protein baking

Hi.
What is the best way to add protein to my baked goods without using protein powder? I bake pumpkin zucchini brownies and pumpkin zucchini bread using protein powder. I want to stop using the protein powder and substitute with greek yogurt. I was using 2 scoops protein powder in the brownies, and 3 scoops in the pumpkin bread.
I cannot have gluten, grains, dairy....
Any suggestions on what I might need to add to these recipes?
I currently use: 1 can pumpkin puree, 1 shredded zucchini, 1 tbsp coconut flour, 2 tsp baking powder, vanilla extract and salt and pumpkin spice for the bread. Thank you so much!!!

Ellie Landau
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8 Comments

ktr December 8, 2016
You may want to look up paleo or keto baking recipes. I know this site has some keto recipes: https://elanaspantry.com/

I just made these brownies last night which are gluten free, dairy free, and grain free http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/recipes/desserts/paleo-brownies-double-chocolate/

I haven't made any of these recipes because I don't use protein powders, but I've had success with some of the other recipes on this site. This is a list of recipes using protein powders: http://paleomg.com/?s=protein

Can you tolerate almond, tapioca, or cassava flours? There are quite a few recipes online that use those flours as well as coconut flour.
 
Ellie L. December 8, 2016
Thank you so much for those suggestions - I will check out those websites:) I cannot tolerate tapioca or cassava and I am not too crazy about almond flour:) Thank you again. The advice and support here is amazing!! I
 
ktr December 8, 2016
Have you tried making sunflower seed flour? My sister is allergic to nuts so I used that to make a cake. It did turn blue but it tasted good! I will look through my recipes and see if I have any more baked goods that will work for you.
 
Aisha December 8, 2016
You could use chickpea flour (aka besan, gram flour, garbanzo flour) or almond meal in your baking. I'm having a hard time visualizing your batter or seeing how your bread holds together with the ingredient list you sent. But I have no experience with protein powder so... I can't give you a one-to-one substitution for your recipe.
As others have pointed out, eggs are a great source of protein. If you're looking for sweet recipes, asian-style chiffon cakes are very heavy on the eggs, so full of protein (and you can sub the wheat flour with anything that kind of gelates, like tapioca starch, potato starch, gram flour etc).
 
Em December 7, 2016
Try to maintain a one to one ratio of wet to dry ingredients in your substitutions. So if you're taking out half a cup of protein powder, you should take out at least a half a cup of wet ingredients (say, pumpkin puree). Likewise, if you want to add half a cup of yogurt, add half a cup of coconut flour (or try almond flour, as ktr suggests). Protein powder is is great for gluten free recipes because it helps recipe some of the structural integrity that is lost without gluten, so I don't know what would be a good substitution. I would try using powdered egg whites as a direct substitution.
 
Ellie L. December 8, 2016
Thank you all so much for your suggestions. The ratio information so very helpful! I had no idea protein powder helps keep structure in gluten free baking🙂 I have a chronic health condition and my body requires a lot of protein. Now understanding why the protein powder is good for gf baking, I will stick with that.🙂

Any suggestions on a good resource for baking with protein powder? I have not been impressed with the few websites I have found:(

It's challenging cooking and baking for my health. I have limited foods my body can tolerate ( I am on Fodmap) and with alternative flours, so far my body can tolerate the coconut flour. I much prefer to use the protein powder. My body responds well to that:)

Thank you all for your suggestions, so very helpful! I love the Food 52 community!! So grateful🙂
 
ktr December 5, 2016
I'd be concerned that using greek yogurt in place of a powder will make the batter too thin. How about looking for another recipe that uses almond flour instead of coconut flour.
 
drbabs December 5, 2016
Ellie, are you using soy yogurt? Regular Greek yogurt is dairy. Eggs would add protein as well. You could add a combination of nuts and seeds to get protein. If you're concerned about processing and artificial ingredients in protein powder, Bob's Red Mill makes one from pea protein that's relatively unprocessed.
 
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