Protein Pumpkin Muffins
4.60 from 27 votes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: free, freezer friendly, gluten free, vegetarian
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes minutes
Total Time: 37 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 91kcal
Protein Pumpkin Muffins made using a combination of whey and casein proteins as well as egg whites and Greek yogurt to give a higher protein, lower calorie dessert option than a traditional muffin.
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Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- ½ cup (60 g) oat flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch or tapioca starch
- 1 tsp (4 g) baking powder
- ½ tsp (2 g) baking soda
- ½ tsp (2 g) salt
- 1 tsp (3 g) cinnamon
- 1 scoop (30 g) vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 scoop (30 g) vanilla casein protein powder
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup (140 g) liquid egg whites or 2 whole eggs
- ⅔ cup (150 g) full fat Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla
- ¾ cup (200 g) pumpkin purée
- ¼ cup (60 g) maple syrup
For the Frosting
- 1½ cups (324 g) whipped cream cheese frosting
Instructions
For the Muffins
- In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together until no clumps remain.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix to form a smooth batter.
- Spray a 12 well muffin tin with oil and be sure all sides of the wells are coated.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 wells. Tap it on the counter a few times to level off the batter and move out any air pockets.
- Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 22 minutes.
- Remove from the oven once cooked and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.
For the Frosting – Cream Cheese Version
- In the video, I show three versions of the frosting: a powdered sugar icing, macro friendly frosting, and a cream cheese frosting.
- For the cream cheese frosting I used store bought whipped cream cheese frosting. Each muffin gets 2 tbsp (27g) of frosting over the top. The macro information listed is for the muffin only, not the frosting, so you can choose what kind of topping you want. With the whipped cream cheese frosting each muffin will have 205 calories | 26.7g C | 7g P | 7.8g F
For the Frosting – Powdered Sugar Icing Version
- Mix together 30g of powdered sugar, 0.5g of vanilla, a tiny pinch of salt, and 5g of milk. Stir to form a glaze and top each muffin lightly. 101 calories | 14.3g C | 7g P | 1.8g F
Nutrition
Calories: 91kcal | Carbohydrates: 11.7g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 1.8g
This Post Has 25 Comments
I didn’t realize the full fat Greek yogurt until I had already used non fat but turned out excellent.
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Absolutely delicious. I used creamy vanilla casein powder and extreme milk chocolate whey powder(both gold standard brand) and it came out fantastic. I used a little under a tablespoon of frosting to cut out a big chunk of the calories and avoid making my own frosting and had no issues. I think I’ll try to adapt this to banana muffins or something so my Wife can enjoy these. She’s not a fan of pumpkin but I sure am.
I usually have non-fat greek yogurt on hand, and I used whole wheat flour that he mentioned in his video to replace the oat flour and cornstarch, and this turned out really good. Next time, I’ll use full fat yogurt and oat flour and cornstarch and compare. Also had no idea there was such an evil thing as store bought whipped cream cheese frosting! I bought it, and man, I better be careful how much I use it’s so good.
Is it better to store these in the fridge or counter?
I stored like a normal muffin, which is in an air tight container with a couple paper towels underneath and on top to absorb the moisture without drying the muffin. We finished up the last on the 3rd day and they were perfect still.
Fridge!
imo, it’s ok if you don’t have full fat greek yogurt. if you use whole eggs instead of egg whites, you will get your desired fats (helps keep the muffin moist) from that and still be fine. Also i used whey-casein blended protein powder and it turned out great still. I made this recipe into 6 muffins instead of 12 and still used the 22 minute time frame. Their is 100 calorie cream cheese per 2 tbs out there and it’s amazing.
Absolutely bomb recipe! I used plain nonfat greek yogurt since that’s what I had on hand and they turned out great. Full fat would prob be richer but I don’t really buy it often! Also the batter is delicious and yes I’m a savage.
Can you substitute the casein protein for plant based protein??? I find casein protein so hard to find.
I have never used plant protein but I doubt it would work
I use a whey/casein blend powder and it works just fine. For example, i just use the blended powder at 60 grams for this recipe.
I’ve been able to use Walmart’s plant-based blend of pea and quinoa in place of casein in recipes; it acts like casein in that it can actually can thicken liquid. I imagine any plant-based protein would be okay so long as it forms a thick paste when a small amount of water is added to it.
Storage recommendations? Tried ziplock bagging em one time and they got all moist and smelly 😫 tried counter this time and they’re hard as a rock🗿Can’t get enough of these tho!!! Thanks again for everything!
Look on Amazon for cupcake storage containers or something similar. I have one double decker container that has flippable bottoms. so i don’t have to worry about if it’ll fit in the premolded cupcake holder. I just put that in the fridge and it lasts all week. I think they are great cold, but my wife puts hers in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up.
amazing will do, thanks so much!
Chocolate whey and casein blend comes out really good too IMO if anyone is interested or wondering. I have hard a time enjoying vanilla protein based recipes outside of a blended shake with juice and fruit so I subbed the chocolate in place and it has a balanced flavor of pumpkin, spices, and chocolate.
I made these with apple sauce once, and bananas another time. They tasted great. Would love to see you put these variations up, because I’m not sure I hit the proportions right.
Can coconut or almond flour be substituted? I have every floor BUT oat…
Flour
I adore these. Excellent way to start the day. If you’re taking any requests I’d love to see a funfetti protein muffin. God Bless.
why both protein powders? i am sure there’s a good reason, but not familiar with this stuff.
Looks delicious! Can just whey isolate be used for protein? Don’t use casein very often. Will try and see.
I haven’t made these yet, but wanted to offer a great hack to keep calories even lower. Those laughing cow cheese wedges can make a great sub for cream cheese frosting. Just stir in sweetener of your choice and spread them on. My daughter made pumpkin cupcakes once and realized too late she had no cream cheese and used those (original flavor) and they were actually better than the straight cream cheese ones she made the next day. Now she always uses laughing cow.
This is the best non-muffin macro-friendly muffin recipe I’ve tried. It’s not a real muffin, but it hits the spot. It definitely satisfies the craving for a baked good, while having absolutely awesome macros. I make without the frosting. Maple syrup really makes the recipe – I have made them with honey in a pinch, and it works, but the maple syrup adds a lot more flavor.
Have also made them as mini-muffins. Cook time is less than half. This recipe makes 24 mini muffins.
They are pretty spongy and resilient to being crushed. I pack them as snacks for outdoor activities sometimes too. They vacuum seal well in the freezer.
There is another recipe on this site or maybe in one of his youtube videos which has multiple options for frosting – use one of those instead as there is a much more macro-friendly frosting recipe using fat-free cream cheese.