I'm no protein powder fanatic. I'm not one to mix together nanners, protein powder and egg whites and call it a pancake. If that's a pancake, than my whole life has been a lie.

I'm also not one to put protein powder in my oats, pancakes and smoothies on a regular basis. I'll throw a scoop of Sunwarrior in my smoothie after a lifting workout, but that's pretty much it. I like to get my protein from whole foods like beans, lentils, quinoa, tofu, tempeh, nuts, eggs, tuna and wild salmon. And let's be real...more often than not protein powder tastes like chalk.
So when I got a delightful package from my friends over at MCT Lean consisting of two big tubs of vegan protein powder, I was a little hesitant. Right off the bat, I loved that it was vegan and boasted 20 grams of protein per serving. I wasn't a huge fan of the medium-chain triglyceride oil that came with it, since I'm not one to advocate using oils as a dietary supplement. Cooking with coconut oil is enough medium chain triglyceride goodness for my liking.
This protein powder has a pretty good taste--not too chalky and not overwhelmingly vanilla. I especially love that it's not too gritty and has zero artificial colors and additives. Check it out on Amazon. It's free of soy, dairy, lactose, corn and gluten--niiiiiiice!
It's made primarily with non-GMO pea (which is super trendy right now) and rice protein, along with a few amino acids, some fiber, and some stevia to sweeten. You'll also see medium-chain triglycerides derived from coconut oil, which are shorter chains of fat than can be absorbed more directly and efficiently in your body as opposed to being stored as fat. It comes in two flavors: natural vanilla and natural cocoa. The serving size (2 scoops) has 120 calories, 20 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. Pretty nifty stats, huh?
Since I haven't been keen on riding the green smoothie train recently, I decided to stuff the protein powder into some yummy peanut butter cookies that I could snack on throughout the day or after a workout. They're perfectly sweet from the honey and have a fab texture from the whole-grain cereal flakes (I used Arrowhead Mill's sprouted multi-grain cereal flakes). Each "cookie" has 138 calories, 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of filling fiber. These are a great little snack to boost your energy levels throughout the day and they're SUPER easy to whip up.
I promise they don't taste like peanut butter cardboard.
No-Bake Peanut Butter Protein Cookies Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
- Category: Snacks
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour (or grind old-fashioned oats in food processor to make flour)
- ½ cup whole-grain cereal flakes
- ½ cup vanilla protein powder (a bit less than 2 scoops, I used MCT lean vegan protein blend)
- ¼ cup ground flaxseed
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
- ⅓ cup mashed, overripe banana
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well mixed.
- Add in peanut butter, banana, honey and vanilla. Stir until a smooth dough forms.
- Form into twelve balls and flatten into "cookies." Store in the fridge or freezer.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 138
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 55 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 6 g
Alexis says
I love Healthy Skoop. It's a plant-based protein powder made with brown rice and pea protein. You can buy it here: https://hummusapien.healthyskoop.com/products/53f51ba6086f140200b25d71
Ana says
Hey, what other protein powder, would you recommend?
Kyle says
What are the benefits of using a natural or vegan protein powder vs a standardst whey protein powder?
Alexis says
I try to minimize my consumption of animal protein, since high concentrations of animal protein is linked to higher rates of chronic disease. High animal protein consumption also causes more metabolic acid, which can leach calcium from bones (think high rates of osteoporosis). Vegan protein powder fits in better with my plant based diet. Check out The China Study for more info! Hope that helps 🙂
You can also read more here: https://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/health-concerns-about-dairy-products