Cinnamon Swirl Protein Cookies

These protein-rich cookies are soft, chewy, and subtly sweet. Enjoy them as a coffee-break snack, post-dinner dessert, or even as a quick on-the-go breakfast. Nutritious and delicious, a single cookie contains over 4 grams of fiber and, because of the almond butter content, provides a whopping 17% of your daily vitamin E requirement.
Yield: 8 servings of 1 cookie each, totaling 8 cookies
Macros (per serving): 135 calories | 6g protein | 11g fat | 1.5g net carbs
Prep: 20 minutes | Bake: 15 minutes | Cool: 15 minutes
Storage: at room temperature for up to 36 hours or refrigerated for up to 5 days.
Main Ingredients:
  • ¼ cup (60ml) soy or pea milk (or plant-based milk of choice, or water)
  • ​1½ tablespoons (11g) flaxseed meal, preferably golden
  • ⅓ cup (83g) unsweetened almond butter
  • ½ tablespoon (8ml) melted coconut oil or neutral-flavored oil of choice
  • ¼ cup (28g) vegan vanilla, cookie, or spice-flavored protein powder (about 1 scoop) ✎
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
​Filling Ingredients:
  • ¼ cup (25g) walnuts, chopped
  • ​1 tablespoon (14g) vegan buttery spread, palm oil shortening, or solid coconut oil
  • ​1 tablespoon (15ml) keto-friendly honey ​or syrup ✎
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
  1. Whisk the milk and flaxseed together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, chop the walnuts and combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl. I use a small silicone spatula for this.
  3. Add the almond butter and oil to the milk/flax mixture and whisk to smooth.
  4. Add the remaining main ingredients, the dry ingredients, to the bowl and mix until no dry patches remain. I use a stiff silicone spatula for this. The dough will be thick.
  5. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
  6. Using 2 sheets of parchment, one under and one atop, roll the dough into a ¼-inch (6.5mm) thick rectangle of about 6x7 inches (15x18cm). (✎ See notes below for quicker alternative to steps 6 to 10.)
  7. Spread the filling mixture from edge to edge lengthwise while leaving about an inch (2.5cm) on the edge nearest you and about 1½ inches (4cm) on the edge furthest from you empty. See the picture below for clarification. 
  8. Roll the filled dough into a tube using the bottom layer of parchment like you would a sushi mat.
  9. Cut the tube into 8 pieces. To do this evenly, I cut the tube in half, then quarters, then eighths.
  10. Gently place the pieces 2-3 inches (5-8cm) apart on the parchment paper. Then, using the palm of your hand, gently press the pieces down into cookies about ½ inch (13mm) thick.
  11. Transfer the cookie-laden parchment to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
  12. Transfer the pan of cookies to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. The cookies will be quite delicate when hot, but will firm up once cooled.
  13. Enjoy at room temperature or heated briefly (10-20 seconds) in the microwave for a more "fresh cookie" experience.
Make It Nut-Free: to make this recipe nut-free, I would suggest replacing the almond butter with sunflower seed butter and the walnuts with an equal weight of sunflower seeds (about 3 tablespoons). The resulting macros will be similar. However, I have not made this variation myself and so cannot guarantee the results. The cookies may be more delicate as I have found this to sometimes be the case when working with sunflower seed butter in place of almond butter in other baking recipes.
✎ Notes:
  • The sweetness of your protein powder will determine how sweet the cookies are. If you don't find your protein powder sweet, you may wish to add a few drops of liquid stevia or a pinch of pure monk fruit. I am unsure how adding a more bulky sweetener like erythritol or allulose will affect the recipe. I suspect it would turn out fine with a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of these sweeteners added. I have tried this recipe with 2 types of protein powder. However, I cannot guarantee it will turn out with all vegan protein powders on the market.
  • I'm using ChocZero honey, which is quite thick. Many other keto syrups are quite watery. I haven't tried this recipe with any other types of syrup.
  • If you want to make this recipe more quickly, you can omit the swirl component. Divide the dough into 8 balls. Place these 2-3 inches (5-8cm) apart on a parchment-lined or non-stick baking sheet, and press the balls down into roughly ½ inch (13mm) thick cookies. Top these with the filling and bake.
  • Macros for this recipes are calculated with American national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from the protein powder (Vega Sport Vanilla) and honey/syrup (ChocZero honey).
  • Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.
Picture
Filling on Dough