What better way to celebrate my birthday than publishing a new recipe? Especially one as tasty as these birthday cake protein cupcakes.
It may have taken six test batches, but I’ve finally nailed down one of the tastiest birthday cake protein cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. There’s the perfect amount of structure that you’d expect from a cupcake without being super dry like protein cupcakes tend to be. And thanks for the trusty confetti sprinkle, these cupcakes are s’fun!
The flavor and texture of these protein cupcakes is only rivaled by their nutrition facts. Without frosting (I’ll give you a few options for frosting), each cupcake has roughly 9 grams of protein, 7 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of fat. Any cupcake with more protein than carbs should not be this tasty and fluffy. If it’s acceptable to toot my own horn on my birthday, I’d like to exercise that right to the fullest.
How to Make Protein Cupcakes
As I mentioned above, I tested and retested this recipe about six times. That means if you have a question about ingredient modifications, I’ve probably tried it.
Fat Replacements for Baking
To keep fat and calories under control in a lot of my recipes, I use apple sauce or pumpkin (in chocolate recipes). In this recipe, I started with using both light butter and apple sauce but found the amount of apple sauce needed had too much apple flavor. It’s easy to mask subtle flavors like apple in chocolate recipes, but vanilla recipes need a bit more touch.
So, I decided to go with the ol’ faithful egg. If you wanted to swap apple sauce for some of the light butter and/or egg, it will work. Just know you’ll likely taste some apple.
Flour for Protein Cupcakes
If you’re new to my recipes, I use coconut flour a ton. It’s a super ingredient in my eyes due to its absorbency. You save a ton of carbs and calories since you don’t need much to give baked goods structure.
In this recipe’s early versions, I used coconut flour exclusively. But similar to the apple sauce, coconut flour gave off a little coconut flavor that took away from the birthday cake-ness of these protein cupcakes. Adding the all purpose flour gave them the remaining cake texture and structure without any real flavor changes. If you wanted to go coconut flour only, try adding 1/4 cup (28g) coconut flour in place of the 1/2 cup of all purpose flour.
The Best Protein Powder for Baking
I always recommend a whey concentrate or blend of whey protein for baking. They’re typically not as lean as a whey isolate or other isolate proteins, but the small difference in calories and fat content goes a long way in baking. In this recipe, I used the vanilla cupcake flavor of Dymatize 100% Whey which is my go-to for all my recipes. I’m not affiliated with Dymatize, their protein simply tastes amazing and bakes really well.
That said, you can use any protein powder you’d like. If you’re using a plant-based protein powder or an isolate protein, you may want to pull back on the amount used (maybe 2.5 scoops instead of 3) and add 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour to avoid dry cupcakes. You could also add another tablespoon of light butter or another egg. OR you could just make it as-is. There’s a good chance the cupcakes turn out fine. I just wanted to give you a few troubleshooting ideas ahead of time.
Update 3/2019: I’ve added notes to the recipe card below for using Bowmar Nutrition protein powder. If you’re unfamiliar, I’ve since inked a deal as a Bowmar athlete and use their protein powder to make my current recipes like the birthday cake low carb skillet cookie.
Protein Cupcakes Frosting
The frosting I used for these protein cupcakes is pretty complex (jk). You’ll need:
- Fat Free Cream Cheese
- Fat Free Greek Yogurt
- Protein Powder
- Pink Food Color (optional)
That’s it. As you can see in the image below, this frosting is on the creamy/moist end of the frosting spectrum.
If you wanted a more traditional frosting, you could use something like Swerve confectioners (a calorie free sugar substitute). For examples, check out my microwavable protein birthday cake recipe.
I think that’s all I have for you on ingredient swaps and recipe modifications. Below you’ll find the full recipe. If you try these protein cupcakes, take a pic and tag me in your creation on Instagram. I’ll be sure to share it with everyone.
Birthday Cake Protein Cupcakes
Ingredients
Protein Cupcakes
- 3 scoops, 102g Protein Powder, vanilla
- 1/2 C 60g All Purpose Flour
- 3/8 C 42g Coconut Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 3/4 C 180mL Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1/4 C 56g Light Butter
- 1/2 C 113g Fat Free Greek Yogurt, vanilla or plain
- 1 large Egg
- 1-2 tsp Imitation Vanilla, to taste
- 1 Tbsp 12g Confetti Sprinkles, optional
Protein Cupcake Frosting
- 2 oz Fat Free Cream Cheese
- 1/4 C 57g Fat Free Greek Yogurt, vanilla or plain
- 1 scoop, 34g Protein Powder, vanilla
- 1 tsp 4g Confetti Sprinkles, optional
- 2-3 drops Pink Food Color
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 325F and line a 12-muffin tin with cupcake liners or baking cups.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and be sure to get any clumps of coconut flour completely incorporated.
- Gradually add the milk, yogurt, butter, and egg to the dry ingredients. Stir until smooth.
- Fold the sprinkles into the cupcake batter.
- Transfer the batter to the cupcake liners as evenly as possible. Each liner should be around 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Avoid overcooking as protein treats run a higher risk of being dry/tough with overcooking.
- Remove the cupcake liners from the muffin tin to cool.
- While your protein cupcakes cool, mix the frosting ingredients in a bowl. You can simply frost the cupcakes or add the frosting to a resealable bag with a corner cut off or a piping tool for more precise frosting. (If you're going to have leftovers, I recommend leaving the cupcakes unfrosted until you eat them since the frosting needs to be refrigerated.)
Notes
- Each cupcake has 3 Smart Points.
- For Bowmar Nutrition Protein Birthday Cake, use 4 scoops (112g) and half the Greek yogurt (1/4 C or 56 grams). Keep everything else the same.
- Macros for protein cupcakes only: 103 calories, 8.7 grams of protein, 7.3 grams of carbs, and 3.9 grams of fat each
- The frosting ingredient amounts makes enough for a thinner layer of frosting. If you'd like more frosting, simply double the frosting ingredients.
- If you wanted to go coconut flour only, try adding 1/4 cup (28g) coconut flour in place of the 1/2 cup of all purpose flour.
- The fat sources for these protein cupcakes (eggs and light butter) are more or less interchangeable with replacements like unsweetened apple sauce. If you'd like to reduce the fat/calories or need a dairy-free option, try replacing portions with alternative fat replacements.
Nutrition
Similar Recipes You Might Like
- cheesecake filled protein muffins
- pumpkin banana bread protein muffins
- low carb pumpkin protein muffins
Hope this isn’t a stupid question, but you said 2oz fat-free cream cheese for the frosting. Do you measure using a measuring cup or a kitchen scale? Just not sure if cream cheese is considered liquid.
I always use a food scale and go by weight. If you don’t have one handy, 2 ounces would be 1/4th a block of cream cheese. Hope that helps!
Sorry to bug you again, Mason. Have you ever tried freezing these cupcakes? Does anything happen? What about leaving them in the fridge for a few days if I make them in advance? Does anything happen?
Also, would the frosting melt in room temperature after two hours? (You know how a party is. I leave them out but they might not be all eaten until a few hours later.)
Just made these cupcakes today. Sad to say that I am disappointed. I gave some to my family to try and they didn’t like them any more than me and had the same reasons why. The cupcakes have no flavor. The only flavor came from the frostings. You said the confetti flakes are optional so I didn’t add them, but they should be mandatory, or at least add sugar if you are not adding the flakes. I know you are very proud of these to the point where you tooted your own horn, but that just raised my family’s expectations of these cupcakes.
Just made these cupcakes today. Sad to say that I am disappointed. I gave some to my family to try and they didn’t like them any more than me and had the same reasons why. The cupcakes have no flavor. The only flavor came from the frostings. You said the confetti flakes are optional so I didn’t add them, but they should be mandatory, or at least add sugar if you are not adding the flakes. I know you are very proud of these to the point where you tooted your own horn, but that just raised my family’s expectations of these cupcakes.
Sorry to hear you guys didn’t enjoy them. The culprits for a lack of flavor could be the protein powder you’re using, not adding enough vanilla to compensate for that, or plain yogurt instead of vanilla. It’s also important to always keep in mind—you’re not eating real cupcakes with “healthier” desserts. I get high expectations, though. Better luck next time!
Hi Mason! I’m a huge fan of your recipes so thank you for sharing them in such detail. Could this recipe be used to make a small sheet cake?
I’m happy to hear you like them! For this recipe, I want to say yes, but I’ve never seen it done. I will say, however, these run the risk of drying out with the coconut flour. So if it’s a thin cake, you may be fine. But any larger and the center may have trouble cooking before the edges dry out and toughen. Good luck!
Hey,
Quick question on the Vanilla: would pure vanilla extract work? And how much should I put in?
You shouldn’t be able to tell much difference. I’d use the same amount.
I make this as a mug cake using PE Cake POP and your cinnamon roll variation on a regular basis as a go-to treat.
I made these with with BN Frosted Cookie protein. As with all of my baking I used real butter rather than light. Very light and fluffy, not dense. My coworkers loved these and I was able to use up some coconut flour that was needing to be used up, win/win!
I made these with with BN Frosted Cookie protein. As with all of my baking I used real butter rather than light. Very light and fluffy, not dense. My coworkers loved these and I was able to use up some coconut flour that was needing to be used up, win/win!
These are my favorite sweet treat! I make them into mini cupcakes and pack them for road trips. They’re the perfect bite size snack.