Muffins, Muffins, and More Muffins to Come!

          My latest baking endeavors are high protein healthy muffins for Sawyer's dad, Ghee.  This came as a challenge to me after Ghee bought muffins from his work-out gym and paid a pretty, pretty penny for them.  I knew I could do better!  It was a little more challenging than I thought, making high protein, low carb muffins that taste good and are not really, really dry! 

             Here is my first attempt, a banana-nut muffin.  The muffins from the gym contain 20 grams of protein each and are low in calories, so that's what we're working for here, plus taste!  I have never worked with oat and almond flour before (except for Macarons), or worked with whey protein in baking, so this was trial and error for me.

Banana-Nut Protein Muffins!

             The banana-nut muffins did turn out dry.  Maybe one reason was because the bananas should have been allowed to over-ripen more.  I have also since learned to add more moisture because, in addition to the grain flours requiring additional moisture, the muffins contain whey protein that requires more moisture.  I'm not going to give you the recipe to these banana-nut muffins until I get the recipe like I like, and like you'll like it!  

               I use an eight cavity mini loaf pan.  Sometimes I have extra batter depending on how much moisture I add so I'm going to buy another pan.  Also, every protein muffin recipe I've made has had different cooking times so get those toothpicks out to check for doneness.  They can dry out very quickly.

              I did learn a few things from that first healthy muffin endeavor, and I made Ghee some tasty blueberry muffins, and forgot to take pictures of them.  Here is the Blueberry Protein Muffin recipe.  This recipe is for my work-out buddies who favor a higher protein diet (Let me clarify that as my buddies who work-out, because I don't work out.  I think about it every day; does that count?).  So these recipes will call for ingredients that some of you may not be familiar with, but if you're one of those protein smoothie people like Ghee and my sister, you will recognize them. Ghee enjoys these during his work days and has been a wonderful guinea pig...I mean taste tester!

              Let me mention here, in case you don't know, the muffin method of baking is the easiest ever!  See instructions below.  

                 Before I move on to the Blueberry Protein Muffins, let's break up the page a little bit.  Here's a Pioneer Woman Recipe for some delicious, sugary blueberry muffins, great for anytime...breakfast, brunch, having friends over for coffee!  Anytime!  Click on the picture for the recipe!

The Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins!

               Now back to the protein muffins!              

         First, here's a note on whey protein. Because different products contain different sized scoops and the grams in the weight of the product is different, we are measuring the grams of protein, not the powder.  Got it? Also, cinnamon bun flavor was on hand and unless your product has an extremely strong flavor that would contrast with other flavors in the muffin, most of the time any mild flavor will do.

             Next, a note on the frozen blueberries (fresh blueberries will give you a slushy muffin, which is not really a muffin): Lightly coat the frozen blueberries with some extra oat flour and this will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the batter due to their extra water content.  You will probably have to break them up a little first.  Put them back into the freezer until everything else is done.

Blueberry Protein Muffins

Ingredients (separated by dry and wet):

• 75 grams protein from Whey Protein Isolate
• 1.00 cup dry Oatmeal Flour (Old-Fashioned Oats crushed in a blender or food processor)
• .25 cup finely ground Almond Flour
• .25 cup Stevia
• 1.50 tsp Baking Powder
• .50 tsp Baking Soda


• 2 Egg Whites plus 1 Whole Egg, beaten*
• 4.00 ounces Nonfat Greek Yogurt
• 1 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
• 2 tbsp Honey (I use low glycemic Tupelo Honey)

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 8 tbsp. Peanut Butter Powder, Prepared (a wet ingredient)
• .50 tsp Lemon Juice, fresh
• 1.50 cup Frozen Blueberries, plus some for topping (measure out your blueberries, lightly coat with oat flour, and put them back into the freezer)


•  Directions:
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray the muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray. 
• Sift the dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl
• Combine wet ingredients in another bowl, and then add the dry to the wet! Never over-mix, but mix thoroughly just until the ingredients are combined or you'll have another "drying" problem!  I mix muffins with a silicone spatula. If the batter is a little thick, feel free to add a little more yogurt or applesauce.
• Take your blueberries from the freezer and gently fold them into the batter.  
• Taste the batter. If it tastes good, the muffins are going to taste good.  If you like it sweeter, add a little more sweetener.  Be careful you're not doing too much stirring!
• Scoop the batter into the muffin tins, a little over 3/4 full, and bake!  An ice cream scoop works great here!


• Begin baking for 15 - 17 minutes, then check at two minute intervals. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean.  Take into account any wet blueberries or melted chocolates, and just check the crumbs from the baked batter. A lot of recipes call for 20 - 25 minutes but I've never had to leave them in the oven that long.  When I did, they were really, really dry. 

*Note on eggs: Crack the egg and egg whites into a separate small bowl before adding to the other wet ingredients.  This is to keep from getting egg shells into a whole batch of ingredients, in case there are egg shells.  I also whisk my eggs before adding. I think it makes incorporating the eggs with the other ingredients easier.

Nutrition Facts (these are approximate facts gathered by submitting ingredient information to a nutrition calculator but they have not been officially evaluated by anyone): Servings 8-10; Amount Per Serving: Calories 218; Total Carbohydrate 26 g: Dietary Fiber 4 g ; Protein 22 g.

​        I also made Double Chocolate Protein Muffins.  This recipe has to be tweaked, too, because it ended up with too much chocolate and too many calories.  Imagine, I got carried away with the chocolate!  Of course they were delicious, but lots of calories are not good when you're working hard at working out!

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Triple Chocolate Banana Bread!

Triple Chocolate Banana Bread!    

Here's another goody for breakfast, brunch or having friends over, or just for having chocolate. My sister saw this recipe on Facebook and requested it.  It was very good and very rich.  A little goes a long way!  Click on the picture for the recipe!

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          Are you muffin-ed out yet?  I have a couple of more recipes coming your way for tasty protein muffins.  As I continue to make these and improve them, hopefully, I'll keep you updated.  Please note that there is a comment section here on the blog and I would love to hear from you if you have any experience in baking, or if you have any questions.

             Dished With Love, Denise