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Chocolate Protein Cookies made with six healthy ingredients! Layered with chia, flax, peanut butter and banana, these scrumptious snacks are gluten free, dairy free, low calorie, Paleo and vegan. A simple post workout snack!
Chocolate Cookies!!! Need I say more? And these aren’t just any cookies, these are delicious Chocolate Protein Cookies!
Once upon a time, I deprived my body of protein. I would workout, workout, workout then I would feed my body one egg white. But truthfully, I didn’t know better.
Of the three macronutrients, protein is commonly the one most are not getting enough of, particularly women and those who are fitness newbies. Personally I think macro nutrition should be part of standard education because it’s so important for everyone to understand and even more now with the obesity epidemic.
Eventually I realized through tracking my calories the errors of my ways and that I needed a lot more protein to recover, restore and rebuild muscle tissue from my workouts. Once I tweaked my diet, not only did I recover faster but I also saw better results from my workouts. Not to mention protein is a great way to tame the hunger monster. Cookies are too…hint…hint!
But I didn’t add just any protein because quality matters and when it comes to protein powders, I’m very picky. I will only do plant-based ones that are low in sugar, are gluten and lactose free with minimal ingredients.
I know! It’s a lot to ask for and it’s probably why it took me so long to find one, but Vega was worth the wait! Now it’s been in my life a couple years and I couldn’t imagine life without it.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Protein? Why protein in a cookie?
One of the simplest baking hacks is swapping some flour for protein powder. The key is making sure it’s a protein powder you like because no cookie is going to cover up a bad protein powder.
Protein aside, who’s going to say no to a chocolate cookie? I know I never would! I don’t know about you, but I could eat a cookie any time of day. Morning, noon or night.
Chocolate Protein Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 banana, very ripe
- 2 teaspoons chia seeds
- 1/4 cup flax meal
- 1 tablespoon peanut flour
- 1 cup vanilla protein powder
- 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips, or dairy free chocolate chips
- Stevia, to taste or zero calorie sweetener of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a standing or hand mixer, mash the banana until creamy. Then add the chia and flax seeds and blend until well combined.
- To the batter, add protein powder and peanut flour (measured the right way) and mix until just combined. Do not over mix or it will become firm and hard.
- Fold in chocolate chips to the batter by hand.
- Use a small ice cream scoop to measure 6 cookies onto the baking sheet. With the palm of your hand, spread them into a circular shape as these will not spread or rise on their own.
- Bake cookies 8-9 minutes until firm and edges are browned.
- Remove cookies from the baking sheet with a spatula and place on a wire rack to cool 10 minutes prior to devouring.
Video
Notes
- Use a good protein powder that’s low sugar, that you like and tastes good to give the cookies flavor.
- The banana must be very ripe in order to absorb the flours.
- For Paleo, substitute almond, sunflower or cashew flour for the peanut flour.
- Measure the flour and protein powder the right way to avoid dry and crumbly cookies.
- My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my weight loss clients.
- If you love this recipe, check out my cookbook for more delicious recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I know this all well. Lost weight young. Back them it was about salads & no fat or protein. Learned from my mistakes!!!!
COOKIES!!!!
I knew you would be on board with the cookies!
yum! these look simple and I love the nutritional stats
Thank you!
I agree, cookies are great any time of the day (or night). And chocolate, always yes 🙂
I’ve never used protein powder, but I’ve heard amazing things about Vega so I’d love to try eventually!
Oh you need to! Sometimes I try others for fun, but they don’t even compare.
This is great bc I’m almost out of the same protein powder. Also, these look magically delicious!
Someone has Lucky Charms on the brain lol!
I am seriously so in love with this new Vega protein. It’s all I use now, they did an amazing job!! Can’t wait to try these cookies, they might make an appearance at The Healthy Dish Co – everyone loves chocolate cookies!!
YAY for the Health Dish Co! I’m so excited for you.
yum!!! I am craving a cookie now!!
Haha a side effect of blogging!
I am definitely going to make a batch of these cookies! They look great.
Thank you!
Now THIS is my kind of post-workout snack! I want to sink my teeth into one of these cookies RIGHT now! 🙂
Who would want a cookie after a workout? Thanks Blair!
These looks amazing and so healthy too! I definitely wind up eating enough protein but early on eating Paleo I hadn’t yet figured out how to get enough carbs! Luckily that’s no longer a problem and it was an easy fix once I learned how to prepare plantains and potatoes in so many ways 🙂
I never thought about carbs being an issue because vegetables have a lot of carbs, but I suppose greens don’t have that many. Plantains all the way!
I always knew about macros and stuff from nutrition classes in school, but something that I’ve definitely learned over the years is how to get the biggest bang for my buck absorption wise for my body
Oh I would love to hear more about that!