If you enjoyed my Pumpkin Spice Protein Donuts, you’ll love these. I say that to drop a hint at this recipe’s secret ingredient – pumpkin. But don’t worry, you’ll never know it’s there. These aren’t called double chocolate donuts just for the fun of it!
Pumpkin gets thrust into the limelight every fall thanks to Pumpkin Spice Lattes and holiday pies. However, if you’re looking for a go-to ingredient for low-calorie recipes all year long, look no further than our orange friend. 120g of canned pumpkin only has 50 calories of creamy texture goodness. It’s crazy!
Okay, pumpkin is awesome, but you’re here for the chocolate. Let’s get into the double chocolate donuts recipe.
Chocolate Protein Donuts Ingredients
I used a different approach with the protein frosting or glaze than I did in the pumpkin version, using chocolate syrup instead of evaporated milk. The consistency is a bit thinner, which I found easier to work with than the former. Why not try both?
That being said, the donuts taste great without the glaze. You could save some extra carbs and calories by skipping out on the glaze if you wanted, but I’d make a tiny bit for funzies.
You could also try using the ultimate chocolate protein frosting recipe.
Speaking of funzies, don’t underestimate the boost from sprinkles. As you can see, I used both chocolate and rainbow sprinkles and find the extra 5-10 calories worth it.
Similar to the pumpkin donuts, if you wanted a donut with a bit more density and moisture, you could swap an egg for the apple sauce. It will add about 12 calories per donut, but that’s not a huge difference. Other than that, it’s business as usual.
Don’t worry about perfection when adding the batter to your donut pan. It’s easy to remove any excess around the edges.
Any donut pan will do, but you can get the one I use on Amazon here. Update 10/18: I’ve since switched to a silicone donut mold and love how they never stick.
The photo above was from the same batch. Just flip and trim the edges with a knife or fingers and you’re good to go!
My Recommended Protein Powder
You can use any protein you’d like, but I recommend Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey, Dymatize’s 100% Whey, or PEScience Select Whey and Casein Blend. I’m not affiliated with any of these companies, I just use and love their products.
The macros for this recipe are with Gold Standard Whey.
That’s all ya need to know. I hope you enjoy these protein donuts as much as I did! If you make this for a post-workout snack or sweets fix, tag me in your creation on Instagram or join my free Facebook group and share it with everyone.
Double Chocolate Protein Donuts
Ingredients
Pronuts
- 1/4 C All Purpose Flour
- 1 scoop Protein Powder, chocolate
- 3/8 C 92g Liquid Egg Whites, or 2 whole egg whites
- 1/2 C 120g Canned Pumpkin
- 2 Tbsp Swerve Confectioners, or Zero-Calorie Sweetener
- 1 Tbsp 15g Apple Sauce
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 3 Tbsp 15g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Frosting/Glaze
- 1 serving, 32g Fat-Free Cream Cheese
- 1 Tbsp 15g Sugar-Free Chocolate Syrup
- 1 scoop Protein Powder, chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray donut pan with low-cal cooking spray.
- Mix pronut ingredients in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
- Fill donut pan evenly and bake for 15 minutes.
- To make your frosting, mix cream cheese (room temp helps), chocolate syrup, and one scoop of protein powder together until creamy.
- To cover donuts, allow them to cool briefly and dip them face down into frosting mixture. Twist them back and forth in a circular motion and remove to let the frosting set. Voila!
Notes
Nutrition
More Healthy Recipes You Might Like
Here’s a handful of my favorite recipes on the blog:
I’m trying to figure the math here… how is. 1 tablespoon of applesauce 15 grams where as 3 tablespoons of cocoa is also 15 grams??
Different ingredients have different weights for the same volume measurement. Look at 2 Tbsp of coconut flour (14g) vs 2 Tbsp of peanut butter (32g) or 2 Tbsp of milk (30mL or about 30g). Does that make sense or answer your question?
My frosting was nothing like the picture. Came out more like regular cake icing. Is this recipe missing something or are the measurements off?
My frosting was nothing like the picture. Came out more like regular cake icing. Is this recipe missing something or are the measurements off?
Sorry about that! I’ll have to retest this to see, but I’ve seen a lot of successful re-creations of this recipe. The easiest fix would be adding a bit more syrup or even a little liquid like almond milk to the icing (a tablespoon should do the trick).
Did you calculate how many grams of sugar are in each donut by chance or just the carbs?
I only noted total carbs. It would be easy to determine sugar, though. Simply add all the ingredients to Myfitnesspal or a food log and divide the total grams of sugar by 6.
I LOVE these. Purchased the donut pan from Amazon specifically to make this recipe, and it was money well-spent. Awesome chocolate flavor, and while the texture has that springy feel that a lot of higher-protein cakes do, it doesn’t detract in the slightest.
I did it with white chocolate frosting and nuts I looks amazing you have to try it I give a good taste my husband love it
I LOVE these. Purchased the donut pan from Amazon specifically to make this recipe, and it was money well-spent. Awesome chocolate flavor, and while the texture has that springy feel that a lot of higher-protein cakes do, it doesn’t detract in the slightest.
I did it with white chocolate frosting and nuts I looks amazing you have to try it I give a good taste my husband love it
how much is contained in ” a scoop” of protein powder? I was thinking of trying to substitute PB2 for the protein powder as I have that on hand.
Most scoops are 30-34 grams or so. That’s roughly 1/4-3/8 cups depending on the protein powder. I wouldn’t recommend using that much pb2 in a recipe since it’s so thick and acts a bit differently. You may be able to make it work with about half the pb2, but I can’t say for sure. Sorry I’m not more help!
How should these be stored? Refrigerated?