Pumpkin Banana Bread High Protein Muffins

I try not to throw this out very often, but this is one of my favorite recipes on my site. Not only are these banana bread protein bites the perfect on-the-go sweet treat, with 7 grams of protein and only 65 calories per bread bite, you’d have to go crazy on them to eat too many calories. And that’s going to be hard to do because these things are dense thanks to the high-fiber oats and pumpkin.

After I develop a recipe for the site, I continue experimenting with follow up batches to see if something can be improved. Typically, I find something that either works better or at least gives options like in the protein frostings for the Pumpkin Spice Protein Donuts recipe. In this case, however, I’ve yet to make anything better than the original recipe.

They’re just that good!

Ingredients for High Protein Muffins

For the syrup, I used Walden Farms pancake syrup which actually has 0 calories in addition to being sugar-free. So using a normal sugar-free syrup may add 15-30 calories to the entire recipe.

I used quick oats because I personally like my oats smaller, especially in baked goods. You can use old-fashioned or whole grain oats, but you may have more of a pronounced oat texture.

Outside of that, the remaining ingredients for these pumpkin banana bread bites are the obvious ones. Unless you’re tracking your intake closely, you won’t need to weigh your banana. That said, if your mixture is too runny or too thick, you can adjust by adding more protein or oats to thicken or more apple sauce, pumpkin, banana, or egg whites to increase moisture.

One thing I love about this recipe is the lack of precision required. As long as you get it in the muffin tin, there’s a good chance it’s going to turn out delicious!

Best Protein Powder for Recipes

You can use any protein you’d like, but I recommend Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey and/or Dymatize’s Whey or Elite XT blended protein. They’re reputable brands that have been around forever.

If you’d like to learn more about the different types of whey protein and how to find the best value for protein, read this article.

The macros for this recipe are with Gold Standard Whey. 

Update 9/27/18: I just published a new Pumpkin Banana Bread Protein Muffins recipe (pictured above) that’s unbelievably delicious. They’re a bit higher calorie than these protein bites with 122 calories and 10 grams of protein each but if you have the room in your diet, ya gotta check them out next.

How to Avoid a Tough or Dry Protein Recipe

Since there are a lot of moving parts in recipes with protein powder (different types of protein, volume differences in scoops, scooping vs weighing accuracy, etc.), there’s always a chance you’ll end up with a tough or dry finished product. I don’t think you will need to make any modifications to this recipe, but I know everyone’s taste buds are unique snowflakes! So, I’ll include a few ideas to combat this below:

• Use whey concentrate or a blend of proteins that’s not super lean like whey isolate (the extra carbs/fat goes a long way)
• Slightly reduce the amount of protein powder used
• Increase fat sources or faux fat sources (i.e. pumpkin, mashed bananas, sweet potato, avocado, unsweetened apple sauce, coconut oil or processed coconut flakes, etc.)
• 14 grams of light butter only has 50 calories and changes lives
• Slightly increase liquid ingredients
• Reduce cook time
• Add moisture after cooking via whipped topping, ice cream, or fruit reductions

Life’s too short for dry protein treats. I hope this helps!

Continue to Content

Pumpkin Banana Bread High Protein Muffins

Yield: 12 protein bites

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

A sweet combo of pumpkin and banana bread that delivers 7 grams of protein with only 65 calories.

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Ingredients

• 1 C (80g) Quick Oats
• 2 scoops (64g) Protein Powder, vanilla
• 1-2 Tbsp Stevia, to taste
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 medium (100g) Banana, mashed
• 1/2 C (120g) Canned Pumpkin
• 1 Tbsp (15g) Unsweetened Apple Sauce
• 3/4 C (170g) Liquid Egg Whites
• 1/4 C (60mL) Sugar-Free Syrup, I used Walden Farms pancake syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and spray a muffin tin with low-cal cooking spray.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. 
3. Add batter to the muffin tin.
4. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to fully cool before removing from the muffin tin.

Notes

• Each muffin has 1 Smart Point.
• I love these reheated for 20-30 seconds and topped with a bit of syrup. 
• I used Walden Farms pancake syrup which actually has 0 calories in addition to being sugar-free. So using a normal sugar-free syrup may add 15-30 calories to the entire recipe.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 protein bite
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 65Total Fat: 0.5gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 7g

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More Healthy Recipes with Pumpkin 

• Low Carb Pumpkin Protein Muffins
• No Bake Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
• Pumpkin Spice Low Carb Granola
• High Protein Pumpkin Spice Donuts