Protein Powder Cooking Advice

Sweet tooth?  Not getting in enough protein?  Need an on the go meal or snack?
Cooking and Baking with protein powder can be very tricky.  One minute extra of cooking you go from a yummy moist sweet treat to a hard brick!
Whatever you’re making can turn out rubbery, “cardboard-y,” extremely dry and, well, pretty much impossible to (pleasurably) consume unless you learn how to add the correct ingredients and be exact with how long you cook it.

Flat As a Pancake

Lets take the protein pancake as an example.  Anyone attempt the good ole protein pancake we see all the time and it turned out so awful that a heaping serving of peanut butter wouldn’t even save it?
I had a similar experience when I first made protein pancakes. I mixed two scoops of whey with three egg whites and a couple scoops of oats.
Result: A bland and ultra rubbery pancake that soured my taste buds and broke my heart. My second abject failure made me want to give up on the idea of ever again cooking with whey.  Which stinks because we ALL need quick yummy foods to eat.

RULE 1

Never-NEVER-bake or pan fry a batter that is more than 1/3 whey. This is because, naturally, whey has a tendency to go dry, rubbery, and “cardboard-up”
You have to offset this tendency. How? By making sure that the rest of your ingredients weigh it down and add enough moisture to counter the whey.

RULE 2

You must always use what I call a primary moisturizer. This can be cottage cheese, pumpkin puree, Greek yogurt, applesauce or a cooked sweet potato.  The BEST: cottage cheese or pumpkin.  Cottage Cheese is the most convenient.

RULE 3

You always need to have a type of flour or dry filler in your batter. This will combine with your whey and give volume to your final product.  Best QUICK oats or oat flour.  If for some reason you are on a low Carb diet or day you can use coconut flour.
My choice and the quickest: Oats!  Use the instant/quick oats.

RULE 4

Always use a binding substance like egg whites, whole eggs or a combination of both.

Extra Important Tips:

• Be sure to use a good protein powder.  That makes a huge difference.  So many companies load their protein with artificial crap.  Not only can effect the product but also your belly.  (bloating, gas)  Um..not for me!  haha
• Whey & Egg protein powders and some Pea work best.
• ***** Don’t over cook****  Once I flip my pancake, let it cook for a minute, cut it in half.  Check the inside.  If its almost cooked, take it off and let it cool.  It will be perfect!!!!

By following the above rules, you’ll be able to make anything and everything with whey.  From cakes and muffins to pancakes and frozen desserts.

Diva-licious Recipe

Here is my  go-to recipe that I have tweaked many time to make Diva-licious!

Basic Protein Pancake:

This is as basic as you can get.  Now you can add your choice of: berries, banana, nuts etc
Single Serving ~Use as a meal or have ½ as a snack ~It will make 2-3 pancakes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Oatmeal  Quick oats/instant
• ¾ scoop vanilla whey protein (I use Isagenix, no artificial sweetener and super high quality)
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tablespoons of non fat cottage cheese or Pumpkin Puree (for the fluffiness)
• About 1/8 cup of water    *Start with this, stir and add a little extra if needed.  Consistency should be a little thick.  Just like real pancake batter.
• Cinnamon or all-spice or a hand full of berries*  YOUR CHOICE
• MIX all together

Directions:

• Spray your pan with olive oil   Use low  heat  ( I let my pan get warm first)
• Pour batter just like making pancakes.
• Once it starts to bubble flip and only cook the other side for a minute.  It will cook FAST!
• If you didn’t add nuts, spread a light layer of your favorite nut butter on top to melt! YUM

Hope this helps to NOW make your perfect Super Healthy Protein Pancake!
Happy Friday
Ciao Bellas