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This recipe for protein muffins will be your new favorite use of protein powder! No eggs, refined sugar, or grains are needed, each muffin has 20 grams of protein!
Love high protein desserts? Try my protein brownies, protein mug cake, protein banana bread, and protein cookie dough.
Stop buying expensive pre-packaged high protein muffins from health food stores and start making your own! Adding protein powder to muffins is my sneaky and healthy way to get more protein into my diet, and it also keeps me satisfied for way longer. Win!
My foolproof recipe uses wholesome and simple ingredients, and it’s also affordable…they also taste delicious!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Perfect texture. Moist and fluffy, and taste like any good muffin out there.
- 5 healthy ingredients. No white flour or sugar. There aren’t any eggs either, so perfect if you are vegan and/or gluten-free.
- 20 grams of protein. These are perfect for a high-protein snack or guilt-free dessert.
- It’s easy to customize. Think of my muffin batter as a blank slate on which you can change up the flavors. I’ve included a few of my favorites below.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“OH!! Best protein muffin I’ve made! Yum, thanks!” – Eliane
Ingredients needed
- Almond flour. Blanched almond flour, not almond meal. Using the blanched variety ensures the muffins have a lovely light and tender crumb.
- Baking powder. Just a pinch to help the muffins rise (as much as they can do) and give the muffins some stability.
- Protein powder. Brown rice protein powder, casein protein powder, or a whey protein powder blend. Do NOT use a strict whey protein powder or else your muffins will turn into hockey pucks.
- Peanut butter OR alternative. Smooth and creamy peanut butter with no added sugar. Use a cheap store-bought brand, like Skippy’s or Teddy’s peanut butter, because these are naturally thinner and mix seamlessly into the batter.
- Unsweetened applesauce. Adds some moisture to the muffins without needing any oil or butter. You can also use Greek yogurt.
- Chocolate chips. A must for any good muffin. Use sugar free chocolate chips to keep these muffins completely sugar free.
How to make protein muffins
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together. Add the peanut butter and unsweetened applesauce and mix until completely combined. Fold through the chocolate chips at the end.
Step 2- Bake. Distribute the batter amongst 8 large muffin liners in a muffin pan (or 12 in a mini muffin tin) and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean.
Which protein powder is best for baking?
No protein powder is created equal, and as such, some protein powders are fantastic for baking, and some are best to be used strictly for protein shakes.
The best protein powders to use are either brown rice protein powder, casein protein powder (not dairy-free), or a blended whey protein powder. Stick to either an unflavored or vanilla-flavored powder.
Avoid using whey protein isolate or natural whey protein powder, as these two tend to soak up moisture and will yield very dense muffins.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Do not overbake the muffins, as they can go from fluffy to dense VERY fast. Once they are ‘just’ done on top, remove them from the oven, and they will continue to cook as they cool.
- If you notice the tops of muffins going brown too soon, cover them with tin foil after the 8-minute mark.
- Feel free to swap out the chocolate chips for other mix-ins, like blueberries, chopped chocolate, or even some chopped nuts.
Flavor variations
While these protein muffins taste delicious on their own, I’ve tested the batter with five popular flavors to switch things up for you!
- Peanut butter– Be sure to use peanut butter and add some peanut butter chips on top.
- Banana– Replace the unsweetened applesauce with equal amounts of pureed banana (just blend several bananas!).
- Chocolate– Use chocolate protein powder and fold through half a cup of chocolate chips.
- Pumpkin– Switch out the unsweetened applesauce for pumpkin puree.
- Blueberry– Fold through half a cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
To freeze: Place leftovers in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More protein powder recipes to try
Protein Muffins (5 Ingredients!)
Video
Ingredients
- 2 scoops vanilla protein powder 64-67 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup peanut butter or any nut or seed butter
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a muffin tin with 8 muffin liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your protein powder, almond flour, and baking powder, and mix well. Add your peanut butter and unsweetened applesauce and mix until fully combined. Fold through your chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter amongst the muffin liners and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean. If you notice the tops browning too quickly, cover it with tinfoil around the 8 minute mark.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published February 2017, updated 2021, and republished April 2024
Is one serving considered one muffin?
SO good..
Thank you for this excellent recipe! I have made this several times and it is perfect for people who get tired of eating processed protein bars all the time. I now make these every week. I use brown rice protein that I order online. I double the recipe for 12 larger muffins. I replace 1/6th of the applesauce with egg whites to make them less crumbly, and replace half the peanut butter with PB2 to lower the fat (all PB2 just doesn’t taste that good). I only use a heaping 1/2 cup of chocolate chips for the double recipe – it’s enough. An alternative is to use sweetened applesauce and omit the chips. I have to bake them for 30+ minutes, even for a single recipe.
Not vegan, but I simply put egg instead of apple sauce, oatmeal for almond flour and Ovomaltine Crunchy Cream (you have that? It’s delicious!) for peanut butter
Put them in the microwave for nearly 1 minute and then a few minutes in the air fryer to get a crumb and crispier edges They came out much better than I had hoped for!
I just made these and they came out AMAZING. Just added a touch of cocoa powder to make them slightly more chocolatey. Honestly the best muffin I’ve ever had lol taste li feel like is between a muffin and a cupcake and for “dieting” or just improving lifestyle eating this is a GREAT substitute to make instead of cupcakes or brownies with kids (or yourself).
Hi!! May I replace the apple sauce with an egg??
I haven’t tried but you are welcome to experiment and see
What protein powder do you recommend? I used Orgain and it didn’t really cook. Kind of turned into a dough consistency
Not a fan of orgain- I love optimum or dymatize casein
Can I use regular flour in place of almond flour?
I haven’t tried but you are welcome to experiment and see
If you’re still baking these, what kind of protein powder do you use now? The link you provided is no longer valid.
Still casein, or is whey fine?
Hi! Casein 🙂
Delicious, quick and now I have breakfast for the week!
I didn’t have almond flour on-hand, so I used whole wheat flour and it worked like a charm.
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
could I replace applesauce for yogurt?
I don’t see why not 🙂
These protein muffins were so good- I did use the recommended protein powder and it turned out well (the last batch I used some random whey and it was not good!).
Haven’t made them yet but I am excited to! I’ve seen some muffin recipes use plain greek yogurt to get some extra protein. Do you think that could work in this recipe? Would the yogurt maybe be able to replace the applesauce or am I completely missing the mark? Haha!
You could and YES- for the applesauce 🙂
Hi ! I would love to try these but will a plant based protein powder work ?
Yes, it should- I like brown rice protein powder.
I’ve made these muffins twice now and love them!
I make 4 large muffins instead of 8 small and eat them for breakfast! I did banana once and applesauce once. You can taste the banana in them whereas you can’t the applesauce. But the applesauce ones came out lower in calories.
Thanks for the amazing recipe! Can’t wait to try more of them!
Good day,
Has anyone tried with a plant based protein powder? I’ve used it in muffins before, with success.