As a vegan, I get asked about protein a lot. But, protein has honestly never really been a big issue for me. Most whole foods have some amount of protein in them, wether thats .01g or 30g per 100g (even a banana has around 1g protein each). As long as you eat a good mix of whole foods, you will get enough protein without even trying 90% of the time. Even if you aren’t, and instead you are eating a lot of processed vegan alternatives, I’ve found that a lot of vegan meats and cheeses have more protein per serving than their non-vegan counter part.
You see, we don’t really need as much protein as we think we do. The average woman only needs between 45-55g protein a day, which is a lot to eat in one sitting. I usually try to spread my protein out each day, about 10g for breakfast, 20g for lunch and dinner each. So these protein muffins came out perfect! There is 10g protein per muffin, making them a perfect breakfast treat! They get the bulk of their protein from the protein flour, chocolate protein powder, soy milk and peanut butter.
I explain the brands and why they are important to this recipe below in the notes. If you sub out any of the brands or use something with a different amount of protein, it may change the protein makeup and the taste in these a bit, but hopefully not too much if you are using healthy versions. I used chocolate Vega brand protein powder, which I love. I have found it at pretty much any grocer that sells things like that, even Target! Another favorite vegan protein powder is the Orgain brand, so if you can’t find Vega, that is a great alternative. Plus, you can use these in morning smoothies or for post workout drinks all the time. These muffins perfectly mask that protein powder after taste, while still being fluffy and dense at the same time. They taste best warmed up. I had one directly out of the oven, and the rest were eaten after being microwaved for 10-20 seconds. I made them in a cupcake pan, but you could also make 4 large muffins in a bigger muffin tin. There is also a gluten free option at the end of the post in “notes.” Enjoy!
Ingredients: (makes about 8 muffins)
1 cup Arrowhead Mills protein flour
1/4 cup Vega Protein and Greens chocolate protein powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup vanilla soy milk
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/8 cup refined coconut oil* (see notes)
1/8 cup peanut or almond butter
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 cup Enjoy Life vegan dark chocolate chunks
How-to:
- Preheat oven to 375*. Either lightly grease a muffin pan or line with liners
- Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl (protein flour through cinnamon).
- In a separate bowl, add coconut oil and nut butter. Melt in microwave for 20-30 seconds until mostly melted. Mix together, then whisk in rest of wet ingredients (soy milk through maple syrup).
- Once wet and dry ingredients are combined separately, mix together. It will make a pretty thick batter. Fold in chocolate chunks.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin tin (about 3/4 way up).
- Bake at 375* for 15-20 minutes, until you can poke with a toothpick without any batter coming up. Enjoy as a healthy dessert or breakfast! Prep ahead of time for an easier snack.
Notes:
- To make these gluten free, you have two options. You can sub the vegan protein flour I used for a different one (such as garbanzo or lentil, which are made by Bob’s Red Mill), or you can use 1 cup gluten free oats to make oat flour. Just blend the oats until they resemble flour.
- Make sure you use refined coconut oil! Refined doesn’t have the coconut taste, otherwise you can expect sightly coconuty muffins.
- The three most important brand name items I use in this recipe is the Arrowhead Mills protein flour, Vega chocolate protein powder, and Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I chose this protein flour because it has really clean and simple ingredients which I love, and is a 1:1 sub for white flour. It does taste a bit like protein powder in other recipes I have tried it in, but this recipe masks that flavor pretty well. I found my bag at Lucky’s Market, but you should check your local grocer or order online. I’m sure any (vegan) protein flour would work, as long as its a 1:1 sub for white flour. The Vega chocolate protein powder is definitely one of (if not the number one) best vegan protein powders I’ve tried, and I suggest using this over other ones. If you have a different vegan chocolate protein powder, of course use that instead, but I think the Vega one gives the least “protein like” taste, plus it has hidden greens servings in it! You could also sub the 1/4 cup Vega protein for and extra 1/4 cup cocoa powder, but that makes these 7.5g protein instead of 10g. Lastly, the enjoy life chocolate chips, which are my all time fave chocolate chips for baking (vegan or non-vegan), but any vegan chocolate chips you have will work! These are just the brands that I really know and trust. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if it wasn’t a protein centered recipe, but for that reason you want to mask the protein taste as much as possible.
The Peaceful Plate 