This Cashew Chocolate Mousse tastes just like a really good Mousse au Chocolate from France but is made with Cashews instead of cream and eggs. Using just 5 ingredients and a high speed blender, this makes a super indulgent, yet healthy and high protein chocolate mousse in 5 minutes.
Why You Will Love This
Lactose Free
Using cashews and protein powder instead of cream and eggs makes this vegan (if you are using vegan protein powder and chocolate that is), lactose free and utterly delicious.
Secretly Healthy
I bet if you serve this to your guests, they will have absolutely no idea they are eating something that is actually good for them. The Cashews add healthy fats, magnesium and a good dose of protein on their own. Then we add protein powder for even more nutrition.
Deeply Chocolatey
While you could just use raw cacao powder to keep this in the realm of whole foods, I wanted a really indulgent Mousse au Chocolate experience, which I feel you only get by using melted chocolate. I used 70% cocoa content, which keeps this still in the “good for you realm” if enjoyed with reason. But then, sometimes too much of a good thing can be wonderful.
Super Quick
While you’d ideally soak the cashews in hot water for about 30 minutes, unless you have a Vitamix or similar high speed blender, the actual process couldn’t be quicker. 1-2 minutes of blending and your Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse is ready to enjoy.
Leave it in the fridge for a while and it will get even thicker and closer to “real” Mousse au Chocolate.
Adaptable
Add flavourings – You can take this into lots of different directions flavour wise. I love to add some amaretto, giving it a hint of almond flavour, really bringing out the nutty notes of chocolate. A teaspoon of instant espresso, to emphasize it even more is welcome too.
Or you might go into the After Eight direction, by adding just a drop or two of mint oil or mint liqueur.
Grate some orange zest into it, to get the dark chocolate-orange flavour, or add fresh raspberries for a fruity kick.
Use different nuts – I’ve made this with different ratios of cashews and almonds, but find it comes out smoothest with just cashews. Though the almonds do add a lovely flavour component, so I encourage you to experiment with it if you like.
Use different liquid to nut ratio – If you like your Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse on the even richer side, add less plant milk, which will result in an incredibly dense and indulgent consistency. Less mousse like, more like a chocolate pie filling, which it can be used for as well.
Use different Chocolate – You can absolutely make this with milk or white chocolate if you prefer. Just be mindful that this will add more sugar and fat content.
The Ingredients
Cashews – When you soak and blend cashews with some liquid, they make an incredible cream you can use for all sorts of things. Either go the savoury route with dressings or aioli or the sweet one, with this like this Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse.
All you need for the magic to happen is a high speed blender. The one I have is a simple Nutribullet, which you can easily get for about 100€ on Amazon.
Dark Chocolate – You can use any chocolate here, but I love 70% cocoa content dark chocolate. Vegan works well, so does the classic version.
Plant milk – To get cashews to blend really smooth and of course add volume and lightness to your Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse you’ll need some sort of liquid. You could probably use even water, but I love plant milks for their creaminess. This time I used coconut milk (the drinking version), but any plant milk will work and add its own characteristics. Use an unsweetened one you enjoy.
Dates – To sweeten the Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse I’m adding dates. This also keeps it refined sugar free (if using unsweetened plant milk) and adds some more fibre.
Protein Powder – Use any protein powder you enjoy. Obviously chocolate flavour works best as it enhances the characteristics. But vanilla or, say coffee would work nicely too. You can use vegan protein powder here, though personally I love MyProtein Whey, even though I’m lactose intolerant. I don’t feel any adverse effects from it at all.
Optional additions – A pinch of salt is a good idea in any dessert, more so in this Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse. It lifts the flavour and adds that little something. Instant espresso powder is another one doing a very similar thing. It’s not strictly necessary, but really deepens the dark chocolate flavour. You won’t taste coffee (unless you add a lot).
Amaretto is a piece I took from the first Mousse au Chocolate I ever made, which was this one from Jamie Oliver.
Until I made this Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse, it was the best I ever had. And that’s saying a lot, considering I lived in France for a year and tasted my way through lots of different ones.
The Process
Soak the Cashews (and, if using, almonds) for about 30min in freshly boiled water. You could probably skip this step if you have a Vitamix, but I feel it adds creaminess.
Melt the chocolate gently in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between.
Add all ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth.
Transfer to pretty jars or a lidded container and keep in the fridge until ready to enjoy.
Serve with topped with fresh raspberries or cashew cream.
How to Store
Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse keeps in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please rate, share and/or comment. It helps me a lot!
Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse
This Cashew Chocolate Mousse tastes just like a really good Mousse au Chocolate from France but is made with Cashews instead of cream and eggs. Using just 5 ingredients and a high speed blender, this makes a super indulgent tasting, yet healthy and high protein chocolate mousse in 5 minutes.
1 1/2cupsunsweetened almond milkor plant milk of your choice
5datespitted
3.5oz(100g) 70% chocolatemelted
2scoops protein powderI used MyProtein Whey. Ideally chocolate flavoured.
1Pinchof saltoptional but recommended
1tspinstant espresso powderoptional
1tbspAmarettooptional
Instructions
Soak the Cashews (and Almonds if using): Place the cashews (and almonds, if using) in a bowl and cover them with freshly boiled water. Let them soak for about 30 minutes. This step adds creaminess to the mousse.
Melt the Chocolate: Gently melt the 70% chocolate in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between each burst until the chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.
Prepare the Blender: Drain the soaked cashews (and almonds) and discard the soaking water. Add them to the blender.
Add Ingredients to Blender: To the blender with the soaked cashews, add the unsweetened almond milk, dates, melted chocolate, protein powder, pinch of salt (if using), instant espresso powder (if using), and Amaretto (if using).
Blend Until Smooth: Blend all the ingredients together until you achieve a smooth and creamy consistency. This might take a few minutes, depending on the power of your blender. Scrape down the sides of the blender if necessary to ensure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Transfer and Chill: Once the mixture is smooth, transfer the chocolate mousse into pretty jars or a lidded container. Cover with a lid or wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to enjoy. Chilling the mousse will help it set and develop its flavor.
Serve: When ready to serve, top the protein cashew chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries or a dollop of cashew cream for an extra touch of decadence.
Notes
Protein Cashew Chocolate Mousse keeps in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Protein Rice Pudding has all the creamy decadence of the popular dessert, but with a healthy dose of protein. I’ve created 4 versions for you to choose from with different add-ins and toppings, so you have a healthy post workout meal ready for you any day.
On top of that, if you have an instant pot, this can be ready for you in the time you take a shower. No stirring and standing at the hob required!
Why You Will Love This
Instant Pot for Instant gratification
I’ve always loved the rice pudding my mom made for me when I was a kid, but rarely made it myself due to the stirring and watching and possibility of milk burning. Happened to me multiple times and if you ever had the small of burned milk in your kitchen, you know it isn’t pleasant.
All of this changed when I got my beloved Sage Fast Slow Pro. The notion of the pot just doing everything for me when it comes to both risotto and rice pudding was a revelation and opened a whole new range of dishes for me to enjoy, without dreading the ages of stirring.
All it takes is 10-12 minutes of cooking and a few minutes more for the pressure release, and you can use any instant pot you have, to get the perfect rice pudding. Even late evening cravings can be satisfied in minutes. You let it do the work for you, while you have your post workout shower, to enjoy a healthy, protein packed meal.
Can be made Vegan and Lactose free
Being lactose intolerant always left me queasy after eating things like rice pudding or oatmeal. Took me years to realise why that is (being essentially gaslit into not trusting your own feeling leaves marks, doesn’t it?).
Now I make all my dishes with various plant based milks and am just fine.
A Note on Protein Powder
I think I have said this many times on this blog, but I’ll include it here, as the protein powder is such an essential ingredient in this recipe: Despite being lactose intolerant, I do use Whey Protein powder from MyProtein.
This is neither affiliated nor sponsored. Just the powder I found to taste best after trying a fair few. If you never found one you enjoy, give this one a try.
I never had any issues with it and just can’t stomach the taste of the vegan ones. But if you have one you enjoy, you can of course use that.
Why Protein?
Protein is such an important building block for our bodies and its important to eat enough of it. Personally, as I don’t each much meat or legumes for that matter, I wouldn’t have enough in my diet to fulfil my bodies needs. Hence protein powder to the rescue. Preferably in sweet recipes.
How to vary your Protein Rice Pudding
While this Protein Rice Pudding is utterly delicious on its own, topped with just a bit of cinnamon sugar, there are so many more options, that I decided to give you a few here.
If you read any of my posts you probably stumbled over my way to lose weight and keep it stable and of course give my body the nutrition it needs, which is to include as many fruit and veggies as I can in every meal. This one is no exception.
There are plenty of fruit that go fantastic with milky or creamy dishes, so you can wildly pick and choose your favourites. I’m giving you just a few ideas here.
Cherry or Berry. Or Both.
My all-time favourite and a classic with rice pudding in Germany is cherry compote. Essentially sweet cherries briefly cooked with a tiny bit of water, to help them heat up and release their juices, then thickened with cornstarch. That’s as easy as it gets and works nicely with berries too. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or a mix of all would be lovely. Add a bit of vanilla and honey and you are set.
Rice Curd-ish with Pomegranate and Grapes
Another variation, borrowed from a co-worker from India are grapes and pomegranate and the rice pudding being enriched with yoghurt, bringing it into the direction of a favourite summer dish from India: Rice curd. The yoghurt adds even more protein, especially if you are using any type of Greek yoghurt.
A few pistachios sprinkled on top, a hint of cinnamon if you like will round this off nicely.
Black Forest or Chocolate Hazelnut
Now we can’t talk rice pudding without mentioning chocolate, can we?
I mean I love chocolate anything of course, and who wouldn’t, but here it’s just so incredibly easy to include it simply via protein powder flavour and, if you want it extra chocolatey (as I always do) a bit cocoa and a hit of espresso powder, to enhance the flavour even more.
Add some cherry compote or even fresh cherries and, if you are having this for dessert or feeling extra indulgent, some Kirsch (a German clear cherry liqueur), top with some whipped cream or coconut cream and you have yourself an irresistible treat.
Want to add some crunch to this one? Roasted and chopped hazelnuts instead of cherries would transform this into a sort of Ferrero Rocher experience. Or drizzle over some melted chocolate or slightly warmed Nutella, to have an utterly indulgent, yet still reasonably healthy dessert.
Mango-Coconut
Last but not least, a tropical mango-coconut rice pudding. You can either cook it straight from the start with coconut milk, or, as I did here, add some after cooking, for a gentle coconut flavour and stir in fresh mango pieces or mango puree. Or both.
Take it over the top with toasted coconut flakes (can I convince you to make maple-lime coconut chips just for this? It’s so worth it!) and enjoy being taken to a tropical island via dessert.
The Ingredients
Of course some of the ingredients with depend on the flavour combination you choose, but the basic recipe is always the same:
1 cup pudding rice or use arborio as alternative. Round corn rice is best suited for pudding, as the grains absorb more liquid and contain more starch than, say Basmati rice, resulting in creamier rice pudding. And creamy is what we want here.
4 cups liquid. You can use any type of milk you enjoy. If you aren’t lactose intolerant like me, whole milk is a great option. I’m using unsweetened almond milk to cook the rice in, then, after cooking, mix the protein powder with a bit of creamy soy or coconut milk, to add even more creaminess.
A pinch of salt – I’m a firm believer of adding a bit of salt to anything sweet. It balances and enhances the flavour of everything it touches. There is a good reason why salted caramel is so popular!
Protein Powder – This is my favourite way to get a high protein sweet meal. It sounds like a cheat, maybe it is. But I have yet to find a better way to add protein, sweetener, and whatever flavour you enjoy in one step to dishes. My Protein is my favourite brand, as it’s super creamy and doesn’t taste artificial. I mostly use the limited edition “Jelly Belly Buttered Popcorn”. Any good vanilla flavour would work too. Though I dread the day when this one reaches its time limit of the limited edition, as I’m utterly in love with it.
For the Black Forest version I used Gold Standard Whey Chocolate, as I have a ton left from before discovering MyProtein. It’s pretty decent, if less creamy.
Again, just to be clear: This is in no way sponsored or affiliated. Just what I use. Though if anyone from MyProtein reads this: Please sponsor me?
The Process
Pressure Cooker/ Instant Pot
If you have a pressure cooker/instant pot/Sage Fast Slow Pro, this couldn’t be any easier:
Add your rice and 3.5 cups of your milk of choice and pinch of salt to your cooker. Set to 10 minutes high pressure, then 10min auto release and let it do its thing while you get on with your day.
After the time is up, mix your chosen protein powder with the remaining half cup of milk or yoghurt until no lumps remain and stir it into your rice pudding. Don’t let it come to a boil after you mixed in the protein, or it might get a bit grainy.
If you make a bigger portion for several days, I would advocate for adding the protein-milk mix just before eating, as rice pudding has the habit of thickening in the fridge. And if you add too much liquid, the rice might essentially dissolve. If you love that, feel free of course.
Add your chosen fruits and flavourings, decorate, and top to your heart’s desire and enjoy hot or cold.
I often prepare a large portion at the start of the week, to have a super quick breakfast/dessert or even dinner (yep, I love sweet dinner! That’s my favourite way to satisfy sweet evening cravings: Make it a healthy dinner!).
You can have this Protein Rice Pudding straight from the fridge for hot summer days or simply re-heat it in the microwave.
On Stovetop:
While I’m plain too lazy to make this on the stovetop, you can absolutely do that too.
It will take about 20- 30 minutes of patient stirring and very gentle simmering to get creamy rice pudding.
Tips and Tricks
If you have no round corn rice, you can use Basmati. It might not get as creamy though
In India, Rice Curd is made by using ready cooked Basmati rice and stirring in “curd”, which is similar to yoghurt, but thinner. So if you are feeling even lazier or just have leftover rice to use up, either stir some plain yoghurt with protein powder into it and top with fruit for a refreshing summer treat. Or heat it up in the microwave, stir in some milk mixed with protein powder and top with whatever your heart desires.
A classic Thai version of this would be to boil the rice in coconut milk. To get the best flavour, use the drinking version, not a can.
You can make this also with black rice, which would look absolutely stunning, or brown rice for added fibre. For those versions follow the cooking instructions for your particular rice. Time and needed liquid may vary.
Want even more protein? Add some chia seeds or hemp hearts and top with more Greek yoghurt. I love the 0% fat version, as I feel the rice has plenty of creaminess already.
Need extra indulgence and want this to taste like the classic rice pudding dessert? Temper an egg yolk by adding a bit of warm milk at the end of the cooking process and stir into the rice, warming it through gently, to avoid curdling the egg. Add some butter to take it over the top. May I suggest browned butter if you do?
The 4 Different Versions
All amounts and instructions are given to make 4 portions of the same variation.
If you’d like to try all 4, as I did in the pictures, simply halve the amounts.
Except the cherry compote. I would always make the full 2 cups, as I love it so much, I happily eat it over everything or on its own. Plus just boiling half a cup is too much hassle for the output.
After your rice pudding is cooked mix 2 cups of milk/yoghurt/coconut milk with 4 scoops of your favourite protein powder. Depending on the version you are going for and stir into the rice until it reaches your preferred consistency.
If you find it too cold after that, feel free to briefly microwave to heat it up, but don’t let it come to a boil again, or your protein might curdle a bit. Which still tastes ok, but doesn’t look as inviting and creamy.
Cherry or Berry. Or Both.
Use about 2 cups of fresh or frozen sweet cherries or mixed berries together with 1 tbsp of sugar (brown or white), maybe a little lemon juice or vanilla extract or both, if you like. In a pot on the stove, bring them to a boil, adding about 2-3 tbsp water, to help them release their juices. Mix ½ tbsp cornstarch with 2 tbsp water in a separate container. Once your cherries or berries are hot and bubbling, pour in your cornstarch slurry while stirring. Bring once more to the boil and stir until it thickens. Take off the heat and your compote is ready.
I used this for both the cherry version and dusted it with a tiny bit of vanilla powder and in the Black Forest version.
Mix 2 cups of soy milk with a good vanilla protein powder until no clumps remain, Stir into the rice pudding.
Top with the cherry (or berry) compote and enjoy.
Rice Curd (-ish) with Protein, Pomegranate, Grapes and Pistachios
If using a fresh pomegranate, cut it in half crosswise. Tuck one half into a small freezer bag. Ideally with a zip and close it, with the open side of the pomegranate pointing down.
Now get a cooking spoon, Wood with the classic spoon shape works best I found.
Start smacking the top of the pomegranate until all seeds have tumbled into the bag.
Discard the empty shell and fish out any pieces of pith that might have fallen out.
Halve the grapes. Roughly chop the pistachios if using.
Mix 2 cups of yoghurt (I used 0% fat Greek yoghurt) with 4 scoops of a good vanilla protein powder until no lumps remain. Stir into the cooked rice pudding. Ideally after it has cooled a bit.
This version is particularly good cold on a hot summer day.
Mango-Coconut Protein Rice Pudding
Prepare your coconut chips if using.
Pre-heat your oven to 350°F/175°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix 1 cup of coconut chips with 1 tbsp maple syrup, a pinch of salt and the grated zest of 1 lime.
Spead onto the baking sheet and bake for about 10-12 min, stirring halfway, until golden brown.
Let them cool to crisp up while you prepare the mango. They will keep in an airtight container for about a week (if they last that long, as they are seriously more-ish). You will find reasons to make them again and again as snack or topping for sweets, cake, salad and even Thai soup or curries.
Peel your mango and chop into bite sized cubes.
Mix 2 cups of coconut milk (canned or from a tetra pack is both good) with 4 scoops of a good vanilla (or coconut) flavoured protein powder until no lumps remain.
Stir into the ready cooked rice pudding, top with mango and coconut chips.
Black Forest Protein Rice Pudding (or chocolate without the cherries)
Prepare the cherry compote as per instructions for the cherry version. If you feel extra indulgent, add some Kirsch.
Whisk some cream or coconut cream into soft peaks. If using coconut cream, make sure it’s very cold or it won’t hold its shape. I found cans of coconut whipping cream at a local health food store, but using just the firm layer from a can of cold coconut milk will do just fine.
Mix 2 cups of soy milk with 4 scoops of chocolate flavoured protein powder and 1 tbsp cocoa until no lumps remain. If you only have vanilla flavoured protein powder use that, but add 2-3 tbsp cocoa, depending on your preference.
Stir the chocolate protein mix into the cooked rice pudding.
In pretty glasses, layer some cherry compote, then rice pudding, finishing with more cherry compote and a large spoon or whipped cream or coconut cream.
Decorate with fresh cherry and chocolate shavings if you like. I simply used a vegetable peeler to create shavings from a piece of dark chocolate.
How to Store
As mentioned above, I often meal prep a big batch for the week and store it in a lidded container in the fridge. It will keep quite happily for about 3-4 days, depending on the milk you used.
If you want to mix it up, portion the Protein Rice Pudding into single portion jars and add your favourite toppings, to have an amazing meal to grab and go.
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please rate, share and/or comment. It helps me a lot!
Protein Rice Pudding 4 Ways
Protein Rice Pudding has all the creamy decadence of the popular dessert, but with a healthy dose of protein. I’ve created 4 versions for you to choose from with different add-ins and toppings, so you have a healthy post workout meal ready for you any day.
On top of that, if you have an instant pot, this can be ready for you in the time you take a shower. No stirring and standing at the hob required!
3.5cupsunsweetened almond milkor milk of your choice
2cupssoy milkor any other milk of your choice. Coconut for the Coconut-Mango variation
4scoopsprotein powderI used MyProtein Whey Buttered Popcorn. Any good vanilla flavoured powder will work fine. Since this is the main flavour component, please use one you enjoy.
1pinchsalt
2tspvanilla extractoptional but lovely
Topping Versions
Cherry Protein Rice Pudding
2cupsof cherries
½tbspcornstarch
1tbspsugar
2cupssoy milk and 4 scoops vanilla protein powder as stated in basic version
Rice Curd-ish with Pomegranate and Grapes
1Pomegranateseeds only (see post on how to get them out without a mess)
1cupgrapeshalved
2cups0% fat Greek yoghurtinstead of the soy milk in the basic version
4scoopsvanilla protein powderas stated in the basic version
½cuppistachiosroughly chopped
Mango- Coconut Protein Rice Pudding
1cupcoconut chips
1tbspMaple syrup
1limegrated zest only
1mangochopped in bite sized cubes
2cupscoconut milkcanned or tetra pack
4scoops vanilla or coconut protein powder as stated in basic version
Black Forest Protein Rice Pudding
2cupsof cherries
½tbspcornstarch
1tbspsugar
1tbspKirschoptional
2cupssoy milk
4scoops chocolate protein powderinstead of vanilla as stated in basic version
1tbspcocoa
½cupwhipped cream or whipped coconut creamor to taste
1small piece dark chocolateshaved with vegetable peeler, to decorate
Instructions
Using a Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot/Sage Fast Slow Pro:
In the cooker, combine the rice, 3.5 cups of almond milk (or milk of your choice), and a pinch of salt.
Set the cooker to 10 minutes on high pressure, then allow for a 10-minute auto release.
While the rice cooks, mix the protein powder with the remaining 2 cups of milk until smooth.
After the pressure cooking cycle completes, stir the protein-milk mixture into the rice pudding gently. Avoid boiling after adding protein to prevent graininess.
If preparing a larger portion for multiple days, add the protein-milk mix just before serving to avoid over-thickening and potential rice dissolution. 1/2 cup of soy milk +1 scoop of protein powder per portion.
Customize with your chosen fruits and flavourings, and top with desired toppings.
Serve hot or cold. Refrigerate leftovers for future servings.
On the Stovetop:
In a saucepan, combine the rice, 3.5 cups of almond milk (or milk of your choice), and a pinch of salt.
Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Simmer for about 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the rice pudding reaches a creamy consistency.
Follow steps 3-7 from the pressure cooker instructions to complete the dish.
Enjoy your protein-rich rice pudding as a quick breakfast, dessert, or even dinner option! Adjust toppings and flavourings to suit your preferences.
Cherry Protein Rice Pudding
Prepare the cherry compote by simmering cherries, sugar, and a splash of water until hot.
Mix cornstarch with water, then add to the cherries, boil and stir to thicken.
Mix soy milk and vanilla protein powder and stir into the cooked rice pudding.
Serve topped with cherry compote.
Rice Curd-ish with Pomegranate and Grapes
Extract pomegranate seeds. See post on how to get them out without a mess.
Halve grapes and chop pistachios.
Mix yogurt and vanilla protein powder, then stir into rice pudding.
Serve chilled, topped with pomegranate seeds, grapes, and pistachios.
Mango-CoconutProtein Rice Pudding
Mix coconut chips with maple syrup and lime zest, bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 350°F/175°C for about 10min until golden.
Mix coconut milk and protein powder, then stir into rice pudding.
Serve topped with mango and coconut chips.
Black Forest Protein Rice Pudding
Prepare the cherry compote by simmering cherries, sugar, and a splash of water until boiling and cherries are hot.
Mix cornstarch with 2 tbsp water, then add to the cherries to thicken.
Add 1 tbsp Kirsch if desired
Mix soy milk with chocolate protein powder and cocoa.
Stir into cooked rice pudding.
Layer with cherry compote and top with whipped cream.
Decorate with chocolate shavings if you like.
Notes
The nutrition here is given for the basic Protein Rice pudding. It will vary slightly depending on the toppings, though the protein will remain roughly the same. Slightly more for the curd version due to the greek youghurt, slightly less for the coconut mango version, as the coconut milk has less protein than soy milk.How to StoreAs mentioned above, I often meal prep a big batch for the week and store it in a lidded container in the fridge. It will keep quite happily for about 3-5 days, depending on the milk you used. If you want to mix it up, portion the Protein Rice Pudding into single portion jars and add your favourite toppings, to have an amazing meal to grab and go.
This super pretty pink Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein will brighten up your table while bringing you a zesty and nutty tasting cake that is very easy to make. The sponge is full of pistachio-orange flavour, while still feeling light enough to have it any day with a nice cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon. What’s more: It comes with about 10g of protein per slice, meaning you get your nutrition from your dessert. The candied orange slices are optional, but highly recommended and once you made them, you’ll wonder why you ever bought them, it’s so simple.
Why You Will Love This
I mean look at it! Doesn’t it lift your mood simply because it’s there? It sure does for me. But if you need more reasons, here we go.
Easy to Make
Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein is essentially a very simple sponge cake you can whip up in a few minutes. The only special equipment you’ll need is a food processor, do grind the pistachios, as they can be hard to find pre-ground.
The icing comes together in seconds and the candied oranges take just a few minutes on the hob and some drying time.
This cake is just as good as impressive centre piece for afternoon tea with guests, as it is to have just by yourself during the week, because of how easy it is to make and how well it keeps due to the pistachio-rich batter.
Pretty Pink and Entirely Natural Icing
Blood Oranges give you an incredibly pretty icing without any food colouring. Even though not all of them have the dark red shades on the skin, the juice tends to be a really intense red, which will colour the simply icing sugar mix just on its own. No colour needed.
Protein
If you read some of my dessert recipes, you probably noticed I include protein powder in most of them. This is because I made dessert essentially a main meal. Due to my busy fulltime job, I rarely have time to eat breakfast, so usually I meal prep lunch and something sweet for the evening on my weekends, to have it ready during the week.
Now, would I eat “normal” desserts, which usually have very little nutrition, that would probably not be a good idea. But I try to incorporate fruits, nuts, protein, and nutritionally dense carbs in everything I make, meaning I fuel my body with them and there is no reason to feel bad about eating them.
Dessert for Breakfast. Or Dinner?
The above distribution of my meals (including this Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein) is very intentionally structured around what I feel like eating at the time of day I have the food.
Usually, having “lunch” as my first meal, I feel like something savoury, ideally with lots of veggies, that will fuel me until dinner.
While in the evening, after the stresses of the day, I almost always crave something sweet. Do I use the food to reward myself? Absolutely. But by doing this in an intentional way and including all the nutrition my body needs in it, I feel pretty great about it too.
Pistachios for Lovely Contrast and Flavour
This recipe was inspired by one from “Nistisima” by Georgina Hayden for a vegan walnut-orange cake, that is often eaten during fasting.
I wanted protein in my cake and pretty green pistachios instead of walnuts, to provide a contrast to the bright colours and flavour of the blood oranges. Also slightly lower calories. So I adapted the recipe accordingly.
The Ingredients
I’m giving just a few of the ingredients here and why I used them. For the full list, please see the recipe.
Blood Oranges
Blood oranges are in season, so I wanted to make a dessert that really showcases their pretty colour and bright, intense flavour. I feel this Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein does just that. Both their juice and zest are used in the sponge, more juice to make the pink icing and they get candied to create an amazing and very snackable topping.
They also contain lots of fibre and vitamin C together with and whole range of other nutrients, meaning they are really good for you. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/blood-orange-benefits
If Blood Oranges are not in season, you can of course use normal oranges. They just won’t add the pink colour to the icing. Or use blood orange juice from the fridge in your supermarket. I’ve seen one brand having it relatively regularly.
Pistachios
While it was near impossible to get shelled pistachios in Ireland for a while, they are slowly becoming more common. I found mine at Holland & Barrett, but also saw some at Dunnes.
Depending on where you live, you might want to check health food shops for them, as they seem to be easier to find there.
Pistachios are rich in nutrients, one of the lowest calorie nuts and high in protein.
That being said, Pistachios are not a “nut” in the biological sense, but rather in the same family called “drupes” together with cashews and almonds. Which also explains their affinity with most foods that almonds go so well with.
If pistachios are very expensive where you live, you could replace either half or all of them with almonds and the cake would still be delicious. Just not as pretty light green.
Protein
I’m using as usual my favourite (neither sponsored nor affiliated) MyProtein Whey. In this case their Buttered Popcorn flavour.
Vanilla flavour would work great too.
You could use vegan or casein protein powder, which I read are especially great for baking, but I absolutely despise the flavour of all vegan powders I have tried, and found MyProtein Whey to work rather fantastic in any dessert. So swap at your own risk.
Apart from the beneficial added protein, the powder replaces part of the plain flour and sugar, which brings the nutrition up and the calories down. Win/win.
Whole Wheat Flour
To up the nutty flavour of this cake, I swapped part of the more typically used plain flour for whole wheat flour. Fine to be specific. This is particularly nice for cakes, as it’s finer ground than the typically coarse whole wheat flour you’d use for bread, but still has all of the nutrition of the whole grain.
Icing
All you need for the pink icing is icing sugar and blood orange juice. Extremely simple and very delicious. It also “seals” the cake, keeping in the moisture, so it will last for a few days on your counter.
Candied Oranges
I know, everything candied sounds so very complicated, doesn’t it?
I can assure you, it’s not. Orange slices, sugar and water is all you need. It’s entirely made on the hob. A sugar thermometer is needed.
Making this Cake Vegan
To transform this cake into a vegan one, simply replace the 2 eggs with another 1/2 cup of light olive oil and use a vegan protein powder.
The Process
The Candied Blood Oranges
Start by making the candied oranges if you chose to include them. This will make a few more than you need, which is perfect, as they are great for nibbling.
Prepare a sheet pan with a wire rack by placing some baking parchment under the wire, for less mess to clean up later.
First bring a pot with water to the boil and prepare a bowl of iced water. Once boiling, gently lower your orange slices into the water and simmer for 2 minutes, taking them out with a slotted spoon when done and plunging them into the ice bath. This will remove some of the bitterness from the peel.
Next add your cup of sugar and ½ cup of water to a medium saucepan. The little red flecks you see in the pot above are orange juice from the cut off ends I squeezed into it.
Stir while bringing it to the boil, so the sugar can dissolve. Once it boils, stop stirring and just swirl the pot occasionally, to prevent sugar crystals from forming. If any form on the sides of the pot, use a wet brush to push them down.
Let the syrup come to 225°F/110°C, then gently and in layers, lower all the orange slices into it.
Continue to simmer the mix until it reaches about 230°F/115°C (Keep an eye on it. You don’t want it to turn into dark caramel accidentally) while carefully turning the orange slices once with thongs or a spatula. Once the target temperature is reached, your syrup should be fairly thick.
Pick out the now candied orange slices one by one with a fork or thongs and place on the wire rack. Be sure to keep a bit of space between them, so they don’t stick together.
Leave to cool for at least 1h.
If you are not using them immediately, they can be stored in a lidded container in the fridge for up to a week. So you can prepare them ahead of time. Ideally keep them in single layers on baking parchment, to keeping them for becoming one huge sticky orange piece.
The Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein
Start by greasing a springform and line the bottom with baking parchment. This is easiest if you lay the parchment over the loose bottom, then fasten the ring around it and cut off the overlap.
Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C
In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or with your stand mixer, whisk together sugar and oil. Note the sugar won’t entirely dissolve, as it might in butter. That’s fine. Just whisk for a few minutes until it’s mostly there. Add the eggs one by one and mix until light and foamy and the sugar has dissolved. In doubt rub some of the mix between your fingertips. If it’s still slightly grainy, mix a bit longer until it feels smooth.
Now you can add all the remaining wet ingredients and the protein powder. Continue whisking until really smooth and foamy. This will add lift to the sponge.
In a separate bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients, keeping ¼ cup of chopped pistachios back for garnish later.
Add the dry to the wet and gently fold in with a spoon or silicone spatula until no dry flour remains. Don’t overmix, or you will develop the gluten and your sponge will become tough.
Pour the batter into your prepared springform. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, rotating once if your oven bakes unevenly, until it’s nicely browned and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
Leave the cake to cool in the form for about 10minutes, then take it out of the springform and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Don’t add the icing while still warm, or it will just soak into the cake. Which is still delicious, but not as pretty.
The Blood Orange Icing
Juice your last blood orange and add the icing sugar to a bowl or small jug. Start by adding 2-3 tbsp of the juice to the sugar and, using a small whisk, incorporating it until there is no liquid left. Judge the consistency. It should be thick, but still drizzleable (is that a word? If not, it should be!). Add more juice or sugar if it’s not quite right.
Pour the icing over your cake, first one half, spread with a spatula or back of a large spoon, then add more where you feel it’s a bit thin. You could also do this in two layers, letting the first one dry completely before you add the second. Use a spatula to spread some of the icing that has run off onto the sides to complete the look.
Let the icing dry completely before you decorate the cake.
Decorate and Serve
Just before serving your Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein, decorate it with the candied oranges and remaining chopped pistachios. Slice and enjoy with a lovely cup of hot tea or coffee. Earl Grey would be particularly fitting here.
Getting Ahead
Both the sponge and candied oranges can be made the day before. The orange slices keep well in a lidded container in the fridge. Ideally each layer separated by baking parchment, to prevent them from sticking to each other.
The cake will be fine for up to 5 days covered with kitchen foil or clingfilm. I used kitchen foil and domed it, so it wouldn’t touch the oranges and stick to them.
The cake also freezes well. Even with the icing, though it will soak into the cake a bit when thawing and not be as pretty anymore. So ideally ice later. Or just enjoy the extra flavour that soaked into the cake.
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please share and comment. It helps me a lot.
Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein
This super pretty pink Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein will brighten up your table while bringing you a zesty and nutty tasting cake that is very easy to make. The sponge is full of pistachio-orange flavour, while still feeling light enough to have it any day with a nice cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon. What’s more: It comes with about 10g of protein per slice, meaning you get your nutrition from your dessert. The candied orange slices are optional, but highly recommended and once you made them, you’ll wonder why you ever bought them, it’s so simple.
2 ¼cupspistachiosfinely chop 1 cup, keep 1/4 for decorating, grind rest
4blood orangeszest 1 + juice until you have 1 cup.
¾cupplain flour
½cup+2 tbsp whole wheat flourfine
2/3cupprotein powderI used MyProtein buttered popcorn flavour. Vanilla works too
¾cupbrown sugar
2tspbaking powder
½tspbaking soda
½tspkosher salt
1tspground cinnamon
Icing:
1blood orange
1.5cupsicing sugar
Candied Blood Orange Slices:
3Blood Orangescut into 0.2in slices
1cupsugar
½cupwater
Instructions
Candied Blood Orange Slices:
Bring a pot of water to a boil and prepare a bowl of iced water.
Blanch the orange slices in boiling water for 2 minutes, then transfer them to the ice bath.
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, swirling the pan occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
Once the syrup reaches 225°F/110°C, gently add the orange slices in layers.
Simmer until the syrup thickens and reaches about 230°F/115°C, ensuring the orange slices are evenly coated.
Using tongs or a fork, transfer the candied orange slices to a wire rack placed over a baking sheet. Allow them to cool for at least 1 hour.
Blood Orange and Pistachio Cake with Protein:
Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Grease a springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil and brown sugar until mostly dissolved. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until light and foamy.
Stir in the blood orange zest, juice, and protein powder until smooth and foamy.
In a separate bowl, combine the flours, ground pistachios (reserving 1/4 cup for garnish), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Blood Orange Icing:
In a bowl or small jug, combine the blood orange juice with icing sugar. Start with 2-3 tablespoons of juice and adjust to reach a thick but pourable consistency.
Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake, spreading it evenly with a spatula.
Allow the icing to set completely before decorating.
Decorate and Serve:
Arrange the candied blood orange slices on top of the cake and sprinkle with the reserved chopped pistachios.
Slice and serve the cake with a nice cup of tea or coffee.
Notes
Getting AheadBoth the sponge and candied oranges can be made the day before. The orange slices keep well in a lidded container in the fridge. Ideally each layer separated by baking parchment, to prevent them from sticking to each other.The cake will be fine for up to 5 days covered with kitchen foil or clingfilm. I used kitchen foil and domed it, so it wouldn’t touch the oranges and stick to them.The cake also freezes well. Even with the icing, though it will soak into the cake a bit when thawing and not be as pretty anymore. So ideally ice later. Or just enjoy the extra flavour that soaked into the cake.
All the flavour of a delicious and refreshing Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake on a coconut crust, but without the cheese. Instead 15g protein per slice, about one third less sugar and fat and easier to digest for those of us with lactose intolerance. Giving you the tropical island feeling in the middle of winter. This is what I call a dessert worth eating!
It’s winter here in Ireland. And that means…well…we have weather. As all year round essentially. Just a lot wetter and a bit colder. My garden is one big mudslide, all green removed by huge dog paws racing happily around in the mud. Wookie, with his giant fluffy paws, absolutely loves splashing the mud by jumping up and down with his front. Or simply splashing the water from his bowl, causing a huge muddy mess.
Until recently I just wiped his and Lilly’s paws dry when they came in, but the amount of mud in my living room (which goes out to the garden) has become plain unmanageable. So I started washing their paws with the shower head of my garden hose.
Now you’d think they’d hate that, but Lilly grew up going to the beach every day and happily jumping into the little river flowing into the sea, swimming upstream, mouth open, to drink.
She discovered very quickly that the shower head can be used in the same way and Wookie learns fast. He often sticks his whole head under the water, lapping it while he is getting dripping wet.
Recently he found out, that me turning on the flat stream with more pressure means, he can simply open his mouth and get all the water he wants directly delivered into it. And now he constantly demands to be let out to drink, waiting until I get them in, to drink from the hose. I have created a monster!
Where was I before digressing? Ah yes, wet, cold winter. And that means I need either a nice bowl of hot soup (Like my Vegan Tom Kha Soup https://forthepleasureofeating.com/vegan-tom-kha-soup/ ) or something sweet, tasting like summer. Which is how this Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake with Protein was created.
Why You Will Love This
Being uhm…selectively lactose intolerant (is that a thing?) means I feel queasy after eating cheesecake made with cream cheese but can happily eat yoghurt. Now I’m not a scientist, but I suspect the yoghurt cultures help with the digestion. Oddly enough I can also eat other cheeses, but apparently the sheer amount of the fresh stuff in one slice is more than my tummy tolerates.
On top of that it tends to be pretty high in fat and calories and I have yet to find a “light” one that I enjoy. Meaning, once more, I had to create my own.
Lower fat and sugar, higher protein
This recipe, while tasting utterly indulgent and like proper creamy cheesecake, has only about 310cal per slice (assuming 12 slices) just 18g fat and sugar, but about 10g protein. Compared to the about 550cal, 40g fat and sugar and only 6g protein of an average Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake.
The tropical tasting coconut crust instead of the more typical crushed biscuits with butter doubles the amount of fibre and replaces the butter with the slightly healthier coconut oil.
Easier to digest for people with lactose intolerance
By using yoghurt and coconut milk instead of cream cheese for the filling, you can probably eat this even if you are lactose intolerant as me.
Mango and White Chocolate for a taste of Summer
Mangos are readily available in winter, but really taste like summer, don’t they? This cake (or rather pie I suppose) transports you right onto a tropical island with its flavours of mango, coconut, and lime, so you can forget the cold and grey outside for a while.
Of course it’s equally enjoyable in summer, but that seems just so far away right now!
The Ingredients
I’m listing just a few key ingredients here and why I’m using them, to not bore you to death with the whole list.
I’m using shredded, toasted coconut and coconut oil together with maple syrup, to get a crunchy crust that compliments the White Chocolate Mango filling.
White Chocolate Mango Filling
For the filling, try to get really ripe mango, as they will cook down into a coulis much easier. I had rather unripe mangoes, which was all I could find, and not the patience to let them ripen. Also, is it just me or are mangoes very much like Avocados, with their about 5 minutes of perfect ripeness?
Anyway, if you, like me, can only find relatively hard mangoes, you can still puree them reasonably fine in a food processor, then cook, to soften as much as possible and throw into a blender. Ideally high speed like a Nutribullet. The result won’t be perfect, but still delicious.
The creamy cheesecake-ness comes from 0% fat Greek yoghurt combined with a can of full fat coconut milk and protein powder. The whole mix will be fairly liquid, so we firm it up with gelatine.
When I was making it the first time, I honestly thought it would just remain liquid and I had completely miscalculated. But it simply needs a few hours in the fridge, ideally overnight, so you aren’t getting impatient (like me) and checking every 20 minutes.
For the protein powder, use one you really enjoy. I’ve tried several vegan ones in the past and absolutely could not stand the flavour, and after trying then multiple whey based ones, I landed on MyProtein and absolutely love it! For this recipe I used their Buttered Popcorn flavour, but any nice vanilla flavoured one will do fine.
This is neither affiliated nor sponsored. Just what I enjoy in my food.
The fact that the protein powder provides a lot of sweetness and the mango and white chocolate add to that means, I got away with adding just one tablespoon of honey.
White chocolate wise, I used Lindt. A good alternative would be Green&Blacks or any reasonably good quality white chocolate.
The Process
The Mango Coulis
Start by making the Mango Coulis. This can be done up to 2 days before making the cake, as it keeps well in the fridge.
Simply peel the mango, cut it off the stone by slicing down on both sides of it, then cube the flesh.
Add it to a cooking pot with the sugar and lime juice and cook until very soft and starting to fall apart, stirring occasionally. The time this takes depends on how ripe your mangoes were to begin with.
Once the fruit is soft, either tip into a blender (if you are using a Nutribullet or similar closed blender, please let it cool first, or the heat from blending could lead to it exploding) and blend until smooth. You could also use an immersion hand blender for this.
Pass through a sieve for smoother consistency.
Leave to cool either in the fridge, if making the day before, or room temperature, if you plan to use it on the same day.
Divide your Mango Coulis into 2 portions. Keep half in the fridge for topping the cake once firmed up later or the next day. It will thicken a bit, which is what we want.
The Crust
Now prepare the coconut crust. You can do this up to 2 days in advance as well. If you do, wrap it well into clingfilm, ideally still in the springform, until ready to use.
Start by pre-heating your oven to 300°F/150°C.
Spread the shredded coconut on a parchment lined baking tray and toast for about 4 minutes, stir and toast for another 2-3 minutes, until golden and fragrant.
Take out of the oven and divide into 2 portions.
Line a springform bottom with parchment paper and lightly grease the sides.
Raise the oven temperature to 350°F/175°C.
Add one portion of the toasted shredded coconut to a food processor together with the oats, salt and flour. Process until finely ground.
Add remaining coconut, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup and pulse until combined. Don’t overprocess, to keep some structure to the mix.
Tip into a bowl and mix with a spoon or your hands until it comes together. Add a little more oil or maple syrup if it feels too dry. You should be able to form clumps, but also crumble them apart easily.
Transfer the mix into your prepared springform and push flat using your hands, all the way to the sides, but not up. It should form one even layer.
Prick with a fork a few times all over.
Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, turning around once, if your oven bakes unevenly, until golden brown and smelling delicious.
Leave to cool, but still in the springform, while you prepare the filling.
The Filling
Gently melt your white chocolate either over a water bath or in the microwave. If using a microwave, set it to 600 watt and melt in 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until nearly melted, then stir a bit longer and see if it comes together. If not continue in 10 second bursts until you can stir it creamy.
Tip: White chocolate melts much faster than dark, due to the high cocoa butter content. Unfortunately it also seizes up much faster, so proceed with care, to avoid it getting crumbly due to overheating. I’m afraid if it does, there is no coming back from it. You might still be able to use it, but it will likely impact the texture of your filling.
White chocolate won’t get as liquid as dark either. It rather remains at the creamy stage and goes straight to crumbly after.
In a large bowl (I used the Tupperware mixing bowl with a lid that has an opening in the middle here, to avoid splattering) and a hand mixer or in a blender blend together half the Mango Coulis, melted white chocolate, yoghurt, coconut milk, lime juice, honey, vanilla and protein powder.
Have a taste and add more honey or lime juice if you think it needs it.
In a small microwave proof bowl or cup mix your gelatine powder with 2 tbsp of water. Microwave for 10 seconds until liquid. Add to the rest of the filling and mix again until slightly foamy.
Pour your filling onto the crust in the springform and transfer to the fridge carefully, to firm up. At this stage I would not cover it, as any clingfilm has the tendency to attach to the filling and leave marks we don’t want. Once it is firm to the touch you can cover the form with clingfilm.
I usually leave my cake overnight, so I’m not entirely sure how many hours it will take to firm up exactly. It’s definitely more than one though. My estimation would be 3-4.
Once your Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake with Protein is firm to the touch and set, spread the remaining Mango Coulis evenly over the top.
Chill while you prepare your optional toppings.
Slice your last Mango and lime thinly. Whip your Oatly cream (chilled ideally, or it won’t be firm enough. Have a wild guess how I know…) and toast some coconut flakes if you like.
Decorate your pie with the whipped cream, mango, lime, and coconut. I pulled the cream out into the mango coulis for a star-like pattern, using a toothpick.
Then run a sharp knife briefly under hot water and dry. Slide around the insides of the springform, to loosen the pie. Remove the ring by opening the clasp and pulling it off carefully.
You can now either leave the pie on the springform bottom or carefully slide onto a plate. The transfer can be a bit nerve wracking but should work out fine if you are gentle.
Serve your Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake with Protein with a nice cup of tea or coffee and feel like you have gone on vacation on a tropical island, even on the coldest winter day.
Storing
This Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake with Protein keeps well in the fridge for up to 4 days. Though the crust might soften a bit. Personally I quite like it that way.
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please share and comment. It helps me a lot.
Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake with Protein
All the flavour of a delicious and refreshing Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake on a coconut crust, but without the cheese. Instead 13g protein per slice, about one third less sugar and fat and easier to digest for those of us with lactose intolerance. Giving you the tropical island feeling in the middle of winter. This is what I call a dessert worth eating!
Food Processor, Blender or Immersion blender, springform
Ingredients
Crust
1.5cupsshredded coconuttoasted, divided
1/3cupoats
1cupwholegrain spelt flour
3tbspcoconut flouror more spelt
¼cupcoconut oil
¼cup+ 2tbsp maple syrup
1tbspvanilla extract
1/8tspkosher salt
Mango Coulis
2mangosripe, chopped
1tbsplime juice
1.5tbspsugar
“Cream Cheese” filling
2cups0% fat Greek yoghurt
1cancoconut milkfull fat
1tbsplime juice
1tbsphoney
1tspvanilla extract
3.5oz/100gwhite chocolatemelted
2scoops protein powderI used MyProtein “Buttered Popcorn”, but vanilla works well.
2tbsp1 pack powdered gelatine
To Garnish (Optional)
1Mangosliced
1limesliced
1pack Oatly whipping cream
A few coconut flakes or shaved white chocolate
Instructions
Mango Coulis:
Peel and cube the mango flesh.
In a pot, combine mango cubes, sugar, and lime juice.
Cook until very soft and starting to fall apart, stirring occasionally.
Blend until smooth using a blender or immersion hand blender.
Pass through a sieve to get a smoother consistency
Allow cooling to room temperature or refrigerate if making in advance.
Crust:
Preheat oven to 300°F/150°C.
Toast shredded coconut on a parchment-lined baking tray for 4-6 minutes until golden and fragrant.
Divide toasted coconut into two portions.
Raise your oven temperature to 350°F/175°C
In a food processor, combine one portion of toasted coconut with oats, salt, and flour. Process until finely ground.
Add remaining coconut, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Pulse until just combined.
Transfer mixture into a bowl and mix until it comes together, adding a little more maple syrup or coconut oil if it feels too dry.
Press mixture into the bottom of a parchment-lined springform pan to form an even layer.
Bake for 16-18 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool while preparing the filling.
Filling:
Gently melt white chocolate using a double boiler or microwave on low in short bursts, stirring frequently.
In a large bowl or blender, mix half of the Mango Coulis, melted white chocolate, Greek yogurt, coconut milk, lime juice, honey, vanilla extract, and protein powder until smooth.
Taste and adjust sweetness or acidity if necessary.
In a small microwave-proof bowl, mix gelatin powder with 2 tbsp water and microwave for 10 seconds until liquid.
Add the gelatin mixture to the filling and mix until slightly foamy.
Pour the filling over the cooled crust in the springform pan.
Refrigerate until firm, preferably overnight.
Assembly:
Spread the remaining Mango Coulis evenly over the top of the set cheesecake.
Optional: Whip the Oatly cream until soft peaks form.
Decorate the cheesecake with whipped cream, sliced mango, lime, and coconut flakes or shaved white chocolate.
Run a sharp knife briefly under hot water, dry, and then slide around the edges of the springform pan to loosen the cheesecake.
Carefully remove the springform ring.
Transfer the cheesecake to a serving plate if desired.
Slice and serve chilled.
Enjoy your Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake with Protein!
Notes
StoringThis Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake with Protein keeps well in the fridge for up to 4 days. Though the crust might soften a bit. Personally I quite like it that way.
Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein have everything you could possibly want in a muffin: Crunchy, nutty pistachios, a soft and fluffy inside, studded with sweet-tart dried apricots and a crunchy brown sugar sprinkled top. All that with 7g protein per muffin and just 280cal. So you can have a yummy snack with your coffee and feel good about it!
Why You Want to Make Them
Are you going nuts for Pistachios too?
I’m honestly hooked recently. I got a big jar of pistachio butter from Bulk and it’s utterly delicious on pretty much everything. I spread it on some rice cakes, topped with blueberries as my evening sweet snack, stirred it in oatmeal with cherries, made Pistachio-Protein Crème Brulee and now these Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein.
Of course Pistachios aren’t technically nuts, but rather the stone of a fruit, very similar to almonds, which explains their affinity for very similar foods almonds go with. I added some almond essence to these muffins, which underlines the Pistachio flavour rather perfectly.
Speaking of Protein
If you read a few of the sweet recipes on my blog, you probably noticed that I’m adding protein to many of them. Considering I’m not eating much meat and am not the biggest fan of legumes, so I don’t want to include them into every single meal. Yet, have an acute need to add more protein to my diet, to meet the target for muscle building and/or maintenance, which is at least around 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, I keep looking for ways to increase my intake, without drinking shakes. Why not shakes you ask? They simply bore me.
I feel if I’m not eating or drinking something that is worth the calories, I’m wasting my time.
Is it a weird way to see food? Maybe.
But having lost 70lb taught me, that I’m working on an energy budget per day. Loving food and eating means, I want to spend it well. This does not include the same boring protein shake every day, but rather finding recipes to excite me and have me look forward to eating them.
That’s where Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein come in: Something I really enjoy eating and am looking forward to, which also adds a nice portion of protein to my day.
Easy to Make
If you ever made muffins, you probably loved how easy they are. I know I do. The batter comes together in 10-15 minutes and that includes getting the ingredients out.
Well…unless your store cupboards are way too full, like mine, and you have to rummage around in them to find stuff. I knew I had dried apricots somewhere! *Empties half her pantry before finding the bag*
Lower calories than your average Muffin
Eating an average muffin, according to Google, you are looking at 340-424 calories. That is a fairly big chunk out of your daily budget, if you are watching your weight like I do.
Having gained a few pounds over Christmas (because I can’t be trusted around sweets), I’m currently trying to get rid of them again. But I really don’t want to go without a sweet treat per day! That would just leave me grumpy and missing something, which in turn means, once I lost the weight I’d go even more for sweets again. Not a good cycle.
So my solution is, to develop recipes that are sweet, not compromising in flavour, yet lower in calories than the standard versions. This is one of them.
Oh and I want them to have nutritional value too. High standards for sure.
These Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein have only 280 calories per muffin, which is a nice bit of saving for one satisfying snack. Or even breakfast if you like.
The Ingredients
Looking at the typical Pistachio Muffin recipe, I noticed that most are using rather artificial pudding mix to accomplish taste and texture of them. I wanted natural taste though and not use some mix with barely any real pistachio in it.
That means my muffins aren’t bright green, since they have no colouring either, but instead mostly natural and nutritious ingredients.
Except the protein powder. Let’s be honest, it isn’t natural, but I feel the benefits outweigh that downside.
Note, these are just some of the ingredients and why I use them, not all, as most are still those of a classic muffin.
Let’s start with the obvious bit: Pistachio butter. I only replaced half of the butter with it, as nut butter has less fat than butter, which would have meant I needed to add more other fat back in, which wasn’t the idea.
Keeping half and adding a mix of sour cream and 0% fat Greek yoghurt gave me the moisture content I lost, by swapping part of the butter into Pistachio butter.
I also reduced both the flour and sugar by adding protein powder. Buttered Popcornflavoured in this case, though you can easily use vanilla.
I particularly love MyProtein (not sponsored or affiliated, though I wish it would be, I use it so much!), which adds lovely flavour and sweetness to my recipes, without any weird aftertaste.
You can safely replace about ¼ of the flour in a recipe with it, without any negative impact. Use more, and the results might be drier than intended.
I’m still using a mix of white and brown sugar, but less than usual, to keep the structure needed. The sugar mixed with the sweetener from the protein powder also means it still tastes just naturally sweet.
While looking into the secrets of Pistachio muffins, I found the pudding powder not only adds flavour and sweetness, but also a bit of cornflour, which will thicken the pudding, but add a lovely softness to muffin batter. So I replaced some of the flour with cornflour to achieve the same effect.
Nutrition and flavour wise, I prefer a mix of white flour for lightness and the typical muffin feel and whole wheat flour for some nutty flavour. If you can find it, use fine whole wheat flour, which is great for lighter pastry.
For even more flavour, I’m using a bit of almond extract, which is in the same flavour family as pistachio, making it a natural choice. Unless you have natural pistachio extract, which would be a fantastic replacement. But I couldn’t find any in my local supermarkets and wasn’t keen on ordering just for this recipe. Though…it’s in my head now, I still might. Has anyone tried it? What were your thoughts?
To reduce the sugar and up the fruit content, I swapped out 2 eggs for 2 bananas. You can choose to use just eggs for more protein but add a little more sugar.
For the add-ins I’m using dried apricots, as they are not adding a lot of additional water, which I’d have to account for if I’d be using fresh ones. But, since I found some fresh apricots at Tesco, I decided to add half a fruit on top of each muffin, which gave them an amazing fruity-fresh kick I loved.
They are purely optional though.
Also some chopped pistachios for extra crunch and more pistachio flavour.
Each muffin got a little sprinkling of demerara sugar on top, adding some sparkle, crunch, and sweetness, making the muffins extra special.
The Process
The one thing that makes all baking easier is, to have all the ingredients at room temperature. If you have fridge cold butter, it’s much harder to mix it with the sugar. Just melted however, will give you a greasy result.
Similar for the eggs, which, when cold, can lead to a curdled result while mixing into the soft butter.
So plan a little bit ahead by taking everything out of the fridge an hour or so before you plan to make your muffins.
Preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. Or grease it thoroughly if you prefer. Personally I find muffin cases much easier to remove and they leave less to clean, which is always a plus in my book.
If you have 2 muffin tins, you’ll need both. Otherwise you might bake in 2 batches, as this recipe makes about 16 large muffins.
From there on it’s as easy as mixing the butter with the sugar until fluffy and white. Then, one by one, whisk the eggs and mashed bananas in until well incorporated.
Add the protein powder with the remaining wet ingredients, to make sure you have no protein lumps in your Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein.
Now mix your dry ingredients, keeping back about 1-2 tbsp of the chopped pistachios for sprinkling on top, and add most of them to your batter. But not all. Keep a few tablespoons of the flour mix back, to coat the chopped apricots in. This is to prevent them from sinking to the bottom.
Gently fold your dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. A few lumps are fine. Don’t overmix, or your muffins will be tough from the gluten you developed.
Then add the flour coated apricots and fold them in too.
Divide the batter between the muffin molds, filling them all the way, so you get nice and high tops. I use an ice cream scoop for this, to make it very easy. Two tablespoons work too.
Sprinkle with the remaining chopped pistachios, lay a sliced fresh apricot half on top, if using, then sprinkle lightly with demerara sugar.
Now you might have looked at the high oven temperature and thought it might be a typo. It’s not. The high initial temperature is what gives you the beautiful high muffin tops, but it will be lowered after 5-7 minutes of baking, to the classic 350°F/175°C, to bake for another 15-17 minutes, depending on your oven.
Just don’t open the oven door, except once, around half of the baking time, to turn your muffin tin, should your oven bake unevenly.
Your Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein are ready when the top is golden brown and toothpick comes out mostly clean, a few crumbs are ok.
Let them cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then take them out onto a wire rack.
Enjoy your fluffy, tangy, and crunchy Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein with a nice cup of coffee or tea. They are also really good for breakfast.
Storing your Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein
The muffins keep well in a tin or box for about 3 days.
They also freeze very well. I usually place most in freezer proof containers or small freezer bags and just air fry them for about 7 minutes when I want one. They taste like fresh!
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please share and comment. It helps me a lot.
Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein
Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein have everything could possibly want in a muffin: Crunchy, nutty pistachios, a soft and fluffy inside, studded with sweet-tart dried apricots and a crunchy brown sugar sprinkled top. All that with 7g protein per muffin and just 280cal.
So you can have a yummy snack with your coffee and feel good about it!
½cupchopped pistachios1-2 tbsp kept for sprinkling on top
1tbspdemerara sugar for sprinkling
8fresh apricots for toppingoptional but delicious
Instructions
Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature for easier mixing. Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Line a muffin tin with cases or grease it.
In a large bowl, cream together ½ cup + 2tbsp softened butter, pistachio butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy and white.
Whisk in the eggs and mashed bananas, one at a time, until well incorporated. Add sour cream, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until smooth.
Combine the protein powder with the remaining wet ingredients to avoid lumps. Mix until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix the white flour, whole wheat flour, cornflour, baking powder, and kosher salt. Reserve 1-2 tbsp of the flour mix to coat the chopped dried apricots and 1-2 tbsp chopped pistachios for topping the muffins.
Add most of the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and gently fold until just combined.
Toss the chopped dried apricots in the reserved flour mixture to prevent sinking. Fold them into the batter.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cases, filling them to the top. Use an ice cream scoop or two tablespoons for ease. Sprinkle the remaining chopped pistachios on top. Optionally, place a fresh apricot half, cut in slices on each muffin and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Bake in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes at 425°F/220°C, then reduce the temperature to 350°F/175°C and bake for an additional 15-17 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve and enjoy your fluffy, tangy, and crunchy Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein with a cup of coffee or tea. They make a lovely breakfast treat too.
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