Snackable, high protein cookie dough, made with low carb and nutrient dense ingredients! This is perfect off a spoon, but can also be used to spread on fruit. This cookie dough with protein powder is customizable – use your favorite chocolate, add nuts or coconut!
A 2-tablespoon serving of this cookie dough has 7 grams of protein!
Cookie Dough with Protein Powder
When I was a teenager, my friends and I would always include a roll of cookie dough when we bought “snacks” for our sleepovers.
To this day, I like cookie dough more than actual baked cookies.
Note: This recipe does not bake into cookies! If you’re looking for the perfect chewy, Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie, head to this recipe!
This protein powder cookie dough is perfection. It comes together with cottage cheese and almond flour, for even more protein!
Cottage cheese is a great high protein, low carb food to work into a healthy diet.
This recipe is sweetened primarily by monk fruit sweetener or allulose, to keep it lower in sugar and carb.
I love to add a couple tablespoons of coconut sugar for the brown sugar flavor. It adds just a small amount of sugar to this recipe, so it will have a minimal effect on blood glucose levels. If you’re avoiding all added sugar, try swapping it for a brown monk fruit sweetener!
I’ve had a jar of this in my fridge and when I have a sweet tooth, I enjoy a big spoonful of it. It’s also great spread on fruit, like on a big strawberry or apple slices, or as a topping to a smoothie or yogurt bowl.
What You’ll Need
- Cottage Cheese (0% is good for this recipe, because it already has plenty of fat from the almond flour and dark chocolate! Non fat Greek yogurt works – and you can skip the blender step!)
- Almond Flour
- Protein Powder (my two favorites are whey protein and egg white protein. I use unflavored/unsweetened. If using a vanilla protein powder, omit or lessen the added sweetener)
- Monk Fruit Sweetener or Allulose (a powdered or granulated sweetener works best here! Pure maple syrup works as a natural, but not low carb, option.)
- Coconut Sugar (or a granulated brown monk fruit sweetener)
- Collagen (optional. Collagen “melts” and creates a softer and stickier cookie dough. Leave it out if you’re prefer a more traditional texture in your cookie dough.)
- Vanilla Extract
- Sea Salt
- Dark Chocolate Chips or Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
- Optional: Peanut Butter, almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter for a nutty flavor!
What is the Best Protein Powder?
The best protein powder is different for individuals! This depends on what your body tolerates the best.
Whey Protein Isolate: This is my personal preference. Whey is a natural source of complete protein, and since it comes from milk, it has a great taste all on it’s own. Whey proteins typically have the fewest / cleanest ingredient lists because nothing needs to be added to make it taste great. Look for a whey protein with no carbs and simple ingredients. Mine has only whey protein and vanilla.
Egg White Protein: This is another favorite of mine because of the high quality protein and easy digestibility. Egg white protein is typically only 1 ingredient!
Collagen: I love adding collagen to my day. However, it is not a complete protein and shouldn’t be used in place of other protein sources. I like to combine it in smoothies or a sweet treat to get the benefits from both. Collagen “melts” when used in a wet recipe like this high-protein cookie dough, so expect a softer textured cookie dough if you choose to use it. For this reason, I don’t suggest making this recipe with only collagen.
Plant Based Protein Powder: Vegan protein powder is typically made with soy, pea protein, and rice protein. It takes a lot of these plants to extract protein, since the total protein content of these foods is much lower than animal based sources. To make these protein powders taste good, they typically have a lot of artificial flavors and sweeteners to mask the natural earthy flavors. These are my least favorite option because they can be difficult to digest, have high levels of heavy metals, and need a lot of additives to improve the flavor. Typically these also have carbs, making your smoothies or cookie dough higher in carbs.
Flavored/Sweetened Protein Powders: If you love a sweetened vanilla protein powder, you can use it in this recipe and omit the additional sweetener. If you have a chocolate protein powder, play up the chocolate flavor by adding in an additional 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.
Consumer Beware: Read the ingredient label of any protein powder you buy. Avoid options that use artificial sweeteners like acesulfame potassium, and opt for those sweetened with monk fruit or stevia.
How to Make High Protein Edible Cookie Dough
Step 1: Add the cottage cheese, vanilla, and coconut sugar to a blender or food processor. Process until a very smooth consistency.
Step 2: In a mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, sweetener of choice, protein powder, and sea salt.
Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and stir to combine into a cookie dough.
Step 4: Fold in chocolate chips.
Note: The cookie dough will have a softer texture when it’s combined. It will thicken and have a typical cookie dough texture once it’s refrigerated. Collagen “melts” and will make a softer/stickier cookie dough, so leave it out if you don’t enjoy that.
How to Store Edible Cookie Dough
Store cookie dough in a glass jar or other airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Because it’s base is cottage cheese, it cannot be left at room temperature.
The cookie dough is sticky when first combined. Once it’s fully chilled, it thickens and is a great texture!
Variations
Customize this edible cookie dough recipe to suit your mood!
Choose your Chocolate
- Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Chips (for a sugar free/keto cookie dough)
- Chopped 85% Dark Chocolate (this also keeps the carbs low enough for a keto snack)
- Butterscotch or White Chocolate Chips (ChocZero makes awesome versions of these!)
- Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (if you’re not trying to lower the sugar/carbs these work!)
Other Additions:
- Nuts: walnuts and pecans are my favs! Add 1/3 cup chopped nuts to the batter.
- Seeds: Layer in some nutrition with 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
- Coconut: Add 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut if you love the texture like I do!
- Dried Fruit: If carbs aren’t an issue, add raisins, dried cranberries, or chopped dried apricots to your cookie dough!
- Candy Coated Chocolates: Make a monster cookie dough by adding in some candy coated chocolates! I love Trader Joe’s brand because they use no artificial colors. This is not a low carb or keto friendly option.
Protein Cookie Dough Balls
To make cookie dough protein bites, first completely chill the dough. Once it’s cold, it’s thicker and easier to work with. Use a cookie scoop to form balls and freeze. I dip the cookie scoop in hot water prior to scooping the dough to help prevent it from sticking.
Adding nuts or shredded coconut to the cookie dough helps thicken the dough to form better cookie dough balls!
Other Healthy Desserts:
- Keto Chocolate Avocado Pudding
- Vanilla High Protein Pudding
- Keto White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Try this recipe? Be sure to share your cooking with me on Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram, and tag @BlissfullyLowCarb !
High Protein Cookie Dough (with Cottage Cheese!)
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cottage cheese I recommend 0% fat, since this recipe has other high fat ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar or brown sugar sweetener of choice (sugar free)
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup allulose or monk fruit sweetener (powdered or granulated)
- 20-40 grams protein powder (unsweetened) *I use half unsweetened whey protein isolate and half egg white powder
- 20 grams collagen optional
- pinch sea salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips dark chocolate chips or sugar free chocolate chips recommended
Instructions
- Add the cottage cheese, vanilla, and coconut sugar to a blender. Process until a very smooth consistency.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, sweetener of choice, protein powder, and sea salt.
- Pour the smooth cottage cheese mixture into the flour mixture, and stir to combine into a cookie dough.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
Notes
Variations
Choose your Chocolate- Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Chips (for a sugar free/keto cookie dough)
- Chopped 85% Dark Chocolate (this also keeps the carbs low enough for a keto snack)
- Butterscotch or White Chocolate Chips (ChocZero makes awesome versions of these!)
- Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (if you’re not trying to lower the sugar/carbs these work!)
- Nuts: walnuts and pecans are my favs! Add 1/3 cup chopped nuts to the batter.
- Seeds: Layer in some nutrition with 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
- Coconut: Add 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut if you love the texture like I do!
- Dried Fruit: If carbs aren’t an issue, add raisins, dried cranberries, or chopped dried apricots to your cookie dough!
- Candy Coated Chocolates: Make a monster cookie dough by adding in some candy coated chocolates! I love Trader Joe’s brand because they use no artificial colors. This is not a low carb or keto friendly option.
What could i use in place of almond flour, my son is allergic to nuts
If you don’t need it to be low carb, you can use oat flour. Sunflower seed flour can also be used but has a stronger taste so might not be as kid-friendly!
I made this for this week’s treat. Oh my this is delicious. The hard part will be only eating 2 tablespoons, lol
Yes, that is the biggest challenge with this recipe! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it.