Chewy, soft, and sweet, these vegan protein cookies will be your next favorite snack! Each cookie has 10g of protein and just under 150 calories. This one-bowl recipe is also easy to make and ready in 20 minutes.
Looking for a healthier treat that will satisfy your sweet tooth? Look no further than these vegan protein cookies! Filling and delicious, they make a great light breakfast or post-workout snack.
Just like my protein muffins and oatmeal protein bars, these cookies contain protein powder. However, they taste like regular cookies, and I'm confident no one will notice the difference!
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💚Why you will love this recipe
- Perfectly sweetened with a soft and chewy texture
- Healthier and higher in protein than many packaged protein cookies - each cookie contains 10g of protein!
- A non-messy snack that is great to bring with you on-the-go
- Highly customizable with a variety of flavor combinations
- Cost-effective and affordable when compared to store-bought ones
🍌What you will need
📃Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Bananas - Make sure to use ripe and spotty bananas.
- Protein powder - I am using the Naked Pea unflavored protein powder. You can use other plant-based protein powders, but I recommend sticking with unflavored or vanilla-flavored ones.
- Oats - Both quick and rolled oats work in this recipe. Quick oats yield a smoother texture, while the latter produces a chewier cookie. To keep this recipe gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats.
- Maple syrup - Feel free to use other liquid sweeteners in place, like agave syrup or sugar-free syrup. If your protein powder is on the sweeter side, you can choose to omit it.
- Peanut butter - Can be substituted with other nut butter like almond or cashew butter. Tahini and sunflower seed butter will work too.
- Chocolate chips - Make sure that the chocolate chips used are vegan. I am using Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsel, and highly recommend it!
🔪How to make
Mashing bananas - Using a fork or potato masher, mash the bananas until reasonably smooth.
Making cookie dough - Add maple syrup and peanut butter. Stir until everything is well mixed. Then, mix in protein powder, oats, chocolate chips, and baking powder. Mix until a dough forms.
Shaping cookies - Scoop out 3-4 tablespoons of dough using a measuring spoon or a large cookie dough scoop. Gently flatten cookies using the palm of your hands or a spoon.
Baking - Bake cookies in an oven preheated to 180C/350F for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are firm. Allow vegan protein cookies to cool down before digging in! Optionally, you can top cookies with some flaked sea salt.
✔Helpful tips
- The texture of cookie dough - The ideal consistency for the dough is slightly moist without being overly sticky. Depending on the type of protein powder used, additional protein powder may need to be added gradually, one tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too wet. Adding a small amount of plant-based milk can help if the dough seems dry and crumbly.
- Use a protein powder you like - The flavor of the protein powder will ultimately affect the flavor of these protein cookies. Do choose a brand and flavor of protein powder you enjoy.
- Shape cookies with wet hands - This is to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands.
✨Variations and add-ins
As mentioned above, you can customize these vegan protein cookies. Here are some flavors and add-in ideas to get you started -
Peanut butter - I suggest replacing up to ¼ of the protein powder with powdered peanut butter, such as PB2, for an extra peanut butter flavor. Or, you could use a peanut butter-flavored protein powder.
Double chocolate - Use a chocolate-flavored protein powder, and add up to ⅓ cup of cocoa powder. You might have to add some plant-based milk if the dough is too dry after adding cocoa powder.
Oatmeal raisin - Substitute chocolate chips with ½ cup of raisins. I also recommend adding 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
White chocolate - Use vegan white chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate chips.
Cookies and cream - Use vanilla or cookies and cream-flavored protein powder. I also highly recommend mixing in some white chocolate chips and chunks of Oreo.
Protein powder - In general, you can switch up the flavor of protein powder to yield cookies of different flavors, like salted caramel, matcha, or coffee.
❄️Storing suggestions
Fridge - These vegan protein cookies can be refrigerated for a week. Store them in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out.
Freezer - These cookies freeze well too! They can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Reheating - Allow frozen cookies to thaw overnight in the fridge before heating. You can either heat it in the microwave or oven.
❔Commonly asked questions
If you have added too much dry ingredients, your protein cookies will turn out dry and crumbly. The dough should be slightly wetter than regular cookie dough. If your dough is too dry, add some milk, a tablespoon at a time, or until desired consistency is achieved.
Plant-based protein powder works well in baking. However, you might need to tweak the amount of protein powder or liquid if the recipe calls for whey-based protein powder.
As this is a vegan recipe, it is not tested with a whey-based protein powder.
However, you can replace plant-based protein powder with whey protein in a 1:1 ratio. You might need to increase the amount of whey added, as plant-based protein powder tends to be more absorbent.
🍽More high protein vegan snacks
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Protein Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 medium ripe banana about 16 oz (450g)
- ¼-1/3 cup maple syrup or other liquid sweeteners*
- ¼ cup peanut butter or other nut/seed butters
- 1 ¼ cup plant-based protein powder unflavored for vanilla** (125g)
- ½ cup rolled oats (45g)
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips (80g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a sillicon mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash banana with a fork or potato masher until smooth.4 medium ripe banana
- Next, add in maple syrup and peanut butter. Stir until everything is well combined.¼-1/3 cup maple syrup
- Now, add in protein powder, oats, chocolate chips and baking powder. Mix well. The mixture should resembles cookie dough, so do add a splash of water or more protein powder if needed.¼ cup peanut butter, 1 ¼ cup plant-based protein powder, ½ cup rolled oats, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ⅓ cup chocolate chips
- Portion out around 3-4 tablespoons of mixture using a measuring cup/large cookie dough scoop. Gently flatten the dough using your palm. Repeat until the dough is used up.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies appears firm and set. Let your vegan protein cookies cool down slightly before enjoying!
Notes
- Use a protein powder you like - The flavor of the protein powder will ultimately affect the flavor of these protein cookies. Do choose a brand and flavor of protein powder you enjoy.
- Shape cookies with wet hands - This is to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands.
- Storing - Store cookies in an airtight container, and they can be refrigerated for a week. These vegan protein cookies are freezable too, and can be frozen for 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition info calculated is just a rough estimate and is provided as a courtesy. Bear in mind that value will vary based on variables like specific brand or type of product used. To obtain the most accurate representation, it is highly recommended that you calculate it on your own with the actual amount and type of ingredient used.
Alex S
Question - Can you taste the pea protein? The naked brand of unflavored pea protein is really hard to go unnoticed and I like my cookies sweet. Thanks!
Jim Mee Sha
No, not really!