High Protein Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

Have you ever had a muffin with a layer of cheesecake in the center? If not, get ready to have your world rocked by these blueberry cheesecake muffins. 

Each muffin has a high protein blueberry cheesecake filling wrapped inside a low fat blueberry muffin. Sounds crazy, right?

What’s even crazier, though, is that each muffin has just 135 calories! 

I always like to give inspiration credit and in this case, my blueberry cheesecake muffins were inspired by these blueberry cream cheese muffins by Dorothy at Crazy for Crust. 

Ingredient Substitutions and FAQ about These Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

I originally posted this recipe on my Instagram and will quickly answer the most common recipe modification questions I received in the section below. 

What can I substitute for all purpose flour? 

Whether you need a gluten free or simply lower carb alternative, my typical recommendation is swapping almond flour gram for gram. That said, every recipe is a bit different. 

In my low carb skillet cookie recipe, for example, a 1:1 swap worked perfectly. But with my low carb lemon protein cookies, I needed an extra tablespoon of Greek yogurt and slightly less baking powder. 

I’d recommend starting with 1:1 and increasing or reducing liquid ingredients as needed to get your muffin batter just right. 

Can I use a different flavor of protein powder?

The recipe calls for a new flavor of Bowmar Nutrition protein powder, Blueberry Cheesecake. But you’re more than welcome to use another flavor. There are still blueberries in the muffins, after all. 

I used Bowmar Nutrition’s Frosted Cookie protein powder in my white chocolate raspberry protein cheesecake and would recommend that for a vanilla style cheesecake filling. 

Is there a substitute for unsweetened apple sauce? 

I use apple sauce in place of fat sources in my lower calorie baked goods. If you don’t have access to apple sauce or wanted to use something else, light butter or a whole egg would be easy substitutes.  

For a plant based substitute, a bit of oil, canned pumpkin, or another fruit puree should do the trick since it’s only 1/4 cup. 

P.S. If you’re worried about tasting the apple sauce, I can assure you 1/4 cup won’t be noticeable! 

What’s the deal with the net carbs in Swerve Granular? 

In the original Instagram post, I mentioned that using Swerve in the muffin batter added 5 grams of carbs per muffin because I have some readers that follow net carbs and some that track every carb. 

Swerve is made from erythritol, which is one of those tricky sugar substitutes that classifies as a zero-calorie, non-glycemic carb. So the calories from its carb content are so low it rounds down to zero. 

Should I track net carbs or calories?

It’s tricky, but my recommendation is if you track calories, treat something like Swerve products as zero-calorie. And if you track macros, log the carbs and be happy with a tiny hidden calorie deficit bonus. 

Essentially, track what’s on the label and move on. Don’t drive yourself crazy over something so small. 

Also, it’s worth noting you can use any granulated sugar substitute like a baking stevia. Whatever you use, make sure it subs 1:1 for sugar like Swerve does. 

Are there a substitutes for the Greek yogurt and cream cheese to make these blueberry cheesecake muffins dairy free? 

I use Greek yogurt in lower calorie recipes as another fat replacement. If you wanted to use a plant based oil, I’d recommend using 1 cup in place of the Greek yogurt. Similar to my almond flour suggestion above, it may take some tinkering to get things just right. 

For the cream cheese, I’d recommend a plant based cream cheese product. 

And if you’re wondering where to find fat free cream cheese, I buy mine from Walmart and/or Kroger. If you can’t find any, feel free to use 1/3 fat cream cheese. There’s only 4 ounces in the recipe so the fat differences won’t make a huge calorie difference. 

How do you store these blueberry cheesecake muffins?

After the muffins have baked, you’ll want to cool and refrigerate to let the cream cheese set. I’d recommend leaving the muffins refrigerated for up to 3-5 days.

You can reheat the muffins in the oven (a few minutes at 350), an air fryer (same as oven), or microwave (15-20 seconds) before eating. Or you can eat them cold! 

Final Recipe Notes for Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

I mentioned that I posted this recipe on Instagram first so if you’d like to get in on the action there you can find me @mason_woodruff. Or you can join my free Facebook group and get ideas and tips from other Proton Party members.

More Protein Muffins You Might Like

Looking for a lower carb muffin recipe? Check out my 6-ingredient pumpkin protein muffins. Each one has just 4 grams of carbs.

And if you’re a banana bread fan, my pumpkin banana bread protein muffins are to die for!