FROSTED PROTEIN SUGAR COOKIES

December 14, 2016

How about some frosted protein sugar cookies that taste like the real deal… with only ONE GRAM of sugar per cookie? Seems like an oxymoron doesn’t it: “a sugar-free sugar cookie”? Well, believe it! Each full-sized, soft-baked cookie is just 80 calories with 5 grams of protein and 3 grams net carbs. These aren’t exactly “low fat” at just under 5 grams per cookie, but then again, you shouldn’t be filling your macros with just cookies anyway 😉 Even still, you can easily fit in two or three of these “healthified” sugar cookies into a balanced meal plan. Did I mention they’re soft with just the right amount of “bite” and that frosting is to die for?

Protein powder substitutions

To up the protein in these beauties, I used Jamie Eason Lean Body for Her Whey in Natural Vanilla. Though you can use any whey blend or concentrate, using a brand with artificial flavors may alter the flavor, or even make them taste “fake.” That’s why I love Jamie’s all-natural line! I can feel good about what I’m putting into my body and her protein tastes awesome. Another note, most isolates will not work in this recipe – you’re better off with a whey blend or a whey concentrate.

Sweetener substitutions

For all that sugary goodness without the actual sugar, I used Pyure Organic Stevia Blend for the cookie dough and Swerve Confectioner’s Erythritol for the frosting. Both sweeteners are calorie-free, all-natural, and non-GMO. If you don’t have Pyure Organic Stevia Blend, you can use twice as much baking stevia, granulated erythritol, or granulated monk fruit.

While there aren’t a lot of suitable substitutes for the Swerve Confectioner’s Erythritol (besides powdered sugar), I have heard you can blend Truvia into a fine powder and use half as much. I haven’t tried it myself though! Definitely don’t use straight stevia or the frosting will taste very bitter. NOTE: I did not include the natural sugar alcohols from the erythritol in the carb count since they don’t provide energy or fiber.

Flour substitutions

To keep the carbs low, I went with Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour, but you can also substitute twice as much all-purpose flour, gluten-free baking blend, oat flour, or spelt flour. I’m sure you could even use almond flour but you’d probably need to use even more than twice as much (or use less water)… to get a workable dough.

Other ingredient substitutions

I used a combination of cashew butter, Smart Balance Omega 3 Buttery Spread, VitaFiber syrup, and water to moisten the dough and provide a soft yet chewy texture. You can try using all cashew butter in place of the buttery spread, but you might get a dryer cookie. You can also use unsalted butter in place of the buttery spread, but this will increase the fat content.

Finally, you can replace the VitaFiber syrup with any sticky syrup such as agave, brown rice syrup, honey, maple syrup, sugar free pancake syrup (or even water… they just won’t be as chewy).

Other frosting options

If you don’t want to use the buttercream frosting, try mixing together whipped cream cheese and sweetener or even protein powder and a small amount of unsweetened almond milk or cashew milk to increase the protein and lower the fat. I’ll leave that up to you! They’re absolutely scrumptious as is 😉

Here’s the recipe for these Frosted Protein Sugar Cookies! As always, I’d love your comments if you try them.

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