Desserts That Build Muscle

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6 Easy, High-Protein, Guilt-Free Recipes

Six easy-to-make, protein-packed desserts that will blow your mind.

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Trying to drop some fat and build more muscle? Never skip dessert. Well, skip regular desserts. Then make your own using protein powder and healthy ingredients. Here are six of our favorites.

Note: Not all protein powders are created equal. If you use other brands, you’ll get different results. These recipes were made using a gourmet whey/casein blend, Metabolic Drive (on Amazon), which has been specially designed to work as a shake and in recipes.

Banana Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 3 bananas, sliced and frozen
• 2 cups almond milk (or milk of choice)
• 4 scoops vanilla Metabolic Drive (on Amazon) (120g)
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, organic
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Slice bananas and freeze them. Speckled bananas work best.
2. Add frozen bananas and all other ingredients to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth or leave slightly chunky for texture.
3. Pour into a container and freeze. Should be ready to eat in a couple of hours.

Note: You don’t have to freeze the bananas first. That can make the mixture harder to blend if you don’t have a great blender or food processor. It’ll just take a little longer to freeze into ice cream.

Option: Replace the vanilla protein with strawberry Metabolic Drive. Leave out the chocolate chips and toss in a few fresh or frozen strawberries. Boom… strawberry-banana ice cream.

Yogurt Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups quick oats
• 1 cup vanilla Metabolic Drive (on Amazon)
• 1 cup Splenda or sweetener of choice
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups unsweetened Greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A few dashes of cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up. A pizza pan will work too (and we know you have one).
3. Mix everything together. Scoop 18 medium-sized cookies onto the baking sheet. A cookie dough scoop with a sweep or wiper works well here.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes.
5. Check the cookies by breaking one open. The larger the cookies, the longer the bake time.

Notes: This one doesn’t work well with old-fashioned oats. Quick oats are better able to absorb moisture and act kind of like a flour. This recipe also works well with fresh berries, sliced banana, chopped nuts, and dark chocolate chips.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 cup vanilla Metabolic Drive (on Amazon)
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• A few dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
• Chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mash the bananas, then mix with all other ingredients.
3. Spray a bread loaf pan with the baking oil of your choice, then coat evenly with about a tablespoon of protein powder to prevent the bread from sticking.
4. Bake for about 40 minutes.

Note: Bake times may vary depending on your oven, your elevation, and the size of your pan. So check it frequently by inserting a knife. When the knife comes out clean, eat up.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 scoops (60g) vanilla Metabolic Drive (on Amazon)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup Splenda (or equivalent sweetener of choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• As much cinnamon and powdered ginger as you’d like
• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
3. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Using a cookie scooper, medium ice cream scoop, or just a spoon, place 5-8 mounds of dough onto the sheet pan.
5. Bake for 18-22 minutes. If you stick your finger in one and it feels too soft to pick up, it’s not quite ready yet.

Chunky Monkey Protein Cake

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 1 small banana, mashed
• 1 scoop (30g) vanilla Metabolic Drive (on Amazon)
• 1/4 cup halved walnuts
• 1/4 cup organic dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• Tablespoon of Splenda or low-calorie sweetener of choice (optional)
• Spray coconut oil or similar (for coating mug or bowl)

Directions

1. Spray a large microwave-safe mug or small bowl with coconut oil.
2. Add all the ingredients to the mug or bowl and mix together. Be sure to mash up the banana with a fork or whisk. A slightly soft, speckled banana works best.
3. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the power of your microwave and the thickness of your mug or bowl. The mixture will rise, then fall.
4. Allow to cool for a minute, slip the cake out, add the optional topping below, and enjoy.

The Icing: Here’s an easy topping that’ll almost double the protein content: mix a scoop of chocolate Metabolic Drive Protein with 1.5 tablespoons of milk or kefir. Drizzle over the top of your cake.

1-Minute Mug Cake

Mug Cake Ingredients

• 1 scoop (30 g) chocolate Metabolic Drive (on Amazon)
• 1 whole egg, large
• 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter (or nut butter of choice)
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon milk (regular milk, almond milk, whatever)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Coconut oil spray or similar for coating mug

Drizzle Ingredients

• 1 scoop (30 g) vanilla Metabolic Drive
• 1.5 tablespoons of water
• Chopped nuts for topping (optional)

Directions

1. Whisk all the cake ingredients together in a bowl to make the batter.
2. Lightly spray or smear a large mug with coconut oil. Spoon the batter into the mug.
3. Microwave for around 60-90 seconds. Your microwave’s power and the thickness of the mug with affect cooking time, but a minute is about right.
4. Use this time to make your vanilla drizzle: mix the protein powder with the water and stir until a thick frosting forms. Use more or less water as needed to get the consistency you want.
5. Top your mug cake with the drizzle, add chopped nuts if you’d like, and dig in.

Option: Reverse the protein powder flavors. Use vanilla protein for the cake and chocolate protein for the drizzle.

Note: If you double the recipe, you’ll need to microwave it for longer. And, um, get a bigger mug.