What have you been doing with your quarantine time? If you are like many (and me), you may be baking like crazy . . . to deal with these crazy times. You could call it anxiety-baking, stress-baking, or even “procrastibaking”! This sort of baking helps increase feelings of comfort among chaos and serves as a special little indulgence when feeling isolated and a little deprived. 

However, eating cakes, cookies, and quick breads on the daily may wreak havoc on your health. But don’t worry, my Mocha Cappuccino Protein Cheesecake Brownie is a low-cal, protein-packed option that is amazingly delicious, too! Just 167 calories per serving and over 22 grams of protein! Read on to get the protein powder cheesecake recipe and all the details.

Protein powder and cottage cheese, mixed together, is a favorite way to make a protein treat — my little individual cheesecake cups are a healthy dessert I frequently have on my personal menu. But, today, I decided to make a bigger protein dessert that they whole family could dig into during our time together – it’s a cheesecake topping baked on a brownie crust.  Using coconut flour, so it’s a gluten-free brownie base.

Mocha Cappuccino Protein Powder from Optimum Nutrition, along with extra espresso powder, serves as the feature ingredient for the brownie crust. The protein cheesecake topping is blended cottage cheese, egg and a little more protein powder in vanilla – it sets up in the oven just like traditional cheesecake. I use cottage cheese blended smooth rather than cream cheese because it’s lower in saturated fat, sugar, cholesterol and, my favorite reason – it has more protein! 

The low carb cheesecake recipe is super easy, mix up the brownie batter and spoon into a springform pan. Then make the protein cheesecake topping in the blender and pour on top. A bit of reserved brownie batter is dolloped over the protein powder cheesecake and swirled decoratively with a knife (the design is freestyle, so anyone can do it). 

Is my low carb dessert recipe for Mocha Cappuccino Protein Cheesecake Brownie healthy? YES! As I mentioned earlier, this protein dessert has great macros and is a smart way to treat yourself. Only 167 calories per HUGE slice – with 22 grams of protein, too. If we weren’t on lock down, I’d be running home from the gym for a slice as a muscle-making, post-workout snack. Now, since my husband and I are doing  boot camp together in the backyard at 5am in the mornings, any leftovers of this protein powder cheesecake will be my breakfast (It will probably be a race to the fridge — good thing I’m faster). 

5 from 2 votes

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Mocha Cappuccino Protein Cheesecake Brownie

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

Course: Dessert

Calories: 167 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups Mocha Cappuccino Protein Powder 4 scoops Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey
• ½ cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup stevia baking blend cup for cup granular equivalent
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso power
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups natural applesauce 12 ounces
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup water

Cheesecake layer:

• 1 ½ cups 1% cottage cheese 12 ounces
• 2 whole eggs
• ¼ cup Vanilla Protein Powder Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey
• 2 tablespoons stevia baking blend cup for cup granular equivalent
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Add mocha protein powder, cocoa powder, coconut flour, stevia, espresso powder and salt to mixing bowl and stir until combined.
3. Add applesauce, oil and water to dry ingredients in mixing bowl and stir with spatula until combined.

4. Mix wet and dry brownie ingredients together until well combined.

5. Spoon most of brownie batter into parchment-lined, 9-inch springform pan, spreading until even with spatula. Reserve a few spoonfuls of batter to make swirl in cheesecake batter. Set aside.
6. Add cottage cheese, eggs, vanilla protein powder, stevia and vanilla extract to blender and process until smooth, stopping blender and scraping down sides as needed. Mixture will be fairly thick.
7. Pour cheesecake batter over brownie batter.
8. Spoon remaining brownie batter on top of cheesecake mixture in random dollops, and swirl with the back of a knife.

9. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven, remove from oven and let cool on counter for 10 minutes.

10. Set in refrigerator 30 more minutes before serving. Loosen edges of pan with knife before removing springform rim. Cut into 8 wedges.

Recipe Notes