almond meal flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup xylitol (or sweetener of choice)

½ teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar-free chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. 

2. Add almond butter, greek yogurt, and egg whites to a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.

3. Add protein powder, coconut flour, almond meal flour, cocoa powder, xylitol, and baking powder to the mixing bowl and stir together.

4. Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Make 18 brownie bites, using either your hands or a small ice-cream scooper, and place them on the baking sheet.

6. Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Makes 18 servings

1 serving is one brownie bite

Macros for 1 serving

70 calories, 4.4g protein, 6.1g carbs, 4g fat, 0.8g sugar, 1.8g fiber

Blueberry Vanilla Protein Muffins

I love when you add blueberries in a batter to bake, whether it is a muffin, cupcake, or cake, they burst open adding a sweet and tart pop of flavor. There are fresh blueberries blended into the muffin batter and more blueberries that are stirred into the batter right before baking. If you like blueberries, these are for you! They are also low in sugar and low in fat with an awesome 9g protein per muffin. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Muffins

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

¼ cup almond meal flour

1/3 cup oat flour (or whole-wheat flour)

3 tablespoons xylitol (or sweetener of choice)

½ tsp. baking powder

2 egg whites

¾ cup blueberries, divided

¼ cup greek yogurt (or applesauce)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place 6 silicon cupcake liners on a sheet pan.

2. Add egg whites, ¼ cup blueberries, greek yogurt, and extract to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Add protein powder, almond meal flour, oat flour, xylitol, and baking powder to a mixing bowl and stir together.

4. Pour wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Stir in the remainder ½ cup blueberries.

5. Evenly spoon batter into the 6 cupcake liners and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes.

* I topped mine with homemade blueberry jam and a protein vanilla glaze.

Makes 6 servings

1 serving is 1 muffin (sauce and glaze not included)

Macros for 1 serving

114 calories, 9g protein, 15.1g carbs, 3.4g fat, 2.6g sugar, 1.8g fiber

Maple Peanut Butter Protein Bars

Peanut butter. Oh peanut butter. How I love thee. You can almost bet that if a cake, cookie, candy, cracker, sandwich, or any other food has peanut butter in it, I will like it. Most of the time I will love it. It's weird because peanut butter isn't my favorite to just eat out of the jar. I much prefer almond butter or cashew butter. But peanut butter foods. Yes! And these are no exception. They are a bit thinner than a "blondie" or cake square and a little more dense also. There's also a subtle sweet maple flavor that adds a little something special to these. So if that sounds like something you would enjoy, these are a must try! They're dense and chewy peanut butter maple perfection bars. Enjoy!

Ingredients

¼ cup plain greek yogurt (or applesauce)

¼ cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup Vitacost all-natural peanut butter

3 tablespoons almond milk (or milk of choice)

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or oat flour)

½ cup Vitacost peanut powder

¼ cup Vitacost xylitol (or sweetener of choice)

1 scoop ARO vanilla whey protein powder

Optional: Peanut Butter Chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9” baking dish with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together yogurt, maple syrup, peanut butter, almond milk, and egg whites in a mixing bowl until smooth.

3. Add in the remainder of ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir until well combined.

4. Pour batter into baking dish and spread out evenly. Since these are bars, they will not be very thick. Add peanut butter chips on top, if desired.

5. Bake in the oven for 14-16 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut into 16 even squares and enjoy!

Makes 16 servings

1 serving is 1 square

Macros for 1 serving

85 calories, 3.8g protein, 12.1g carbs, 3.2g fat, 4.3g sugar, 1.4g fiber

Nicolette’s Tips

* You can bake these in an 8x8” baking dish also. Just increase the cooking time slightly.

Vanilla Blueberry Cake Protein Pancakes

These are really for breakfast? Indeed, they are! There are fresh blueberries that are blended into the pancake batter and a low sugar blueberry jam that I used as the syrup. Blueberry galore :) They will start your day off right with a whopping 38g protein and only 13g sugar in the entire dish! Compare that to IHOP's strawberry pancakes that has only 18g protein and 27g of sugar - I think we know the winner here. Enjoy! 

Ingredients

Pancakes

½ scoop vanilla protein powder

1/3 cup oat flour

2 egg whites

¼ cup almond milk

¼ cup blueberries

1 tablespoon cashew butter

Blueberry Jam

¾ cup blueberries

2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup

Vanilla Glaze

¼ scoop vanilla protein powder

2 tablespoons almond milk

Method

1. Heat a skillet on the stovetop over medium heat.

2. In a blender or food processor, blend together egg whites, ¼ cup almond milk, ¼ cup blueberries and cashew butter until smooth. Pour into a mixing bowl.

3. Add ½ scoop protein powder and oat flour to the mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.

4. Spoon about ¼ cup of the pancake mix onto the skillet, making 5 pancakes total, and cook on each side about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

5. For the jam, heat ¾ cup blueberries and maple syrup in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes.

6. For the glaze, stir together ¼ scoop protein powder and 2 tablespoons almond milk until smooth.

7. Spoon the jam and glaze on top of the pancakes. Enjoy!

Makes 1 serving

1 serving is 5 pancakes with toppings

Macros for 1 serving

457 calories, 38g protein, 49.2g carbs, 13g fat, 13g sugar, 8g fiber

Vanilla Raspberry Protein Muffins

I like sweet and tart combinations. And to me, raspberries sometimes have that tart and tangy flavor. I like to pair that with something sweet which, in this case, was vanilla. The vanilla protein powder I used in this recipe has just the right amount of sweetness to offset the tartness of the raspberries. The texture of these were really good, too! I almost added some melted white chocolate on top thinking that the added sweetness would be yummy. Listen, there's no way melted white chocolate would be bad or not good. But I will say that they are delicious without it also :) Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 egg whites

¾ cup raspberries, divided

¼ cup unsweetened almond milk

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons almond meal flour

½ cup oat flour (or whole-wheat flour)

3 tablespoons xylitol(or sweetener of choice)

½ tsp. baking powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 6 silicon muffin liners on a sheet pan.

2. Add egg whites, ¼ cup raspberries, and almond milk to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Add protein powder, almond meal flour, oat flour, xylitol, and baking powder to a mixing bowl and stir together.

4. Pour wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Stir in the remainder ½ cup raspberries.

5. Evenly spoon batter into the 6 muffin liners and bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes. Enjoy!

Makes 6 servings

1 serving is 1 muffin

Macros for 1 serving

128 calories, 9g protein, 15.6g carbs, 4.8g fat, 1.2g sugar, 2.9g fiber

Nicolette’s Tips

* You can use regular cupcake liners. Make sure to coat them with non-stick spray before adding the muffin batter.

* You can also make these into mini muffins. Decrease the cooking time to 10-14 minutes.

Parmesan Crusted Salmon

Ingredients

2 small salmon filets (about 4 oz. each - I used Sizzle Fish)

2 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon Tuscan Herb olive oil (or regular olive oil)

2 teaspoons Flavor God everything seasoning (or seasoning of choice) 

Method

1. Heat a skillet on the stovetop over medium heat.
2. Pat salmon fillets with a paper towel until they are completely dry.
3. Evenly brush salmon filets with olive oil.
4. Mix together seasoning of choice and parmesan cheese then sprinkle each filet with mixture.
5. Cook salmon filets, skin side down first, on the skillet for 4-5 minutes. Flip salmon and cook on the other side from 1-2 minutes.
6. Let salmon sit for 5 minutes then serve immediately.

*I served mind on top of spinach with roasted pine nuts, spicy mustard, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Strawberry Lemonade Protein Muffins

It is officially warm here in the south. And by warm, I mean you walk outside and the sun makes you feel like you're melting and the humidity makes you sticky. When I feel hot and stick, I usually crave an ice cold strawberry lemonade :) A tall, cold glass of strawberry lemonade. Mmmmmm. That is when I thought to myself that a muffin with those flavors would be so delicious. I have always been fond of any type of berry with lemon and lime flavors. Blueberry and lemon YES. Strawberry and lemon YES! Raspberry and lime YES! Yes yes yes! I suppose there's not much to say now to convince you of my love towards these flavors. I hope you're a fan too and if you are, these are a must make!

Ingredients

Muffins

1 scoop Vitacost ARO vanilla whey protein powder

¼ cup almond meal flour

½ cup oat flour (or whole-wheat flour)

3 tablespoons Vitacost xylitol (or sweetener of choice)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon sugar-free strawberry gelatin mix

½ tsp. baking powder

2 egg whites

4 strawberries

5 tablespoons plain greek yogurt (or applesauce)

1½ tablespoon lemon juice

Lemon Glaze

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ scoop Vitacost ARO vanilla whey protein powder

Water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place 6 silicon cupcake liners on a sheet pan.

2. Add egg whites, strawberries, greek yogurt, and lemon juice to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Add protein powder, almond meal flour, oat flour, xylitol, lemon zest, gelatin mix, and baking powder to a mixing bowl and stir together.

4. Pour wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

5. Evenly spoon batter into the 6 cupcake liners and bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes.

6. Stir together glaze ingredients, slowly adding water until desired consistency is reached, and drizzle on each muffin. Enjoy!

Makes 6 servings

1 serving is 1 mini donut

Macros for 1 serving

125 calories, 10.3g protein, 10g carbs, 3.3g fat, 1.5g fiber, 2.1g sugar