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These Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes are a variation of my White Cupcakes and were the first thing that came to mind when I thought of making a chocolate type of cake. I had used protein powders in baking back when I first dabbled in Atkins as a lot of their baking recipes used them. I remembered them as being very expensive, an item I rarely used and when I did, the result would be absolutely disgusting, dry brick baked goods, that tasted horrible.
My conclusion was that protein powders sucked and since then whenever I saw a recipe, no matter how good it looked, if there was a protein powder in the ingredient list, I would promptly turn my back on it. Recently though I had done a lot more research on protein powders and which ones were best and after seeing a lot of people successfully using protein powders for desserts that actually taste good, I realised that they might have some benefit after all and that it would be worth testing some in a few of my own recipes. They aren’t cheap so I bought some unflavoured and decided to pick one flavoured one to test with.
While there are a ton of flavours to choose from, I didn’t want to just get something like chocolate or strawberry, I wanted something I couldn’t easily replicate myself and which would bring a bit more to the table. So I decided on Cookies and Cream flavour since it is so universally liked by people I know. And when the idea of a chocolate variation of my White Cupcake recipe came to mind, I realised this would be a great flavour pairing and a fantastic chance to test the protein powder out.
It worked better than I could have hoped! The protein powder had a great cookies and cream flavour, didn’t add any strange texture or weird taste to my buttercream as well as helping to stiffen it up the way an icing mix normally would, but actually did an even better job of it. And paired with the chocolate cupcakes it was just perfect. You can also use all different flavours of protein powders too and make different flavour buttercream frostings like this cookies and cream one!
Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond meal
- 1/2 cup sweetener, to taste
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
Cookies and Cream Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C. Combine dry cupcake ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined with a spoon. In a second bowl heat the butter in the microwave until almost melted (about 45 seconds) and stir to finish melting. Make sure the butter isn’t too hot and add your eggs, whisk together. Add milk and vanilla and whisk to combine.
- Start stirring your dry ingredients at the centre with a spoon and then slowly pour in your wet ingredients while stirring. Keep stirring until all the wet and dry ingredients are combined into a batter. It should be thicker than a standard wheat flour cake batter and may have a grainy look to it from the almond meal.
- Divide patty pans between a 12 cup capacity muffin tray. Give the batter a final mix and divide between the patty pans. Bake at 160C for approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan about 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle and then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Start making your buttercream. Place softened butter in a mixing bowl and beat with electric beaters until butter is pale and creamy. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Once the butter has been beaten add in your warm almond milk and beat to combine. Add sweetener a teaspoon at a time and beat after each addition to incorporate. Do the same with your protein powder, adding a teaspoon at a time. You should have a really thick consistency buttercream when you’re done.
- When cupcakes are completely cooled pipe or spread your cookies and cream buttercream frosting on top. Can be served immediately or chilled for later.
Notes
Nutrition
[…] For me, protein powders aren’t something I use for drinking or getting in extra protein, it’s something that can be used in baking to easily and simply create flavours that are hard to replicate when doing a keto diet, like the Cookies and Cream frosting on my Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes recipe. […]