These delicious chocolate Protein Cookies are under 200 calories and pack in 10g protein per cookie. They’re gluten-free, grain-free, and made with your favorite protein powder.
Oh, did we mention that the chocolate + peanut butter combo really makes these the BEST protein cookies on the internet?!
BEST Protein Cookies
All I have to say is that I’ve made this protein cookie recipe so many times and I just can’t get enough! Homemade nut butter-based protein cookies are the best thing that ever happened to the internet and that’s a fact.
Today we’re teaching you how to make the most delicious Chocolate Protein Cookies made with just 5 ingredients. AND, they are just under 200 calories each with a whopping 10g protein per cookie. Let me repeat:
- 5 Ingredients
- Less than 200 calories
- 10g protein/cookie!
This protein cookie recipe is actually a spin-off recipe of our Grain-Free Protein Peanut Butter Cookies, but we decided to use slightly less sugar and add in that chocolatey goodness.
Chocolate Protein Cookies Ingredients
As mentioned above, the basis of these protein cookies is nut butter. The fat and creaminess in the peanut butter is really what makes them soft and chewy and the eggs allow you to omit any kind of flour. Here’s what you need:
All-Natural Peanut Butter: make sure that you use all-natural, drippy peanut butter. Our favorite brands include 365, Smuckers, and the Fresh Thyme brand. Can’t have peanut butter? No worries! These cookies will work with any drippy nut butter such as cashew or almond butter.
Can I swap the peanut butter for something lower in fat?
ABSOLUTELY NOT. I repeat, do NOT swap the nut butter for something such as peanut flour or almond flour. The nut butter is the basis of his recipe and you absolutely can NOT omit it.
Coconut Sugar: coconut sugar is a lower glycemic sweetener that is derived from the coconut. If you so must, you can likely get away with swapping coconut oil for brown sugar, but we haven’t tested this.
Cocoa Powder: make sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder so that there is no added sugar!
Eggs: The eggs in this recipe not only add protein but also act as a bind for your cookies.If you’re looking to omit or swap the eggs, I suggest finding a whole different recipe that is made without eggs altogether!
Check out some of our favorite vegan cookies: (vegan peanut butter banana cookies and oatmeal banana cookies).
Protein Powder: We’ve made this recipe with both a plant-based protein powder as well as a whey protein powder and they both work.
Our recommendation? Whey protein powder takes the gold medal here because it leaves your protein cookies with the best texture.
Best Protein Powders
Check out our top protein powder recommendations for baking, smoothies, and everything in between.
More on Protein Powder
I thought I’d take a second to chat all things protein powder. We’ve done an extensive protein powder review on Fit Foodie Finds and I don’t want you to miss it! Protein powder is such a great way to amp up your protein intake if you find yourself not able to eat enough during the day.
That’s why YOU NEED to make these protein powder cookies ASAP.
remember…
Make sure you like the taste of the protein powder you are using as well as how sweet it is because it can definitely change the taste of your chocolate peanut butter protein cookies.
Protein Cookies Storage
Protein cookies will stay best stored in the refrigerator or freezer, but will also last up to 3-5 days in a cool, dark place.
Let your protein powder cookies cool completely and then transfer them into an airtight container.
Freezer Directions
If you’re a single lady or don’t want to have these little bites of heaven sitting on your countertop, I highly recommend storing these in the freezer. That’s what I do, at least.
Place your cooled chocolate protein cookies on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer for one hour. After they’ve hardened, transfer them to a freezer-safe gallon-size bag for later.
These cookies should last up to 3 months, frozen.
5 Stars
Garden of Life Whey Protein Powder
21g protein // 2g sugar// 120 calories// $2.50 per serving// gluten-free// non GMO // grass-fed // organic
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-natural creamy peanut butter drippy*
- 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1/2 cup chocolate whey protein powder*
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 large eggs
- optional: 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a baking sheet with coconut oil cooking spray.
- Place all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix to combine. The consistency should be similar to cookie dough. It should NOT be crumbly and if it is, this is a sign your peanut butter is not drippy enough and we recommend adding 1-2 teaspoons of melted coconut oil.
- Spoon out 2 tablespoons of dough into your palms and roll into a ball. Flatten cookie dough between your palms creating a cookie shape and place it on a baking sheet. Note that your cookies won't expand a lot, so flattening is important.
- If desired, place mini chocolate chips on top of each cookie.
- Bake chocolate peanut butter protein cookies at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes.
- Let cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan so that the protein cookies can set. If you remove them too soon, they may break in half.
Tips & Notes
- Peanut butter: make sure that you use a drippy, all-natural peanut butter such as Smuckers, 365 or Kirkland.
- Protein Powder: for this recipe, we recommend whey protein. Our favorites include Tera's Whey and Organic Valley. We HAVE tested this with plant-based protein powder, but we much prefer the texture whey gives these cookies.
- Nutrition information is without chocolate chips. the protein per cookie will vary based on the protein powder you choose to use.
Watch It
Nutrition facts
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Erin from The Wooden Skillet.
Damn! I made these, and I ate them all!
I used Mutant Mass Protein Powder in strawberry banana flavour, with crunchy peanut butter, brown sugar and 2 eggs.
Mixed and got 5 circles ~ boom bam bing! I smoked a ding! And then the timers went ‘bing!’
All gone, but damn! Thank you for this idea 🙊
HA this is the best comment I love it so much!!!! also made this smoked no ding but boom bam bing they were gone
Best nut butter protein cookie recipe I’ve tried. Thanks for coming up with this!
Love these. I have made them twice. Both times replaced the coconut sugar with brown sugar, and I mix in the chocolate chips (which only sort of works). Also, I used kraft light smooth peanutbutter – which is not oily enough. The first time, it worked out. The 2nd time i had to add in melted coconut oil, which made them messier to make. Try to only eat 1!
Thanks for all your tips!
New edit. I have tried both Stevia and Monk Fruit Extract (replacing the sugar, 1:1), in an effort to reduce my sugar consumption. I must confess I love raw cookie dough, and the monk fruit extract makes the dough gritty; that texture only disappears when the cookie cools, after baking. The Stevia works well. Also, I ran out of Chocolate whey, so have been using Vanilla Whey, but doubling the cocoa, which works well. Lastly, I cut the chocolate chips in half (I use 1/3 cup for a double recipe).
Another edit. The Kraft Light PB is fine. I swapped out eggs, and went with a ground flaxseed-water mixture (2tbsp ground flaxseed & 6 tbsp water instead of 2 eggs). I also used splenda instead of sugar (1:1 replacement ratio). Relative to eggs and splenda, I preferred the flaxseed option.
Replaced sugar with leanfit whey chocolate protein powder (1:1). Ground flaxseed with water instead of eggs, 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. 168cal. 11.1gcarbs. 10.4gfat. 9.9g protein.
If divided into 6 cookies 🍪
1 Serving :
400 Calories
20 gm Fat
25 gm Protein
25 gm Carbs
Conversions to metric:
240g peanut butter
85g coconut sugar (I didn’t use this as I’m allergic to coconut – used a powdered sweetener, but much less of it, this is the correct conversion for the coconut sugar though).
100g Whey protein powder
15g cocoa powder
53g chocolate chips (I didn’t use this much either, just chucked a few in the bowl).
First off, for those wanting conversions to metric, I suggest Google, but REMEMBER, put in the ingredient name that you are converting! (e.g. 1 U.S. Cup of peanut butter in grams). Solids, liquids, powders etc all convert differently from cups! Also, I have worked on the assumption the above is in U.S. Cups – there is another cup measurement that’s completely different.
I was expecting something kind of dry and mucky as most protein baked goods recipes are, but no, this was good. Unfortunately, maybe a little too good, as it was an effort not to sit there like a fat b*****d and just finish them off.
Honestly, this is the best DIY protein snack recipe I’ve come across yet. Well done
Does baking (heating) damage protein ?
Like the cookies. Used Lakanto Erythritol/Monk fruit sweetener and chunky natural peanut butter.
Is it possible to get the recipe in metric measurements? Specifically, how much protein powder in grams?
I also have a nuts & seeds butter that I’m using as a substitute. Would be useful to know the weight differences to make appropriate adjustments!
Unfortunately, I don’t know how to do those conversions! I am so sorry!
Question can you mix chips into the batter for cooking? I want to try with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips
Yes you can!
Amazing! Recipe works a treat and the cookies are delicious 😋
Hi! May I ask, if this were to be kept in air tight container in room temperature. which is about 28 – 31 degree celsius (I live in Singapore so the weather is quite humid and warm here). How long can I store it for?
I cant store it in a fridge nor a freezer….
If you are keeping them at room temperature, I would say they’d last 3-5 days!
These are delicious! I ended up making them smaller and got 20 cookies (added the chocolate chips as suggested). I’ll be making these again you can count on it! Thank you!
Glad you love them!
How do you store them once they’re baked, in the fridge or just in a container on the work top? Don’t want them to dry out. Thanks
Hey Laura! I actually store them in the freezer. They last up to 3 months and thaw super quick!
My mixture was really wet so I ended up adding more protein (90g) and cocoa 3 TBS, increasing the calories. However I’m still happy with the result. I was worried it would completely fail but they tase great!
Hello,
I give it a try, it was excellent, really excellent!
I change a bit your recipe (i’m a cinnamon lover). I use 15g of honey, 4g of cinnamon, 4g of cardamom, 30g protein vegan powder (vanilla flavor), 2 eggs and bit of baking powder.
I didn’t those ingredients:
-ll-natural smooth peanut butter
-coconut palm sugar
-cocoa powder
for 9 cookies 15G/36P/12L
Many thanks for this recipe 🙂
Kind regards from France
I love this recipe. Really easy. My kids and husband all love them.. I’ve make them a bunch of times with whatever I have at the time.. I’ve made them different kinds of chocolate protein powders, I’ve tried crunchy and smooth peanut butter and today I made them with flax eggs, everytime they’ve turned out great.
So glad your fam loves these cookies!
I had to throw the whole tray straight in the bin. I bake a lot, I follow recipes quite well but this turned out unbelievable dry despite me worrying that the batter was actually too greasy!
Not sure how this went wrong but i’ve wasted good quality peanut butter, dark chocolate and my time 🙁
Hey gemma! What brand nut butter did you use and what brand protein powder? I’ve made these countless times and I’ve never had this issue!
I used Meridian Peanut Butter which is really drippy like you asked for but maybe not I suppose it’s not the right texture for baking for some reason. I’m a bit nervous to re-attempt this recipe but next time I’ll half the recipe and try a different brand of peanut butter.
I did have another go at one of your other recipes last night (the beet brownies) and they were absolutely delicious 🙂
That PB sounds good to me. What about protein powder?
I used Optimum Nutrition, so it’s good quality also.
The same happened to me and I used optimum nutrition whey powder and meridian peanut butter. Super dry, needs some oil or milk.
Can I post one of the pictures of your cookies on Facebook?
thanks
I got sent a version of this recipe but it didn’t have the right amount of protein powder the cookie dough was just liquid. I added quick rolled oats (about 2/3 c) and it made it a better consistency, more like a drop cookie. Next time I’ll try it as written! Now, to figure out how the changes affect the nutrition and macros…
Could you replace both the coconut sugar and nut butter with honey? Would that still work?
Not sure I would do that, unfortunately!
Did you use plain flavored protein powder or vanilla?