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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Protein Cakes

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I can’t believe Thanksgiving is already almost here. It’s less than a week away and I can’t wait to eat numerous pieces of pie. Maybe a whole pie to myself? We will have to see. Until then, I’ll satisfy my sweet tooth in a healthy way with these pumpkin cream cheese protein cakes.

 

How awesome is it that they are actually in the shape of pumpkins?!? I was at home and looking around the garage and I found this awesome pumpkin shaped pan and figured it would be perfect for this recipe. If you don’t have or can’t find one of the pumpkin shaped pans, a jumbo muffin pan will pretty much work the exact same way for this recipe!

So anyway, back to the tasty recipe. I made a nice moist pumpkin vanilla protein cake batter, then filled it with a sweet and delicious cream cheese filling. To pack them with protein, I added some vanilla Ascent whey.  The vanilla went perfect in these muffins. Additionally, to help give that rich and warm fall flavor I added a bit of dark molasses. You wouldn’t think it makes a huge difference, but it really enhances the flavor of these.

As you can probably tell, I am really enjoying this time of year. I love to take full advantage of pumpkin season and make as many pumpkin recipes as I can. Of course, I still like to cook with pumpkin year round, but this time of year is even more of an excuse to use it.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Protein Cakes
Author: Spencer Miller the MacroChef
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 protein cakes
Moist and warm pumpkin protein cakes filled with a decadent cream cheese filling make for the perfect sinfully delicious and healthy fall treat.
Ingredients
  • [b]Pumpkin Cake[/b]
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2 scoops Ascent vanilla whey protein powder
  • 1/2 cup Truvia baking blend (stevia + sugar mixture)*
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tbsp. Baking powder
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin purée
  • 1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond)
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 tbsp. Vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp. Dark molasses (optional but delicious)
  • [b]Cream cheese filling[/b]
  • 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1 tbsp. Truvia (or 2 tbsp. Regular granulated sugar)
  • 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Add flour, protein powder, sweetener, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder to a large bowl. Mix.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract and molasses.
  4. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Gently stir together until a smooth batter forms.
  5. Mix all cream cheese filling ingredients in a bowl.
  6. Spray either a jumbo muffin pan (or pumpkin cake pan seen in the pictures above) with nonstick spray. Spoon pumpkin cake batter into each spot until about 1/3 full.
  7. Add about 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp. of cream cheese filling to each. Cover with remaining batter.
  8. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
  9. Check at 20 minutes to make sure you don’t over bake since cooking times can vary from oven to oven.
  10. Enjoy!
Serving size: 1 protein cake Calories: 360 Fat: 18 Carbohydrates: 37 Sugar: 12 Fiber: 4 Protein: 16
Notes
*Can substitute for 3/4 cup regular granulated white sugar, or 1/4 cup splenda/sugar free sweetener and 1/3 cup granulated white sugar. [br]**If you don’t have a jumbo muffin pan or the pumpkin cake pan like I had, you can use a standard 12 spot muffin tin. Just adjust amounts to evenly divide it into 12 instead of 6, and bake slightly less time since they are smaller.