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Recipes

Quick and Easy 4-Ingredient Protein Cookies

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at DU chapter.

I’m sure by now you’ve all seen those recipes for three-ingredient cookies that you can even make in your microwave, and to be honest, these aren’t overly different. I just love how easy and versatile these protein cookies are that I felt the need to share them with you all yet again. My version has all the usual suspects: banana, oats and egg, but also something you may not have expected — protein powder!

I make these whenever I want something easy to take to class that I also know will fill me up (because oats and bananas just don’t cut it sometimes) and also as an easy post-workout snack. Please excuse the strange green tint that these cookies have — it’s because the only protein powder I own is made from hemp, which is naturally green-colored. Like very green. So, ready to get your (protein) cookie monster on?

4-Ingredient Protein Cookies

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 10 minutesCook time: 7 minutesTotal time: 17 minutesServings:6 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Natalie Oberer

    Mash the banana until no large chunks remain.

  2. Natalie Oberer

    Add the egg and mix well.

  3. Natalie Oberer

    Add oats and mix until well combined.

  4. Natalie Oberer

    Add the protein powder (and whatever other add-ins you want), making sure to mix it in evenly with the rest of the batter.

  5. Natalie Oberer

    Form into cookies and put on a baking sheet (the batter will be very sticky). They will not spread so flatten them until they are an even thickness.

  6. Natalie Oberer

    Bake for 7 minutes at 350ºF (they are done when the cookies feel firm to the touch).

  7. Natalie Oberer

    Enjoy!

It’s almost laughable how many variations of these protein cookies you can make, but here are just a few ideas:

1. Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies – omit the protein powder, add chocolate chips. 

2. Peanut Butter Cookies – just add peanut butter (or a different nut butter) and maybe some chopped peanuts if you’re feeling’ fancy. 

3. Trail Mix Cookies – add dried fruit, nuts, flax seeds, chia seeds (or whatever else you usually have in your trail mix).

4. Double Chocolate Cookies – add some cocoa powder and chocolate chips

5. Pumpkin Spice Cookies (because tis’ the season) – add some pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie spice, you may also want to omit the egg because the pumpkin will produce enough moisture on its own.

For this specific batch I kept it simple and just added chia seeds and cinnamon for some extra flavor (not to mention the numerous health benefits) but you really can’t go wrong no matter what you choose to add. By the way, these are easily made gluten-free if you just make sure to use gluten-free oats. These cookies are full of protein, healthy carbs and fats AND they actually taste good. Plus, they’re cookies so they feel like a real treat! Make them, eat them, love them, make em’ again.