ICED GINGERBREAD PROTEIN LOAF
This Iced Gingerbread Protein Loaf is irresistibly delicious... but also... low in sugar, gluten-free, dairy-free and boosted with protein! I love the rich molasses, bright ginger, and warm cinnamon flavors in this loaf. It's topped with unbelievably sugar free vanilla icing, too! This loaf makes the perfect protein snack with coffee or tea.
Did you know? Just 1.1-1.5 grams of ginger can help significantly reduce nausea, especially pregnancy-related nausea (morning sickness), studies show! (source)
Protein recommendations
This Iced Gingerbread Protein Loaf is made with vegan protein powder, which is dairy-free but does bake a little differently than whey or casein. In my 8 years experience baking with protein powders, I have found that vegan protein works best in recipes with a 1:1.3 ratio of protein to flour by volume. In other words, if a baked recipe calls for 60 grams (half a cup) of protein powder, you're going to need 80 grams (two-thirds cup) of baking flour minimum. Using less can result in "mushy" baked goods that fall apart and don't rise. You can get away with way less flour if using whey or casein, but these types of protein also require more moisturizers (banana, applesauce, yogurt, nut butters, oils).
Because of this, vegan protein powder is typically not interchangeable with whey or casein, or collagen for that matter. These protein powders all behave very differently in baking and you should always use recipes designed for the type of protein you like!
All that said, the vegan protein powder that I use is LIV Body Lean Vegan Protein! I just love the Pumpkin Pie flavor in this gingerbread loaf, but Frosted Oatmeal Cookie is yummy too. You can use my code "SARAHWILKINS" for FREE shipping on all LIV Body products!
Other vegan protein powders should also work (might need slight tweaking).
Flour recommendations
Vegan protein powders work best with flours that have strong binding properties, like all purpose flour, gluten free baking flour, or organic oat flour. These are the only three flours I can confidently recommend for this recipe! You could also try an equal measure of cassava flour or brown rice flour, but results aren't guaranteed. Almond flour or coconut flour will not work since they lack the binding properties and do not have a similar absorbency!
Sweetener recommendations
Anything gingerbread just tastes better with a brown sugar sweetener if you ask me! Since I am all about low sugar baking, I use sugar free brown sugar alternatives as opposed to regular brown sugar. My top two picks are Truvia Sweet Complete Brown and Swerve Brown! Lakanto Golden or Sukrin Gold will also work.
You could also use any other sweetener that measures 1:1 like sugar! If using one that measures differently than sugar, just adjust the amount accordingly.
Other ingredients
This recipe also calls for unsweetened applesauce, molasses, egg white, vegan butter, and pure vanilla extract.
You could totally swap the applesauce for canned 100% pure pumpkin, however, the molasses is a MUST for authentic gingerbread flavor!
The egg whites just add protein and structure to the loaf, but you can make this vegan using a vegan egg substitute. You can also substitute one-quarter cup ground flaxseed with one half cup of warm water!
I use this vegan butter that's non-GMO and rich in omega-3 with expeller-pressed oils (meaning they didn't use hexane or other chemicals to refine them). They also use sustainable palm oil. I know someone is going to say "canola is so bad" or "palm oil is terrible for the environment" but it really depends on the brand and their processing methods! If you really don't want to use vegan butter then I would suggest coconut butter instead :)
Sugar free icing
The sugar free icing couldn't be simpler! It's just sugar free powdered sweetener (I like this one), vegan butter (see above), unsweetened almond milk (literally any milk will work!) and pure vanilla extract. Again, feel free to use any powdered sweetener that measures 1:1 like sugar!
Here is the printable recipe for this Iced Gingerbread Protein Loaf! I hope you'll leave a comment and rate this recipe 5 stars if you love it!
This post contains affiliate links and is sponsored by LIV Body.
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