The Ultimate Almost Sugar-Free Protein Cookie Dough Recipe

Are you trying to reach your protein goals late at night? Additionally, this sugar free cookie dough is a sweet, protein-friendly option that helps you stay on track with your nutrition goals.

Additionally, each serving provides 20 grams of quality muscle-building protein and 11 grams of fiber. This sugar free cookie dough keeps the sugar low, so low it’s almost sugar-free. It only has 2.5 grams of sugar! Who doesn’t want to enjoy a sweet, sticky chocolate chip cookie dough every night? Well this recipe is the one you’ve been looking for!

 

What do I need to make this Protein Cookie Dough?

• Almond Butter – or your favorite nut butter
• Cottage Cheese – you can use greek yogurt instead but it will bring a bit of a tang to the recipe
• Vanilla Extract
• Blackstrap Molasses – this type of molasses is on the lower end for sugar content
• Trim Healthy Baking Blend – this is where you get your fiber boost
• Trim Healthy Gentle Sweet
• Vanilla Whey Protein Powder – other flavors of whey work too
• Pink Himalayan Salt
• Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips – or any brand of sugar free chocolate chips
• Whole Milk – or your favorite milk of choice

How long does this sugar free cookie dough last?

Well…. not very long! Everyone in my house eats this within a day or two of it being made so good luck keeping it in your fridge. If you managed to make enough for leftovers, I’ve kept a batch in the fridge for 5 days with no problems. 

Why do I need Baking Blend and Gentle Sweet to make this almost sugar-free cookie dough?

The goal of this recipe is to keep our desserts intentional and well, delicious. Trim Healthy Baking Blend and Gentle Sweet are the tools to make this happen.

Baking blend is the perfect substitute to other flours because of its unique blend of oat fiber, coconut flour, golden flax meal and almond flour. Other protein cookie dough recipes will use oat flour, almond flour or even regular wheat flour. All of these will just increase the carbs or fat of your recipe without giving you a good source of fiber. Don’t have any? Go ahead and get some here.

Trim Healthy Gentle Sweet is another necessary ingredient because it’s what keeps this recipe almost sugar-free. Gentle Sweet contains a blend of xylitol, erythritol and stevia extract. I’d recommend getting the 3 lb bag. This sweetener is my favorite for almost every dessert I make. Go ahead and get some here.

The only reason this recipe isn’t 100% sugar-free is because it does contain a small amount of blackstrap molasses. What helps give a cookie dough its unique flavor is brown sugar. Since the goal is to keep this recipe on the healthier side, a small amount of blackstrap molasses will imitate that brown sugar taste. 

What can I use if I don’t have any vanilla whey protein powder?

This recipe is heavily dependent on using whey protein… that’s why ‘protein’ is in the title! If you check the pantry though, and notice you’re out of whey, try any type of vanilla protein blend you have. I would try using half the amount called for in the recipe and make sure you don’t create a crumbly mess. It’s always easier to add a bit more later to achieve the right consistency.

Maybe you don’t purchase whey protein on a weekly or monthly basis, no problem! I’d increase the amount of cottage cheese and increase the baking blend. This will help to make up for the protein content and give the volume you need since protein powder does both these things. Even greek yogurt will work for this recipe since that too will give a creamy base and a soft texture when added to baking blend.

I mixed everything together and it’s a sticky, glue-like mixture. Is this right?

Yeah, I’ve been there and done that! This is what happens when you don’t add everything by the proper grouping. It’s just like making real cookie dough: mix the wet, then the dry, and mix it all together. Except, I always look for a one-bowl method to make things easier. 

Be sure to add the wet ingredients (except the milk) to your bowl first: almond butter, greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and blackstrap molasses and mix it all up. Then use the same bowl that has the wet ingredients and pile on the dry ingredients: baking blend, gentle sweet, whey protein, and salt. 

I find the key to making this recipe come together like cookie dough is to wait and add the milk when you add the chocolate chips. The dough doesn’t form a cohesive consistency on its own and by giving the combined wet and dry ingredients a splash of milk, you fix this problem. It’s the whey protein and almond butter who need a helping hand in order to come together. Otherwise, if you add the milk in the beginning, by the time you reach the end, you’ll be looking at a sticky, glue-like mixture. So ADD THE MILK LAST!

Another benefit to adding the milk last is it helps the chocolate chips get worked into the dough. An unexpected problem that adding the milk earlier in the recipe brings is the chocolate chips just sit on top of the dough. The mixture is so dry that the chocolate chips act more like a topping than an incorporated ingredient. But hey, even if you mess up the milk timing, it’s never too late to add chocolate chips to a recipe (it’s better to have them than go without!) but it does works best to add the milk and chocolate chips at the same time.

Are there any other flavors of sugar free cookie dough I can try?

Of course there are! This recipe can be stripped down to a base recipe and from there, all sorts of combinations are created. Some of our family’s favorite flavors are regular chocolate chip, brownie batter (we add a tablespoon of cacao powder and use Lily’s white chocolate chips), and cinnamon toast (add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and half a serving of Catalina Crunch Cinnamon Toast cereal.)

Here is what we use as the base recipe:

• Nut Butter – a cashew butter, pecan butter, peanut butter or almond butter are the top choices. Allergic to nuts? Try sunflower seed butter, tahini, or even just regular butter.
• Cottage Cheese
• Vanilla Extract
• Trim Healthy Baking Blend
• Trim Healthy Gentle Sweet
• Whey Protein Powder – you can use chocolate, strawberry, cinnamon, coffee flavored, caramel, birthday cake or brownie batter
• Pink Himalayan Salt
• Milk of Choice
• Add in’s – chocolate chips are the flavor of this recipe but I’ve added cereal, mini marshmallows and crushed graham crackers, white chocolate chips would be good in a strawberry whey protein mix, sprinkles in the birthday cake protein mix, and some roasted chopped up pecans would taste good in a caramel whey protein mix.

Purpose of the Plate – Protein

Protein is the hot new fad right now and I’m so grateful it is! Growing up, I didn’t think about protein and how much I was getting. I was eating foods I liked, not understanding how food was playing a major role in how I felt each day. Protein is the macronutrient in a meal that helps keep you full and feel satisfied even hours after eating. 

Protein is also crucial for repairing and building muscle. Think of your body and your muscles like a house. There is normal wear and tear but sometimes there’s a hole in the wall or the wall paper comes off. When you eat protein, protein is like a construction crew that comes in and makes all the repairs. They can even make improvements to the home and build a better home IF you supply them with enough building materials to repair AND improve on your home. 

This protein cookie dough has a great amount of protein to end your day with. Eating a serving of cookie dough gets you 20 grams of protein which is like eating 3 oz of chicken breast or 3/4 cup of greek yogurt but this recipe tastes like dessert. Personally, I’d much rather end my day with a bowl of this than more chicken.

Additional Recipes

If you think this recipe is a hit, go ahead and try these out too.

• Homemade Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup
• Classic Iced Mocha Collagen Latte