baking with protein powder

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LovesDogsAndBooks
LovesDogsAndBooks Posts: 190 Member
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Since I've been losing weight I eat one or two sweet protein bars every day to substitute for cake or pastry which was my usual sweet before. I would prefer eating baked goods as my sweet, but I have trouble getting enough protein the way it is, so I would like to add protein powder to them. Is there something like a general rule when adding powders to your batter, like reduce flour by the amount of powder added? Thanks!

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  • LovesDogsAndBooks
    LovesDogsAndBooks Posts: 190 Member
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    Thanks! I have plenty of frozen overripe bananas in the freezer, so I think I'll start with a banana bread. I made the cheesecake from your thread a couple of times, but used beaten egg whites instead of protein powder. Always turned out great, so much so that it never made it into the freezer but was gone within a couple of days! Can't keep doing that, so now I'll try simple sweet breads.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    I bake about 80% of our bread, using a "no knead" approach. Whole wheat, oat, rye and artisan white, in loaf and skillet (boule) shapes. Have been semi-successful with pita (flat OK, scant pockets though).

    I have experimented with adding whey in various amounts to goose the protein content a touch. I am NOT displacing flour, so this is in the 1-4 scoop range per loaf. Two scoops is unnoticeable, 4 scoops seems to make a browner crust and seemingly a little more crumbly, but since bread baking is an art (every loaf a separate creation - humidity, flour components, etc.), I don't have what I'd consider lab-quality consistent results to report. Haven't gone higher in dosage, and only done this with white (unbleached bread flour) and whole wheat (unbleached bread flour and whole wheat mix, up to 40% WW - all WW makes a very dense bread).

    Home-baked bread tends to be already more nutrient-robust than commercial, without all the extra gunk. My aim was to boost the protein, not make a "wheat steak," so I'm satisfied with these results.
  • LovesDogsAndBooks
    LovesDogsAndBooks Posts: 190 Member
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    I used to bake bread a lot, but it didn't even occur to me to add protein powder to bread dough, so thanks for bringing it up!
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
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    Normal wheat flour will make things stick together. If you replace a bit of flour in a cake or muffin with protein powder it'll likely just be a little bit more crumbly. Lots of shortbread recipes actually include a little bit of rice flour to have precisely that effect :) if you find it does change the texture more than you'd like, there are things you can add to help it bind together. Banana is a good one, or a splodge of lemon curd. Xanthan gum is often used in gluten free baking to help it bind together since gluten is what makes it stick.

    Another thing you could do is try using nut flours; there are recipes out there using ground almonds for sure. Those recipes might be a good starting point for baking with your usual protein powder - dunno how fine the powder is though?
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    LovesDogsAndBooks wrote: »
    I used to bake bread a lot, but it didn't even occur to me to add protein powder to bread dough, so thanks for bringing it up!

    Glad to help when I can. Bread (good bread!) is one of my downfalls; if I can snazz it up a bit, nutrition-wise, I call that a win, LOL.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    Rosemary7391 wrote: »
    Another thing you could do is try using nut flours; there are recipes out there using ground almonds for sure. Those recipes might be a good starting point for baking with your usual protein powder - dunno how fine the powder is though?

    Hmmm. I've seen nut flour in the stores, and thought about them. Maybe I'll need to act on the impulse. Thanks.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I made gluten free, dairy free pancakes last weekend using oat flour instead of wheat flour. I added a teaspoon of xanthan gum which helped the texture considerably. My pancakes held together well without getting crumbly. I know this doesn't answer your question about how much protein powder to add but I do sometimes add a scoop to my pancake blend without harm.

    I just wanted to put in a plug for the miracles of xanthan gum.
  • LovesDogsAndBooks
    LovesDogsAndBooks Posts: 190 Member
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    I'm not really worried about gluten in my food, I'm just trying to incorporate more protein, especially into my sweets which I won't let go. I have never used protein powder and was determined not to resort to it, but it seems tough if you're not a big meat eater. There are certain recipes where I add protein through egg whites, and as I am writing this it occurs to me that I could also try macaroons, they consist mainly of beaten egg whites, I think.
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
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    I know you're not worried about gluten in your food; but by replacing some of the flour with protein powder you won't have as much gluten, hence why gluten free baking techniques will also help you :) it's the same chemistry happening regardless of why you do it.
  • LovesDogsAndBooks
    LovesDogsAndBooks Posts: 190 Member
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    Okay, I get it now! I've heard of xanthan gum, but never really bothered to look it up, until now. From what I read, cornstarch can also be used as a thickener in baking, and I have that already, so I would try that first. Thanks, though!
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    Protein angel food cake :D So glad i found it, The cakes 200ish calories and 35-40g protein. Super easy and delicious. Seriously look it up

    eyzl6k0kdvub.jpg
  • LovesDogsAndBooks
    LovesDogsAndBooks Posts: 190 Member
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    Thanks for the angel food cake idea! All the recipes I found said not to use egg whites from a carton, but from actual eggs. Why is that?
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,467 Member
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    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    Protein angel food cake :D So glad i found it, The cakes 200ish calories and 35-40g protein. Super easy and delicious. Seriously look it up

    eyzl6k0kdvub.jpg

    yum! Following this thread cause I also love sweet and rich breads. I make bread with almond flour, add fruits and nuts depending on how I feel that day. Made banana bread last. Definitely gonna make this angel food! Where did you find it?
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    LovesDogsAndBooks wrote: »
    Thanks for the angel food cake idea! All the recipes I found said not to use egg whites from a carton, but from actual eggs. Why is that?

    Nah have to be fresh room temperature egg whites. And yes whey protein. The one above i swapped caramel extract for the vanilla and used vanilla powder turned out like toasted marshmallow. Mmmm. Heres the recipe basics
    Im making a chocolate peanutbutter version in about an hour. Im having fun lol

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7b16AhPY3o

  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
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    You can get egg whites in a carton? Weird! But angel food cake is supposed to be very light and fluffy; if the egg whites in cartons are pasteurised maybe they don't beat well?
  • LovesDogsAndBooks
    LovesDogsAndBooks Posts: 190 Member
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    I've used "all whites" from a carton many times, they whip up great. I would never use real eggs and discard the best part, the yolks, if I only needed the whites at the moment. Not sure where you live, Rosemary, but here in the US they put those cartons with the real eggs.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    I seem to remember from baking with whey protein years ago that things burn more easily. You might want to turn the oven temp down a bit. Also, you may find you need to add extra liquid. It may take a bit of trial and error to get what you want without things being too brown, dry or brick-like.
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
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    LovesDogsAndBooks wrote: »
    I've used "all whites" from a carton many times, they whip up great. I would never use real eggs and discard the best part, the yolks, if I only needed the whites at the moment. Not sure where you live, Rosemary, but here in the US they put those cartons with the real eggs.

    I've never spotted them but apparently they do exist here in the UK too. I'd never throw away egg yolks or whites; I use egg whites for sticking together sugar flowers and always find a use for the yolk. I wouldn't use a whole carton on that though!

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