Soft, cakey donuts made in just 15 minutes that pack a whopping 10 grams of protein! These chocolate protein donuts are great as part of a grab-and-go breakfast or post-workout snack!
Why This Recipe Works
These chocolate protein donuts are a staple in my house! I've talked before about how I meal prep donuts (really!) for an easy grab-and-go morning or post-workout snack. And while you might think that wouldn't give your body much nourishment... think again!
Protein donuts are fabulous to eat on their own, crush up and put into yogurt, or added on top of a smoothie like my fave banana protein shake or cranberry pie smoothie. They give your body protein to help keep it full& satisfied as well as carbs for energy. Add nut butter on top (so delish) and ya hit all of the macronutrients your body loves!
And? Homemade baked donuts are so EASY! I have tons of other recipes for them because I love them so much. A couple of my other faves are my baked whole wheat donuts, blueberry cake donuts and banana donuts!
Ingredients Needed
- Protein Powder: Depending on what protein powder you use you may need to adjust the amount of liquid used in this recipe (See FAQ section below for more notes)
- Melted Butter: Be sure that your butter has cooled to room temperature before adding it in. If not you'll essentially cook your eggs before baking them... not good!
How To Make This Recipe
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a donut pan with non-stick spray.
In a medium sized bowl combine protein powder, flour, cocoa, baking powder & salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer combine egg, butter, sugar, milk and vanilla.
Slowly add in the flour mixture to your egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Fill your prepared donut pan with your chocolate protein donut batter and bake for ~10 minutes.
Donuts are done when they’re golden brown and a toothpick when inserted comes out clean.
Allow donuts to cool fully before adding glaze (Checkout the recipe in my baked whole wheat donut recipe), frosting (I love the cream cheese frosting in my recipe for pumpkin baked donuts), powdered sugar (see expert tips section below for more info on this!) or, top with some of my fave 2 ingredient no added sugar blueberry jam!
Protein Donut Recipe FAQs
You can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, or 1:1 gluten free flours. I wouldn't recommend alternative flours such as almond or coconut flour.
I use Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey, personally. Every protein powder tends to cause the batter to have a little bit of a different consistency, plant based ones I find that I need to add more liquid. If this happens to you just add an extra splash of liquid.
You can really use any flavor protein. Chocolate will. give you the most chocolate-y flavor, obviously. However, I've used vanilla before and the cocoa powder still gives it a good chocolate taste!
I store them right on the counter in a container or bag (I love Stasher Bags for storage!) for 5-7 days!
Alternatively, you can keep them in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Expert Tips
- To easily fill the donut pan put your batter into a plastic sandwich bag, snip off the bottom corner and essentially "pipe" your batter into the donut pan.
- To make filling the plastic sandwich bag even easier I like to stretch it over a tall glass (the bottom corner will be in the glass- see photos below) and put the batter right into the corner. This really cuts down on mess and fumbling with the bag!
- For powdered sugar chocolate protein donuts: Take 1/4 cup of butter and melt it in the microwave. Allow the butter to cool to room temperature and either dip your protein donuts into them or spread it on using a brush. Roll your buttered donuts into ~1/2 cup powdered sugar and then take a big ol' bite! I'd recommend doing this the day of or a maximum of 1 day prior to when you'll eat them.
Other Recipes You Might Like
If you love this recipe be sure to leave a star rating on the recipe card and a comment below!
XOXO
-Colleen
Chocolate Protein Donuts
Soft, cakey, and packed with protein! These chocolate protein donuts will kick off your morning in a delicious way and help keep you full until lunch time!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine flour, protein powder, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer combine egg, sugar, milk, butter and vanilla.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Fill your prepared donut pan with your donut batter. This should make ~7 donuts.
- Bake for ~10-12 minutes or until donuts are golden brown and a toothpick when inserted comes out clean.
- Allow donuts to cool fully before if you deciding to frost, glaze, or rolling in powdered sugar.
- Enjoy!
Notes
May sub all-purpose flour or gluten free flour in place of whole wheat flour.
Store in an air tight container for 5-7 days. I'd recommend not frosting them if storing them. You can prepare the frosting or glaze and add it just before eating. This will prevent them from getting too soggy.
To fill your donut plan without making a mess you can put your batter into a ziplock sandwich bag (or bigger size) and snip off the corner and pipe in the batter.
Protein Powder Notes: I use Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey, personally. Every protein powder tends to cause the batter to have a little bit of a different consistency, plant based ones I find that I need to add more liquid. If this happens to you just add an extra splash of liquid.You can really use any flavor protein. Chocolate will. give you the most chocolate-y flavor, obviously. However, I've used vanilla before and the cocoa powder still gives it a good chocolate taste!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 163Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 206mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 1gSugar: 10gProtein: 9g
Heather
Two things... can you use almond milk in place of dairy, and what could I do if I don't have a doughnut pan?
Colleen
Hey! Yes you can use almond milk- it might alter the texture slightly since there is no fat in it, but it should still work =] I'd recommend using am muffin tin if you don't have a donut pan! You'll need to keep an eye on the time and will likely need to cook them longer but keep an eye on them!
Jenny
I love these donuts! I used the rich chocolate protein powder by nuzest and 1/2 whole wheat 1/2 white flour, then top with homemade almond buttercream. I also just divided it into 6 cuz I didn't want to dirty my second donut pan and that worked fine. The batter was too thick for me to pipe so I just rolled it into balls and then pushed a hole in the middle and popped it in the pan. They were so freaking good! And so satisfying too! I didn't think they would fill me up cuz they are so little but after just one I was content. And I definately didnt expect them to taste so good since they are "healthy," but they were such a croud pleaser. Thanks for the recipe Colleen!
Colleen
Thanks so much for those sweet words, Jenny! I'm so glad you loved them! This recipe is a total favorite of mine!
Julia
I could barely stir the dough, using the 1/3 cup of milk. Using a 1/2 cup of milk yielded the same number of donuts, still yummy and was SO much easier to put in the pan. I also used slightly less sugar. Still yummy.
Colleen
So glad they were yummy! The protein powder you use can really impact how thick it gets. I use optimum nutrition gold standard whey!
Kara C.
Love this recipe! How could I make them a little less dry? I did use almond milk & chocolate whey protein by pure protein.
Colleen
hey! Dryness depends on the protein powder- if yours is dry add a little more liquid!
Jessica
Can you use a Sugar alternative?
Colleen
I haven't tried it! I use regular white sugar. You could try it if it's a 1:1 conversion product but things like maple syrup or honey won't work due to the moisture!