Lemon Poppyseed Protein Muffins

UPDATED TO ADD: I have now posted these in Double Chocolate flavour as well…click here!

I love lemon poppyseed muffins.

And I am also constantly on the search for a healthy baked good that I can enjoy with my morning tea and that will give me a good protein punch to keep me going.

(By the way, if you are interested in a lemon poppyseed muffin recipe that isn’t specifically a protein muffin, click here. The muffins in this link can easily be made vegan by using Earth Balance and non-dairy milk of your choice).

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I was disappointed with protein muffin recipes I’ve tried in the past for two reasons:

• I find them rubbery and dry
• I find they have fewer than 6 grams of protein per muffin, if you’re lucky. That is not a protein muffin to a poor protein-deprived vegetarian such as myself.

So, I embarked on a mission.

Here are the results of my mission, which lead me to proclaim: it was a success.

These win, because:

• they are moist and tasty
• you do not taste the protein powder or the stevia (but you are welcome to use a different sweetener if you prefer)
• there is just over 100 calories per muffin!
• they pack 8g of protein in per muffin (about 7.3g if you use Greek yogurt instead of cottage cheese)
• they pack only 10g of carbs per muffin
• they do not dry out or get rubbery
• they taste wonderfully lemony
• the coconut flour adds extra protein, a good dose of fibre, and a nice background flavour, but you can just replace it with regular flour if you don’t have it (the protein count will be slightly lower though)

So what are we waiting for? Here’s the answer to your mid-morning or late-night protein snack prayers (or whenever else you like to dose up on some protein!)

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Alas, these are not vegan. I have yet to find a way to include this much protein per muffin without using Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. If you up the protein powder, they will be more rubbery. So, that’s the dilemma here – sorry vegans! If you have any luck tweaking this recipe without sacrificing those elements, let me know!

Lemon Poppyseed Protein Muffins (adapted from here)

INGREDIENTS (makes 8):

1/3 cup coconut flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1/3 cup flour
1 scoop protein powder **NOTE:- I use a whey protein powder that provides about 24g protein per scoop
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 packets stevia (I use NuNaturals) – or to taste (approx. 1-2 tsp)
Zest of one lemon
3/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt or cottage cheese (lowfat) **NOTE:- cottage cheese will give a slightly higher protein count
***UPDATED TO ADD: I used 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt and 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese on the batch pictured and those got the best reviews. If you’re using all cottage cheese, I would recommend blending it. I didn’t, and I liked the texture and taste just fine, but I got complaints from my tasters – so try blending!
6 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 tsp oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Stir well.

3. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients together till well blended.

4. Add wet ingredients to try, mixing until JUST combined (overmixing will lead to tough muffins).

5. Bake 25 mins or until lightly golden and springy to the touch. You can double this recipe for jumbo size muffins.

6. Enjoy!

Copyright to The Guiltless Life

Nutritional information per muffin (if makes 8):

Nutritional information courtesy of caloriecount.about.com