A sweet, moist, skinny High Protein Cornbread recipe to pair with a cozy chili or bbq and meet your fitness goals. Make this protein powder cornbread recipe with Greek yogurt and whole wheat flour or gluten free flour – a perfect healthy cornbread with no sugar either!

I know this isn’t the time of year for cornbread, but do we really need a season for comfort food?

I just found some cornmeal I stashed away in my freezer so it wouldn’t go bad, and of course the first thing that came to mind was cornbread.

But then again you know I need to add my ‘high protein’ and sugar free twist on pretty much anything on here at this point, so I had go for that here as well.

A high protein cornbread – more like a protein cornbread cake.

Ingredients for Healthy High Protein Cornbread Recipe

This protein packed cornbread recipe is made using unflavored protein powder, vanilla protein powder and Greek yogurt for an extra high protein cornbread! The other ingredients are also quite simple and healthy, making this cornbread quite low fat and low calorie too.

Yellow Cornmeal – the basic medium grind one here!
1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour for a healthy gluten free cornbread recipe
Unflavored Protein Powder to replace some of the flour and carbs for an extra high protein cornbread recipe!
I use Quest Nutrition’s Multi-purpose Mix because it’s a whey-caesin blend and perfect for baking.
Vanilla Protein Powder; Quest protein powder again here
Non-fat Greek Yogurt to add moisture and extra protein.
Unsweetened Almond Milk – no buttermilk needed for this homemade cornbread
Maple Syrup – I recommend a monk fruit syrup like Lakanto for a healthy cornbread recipe with no sugar! Use the code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount!
A bit of Melted Butter
Eggs
Baking Powder
A bit of salt

Is baking powder necessary for cornbread?

You can think of cornbread a type of a cake, and since it needs to rise and have that light texture, the baking powder is definitely necessary for this cornbread recipe.

How to make Protein Powder Cornbread with Yogurt

This skinny bodybuilding cornbread recipe is extremely easy to make and comes together in about 40 minutes. You do need to wait for it to cool after though 🙂

Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease an 8 x 8” baking pan (or line with parchment paper)

Mix the dry ingredients for the cornbread in a bowl – gluten free flour, unflavored protein powder, vanilla protein powder, baking powder and salt

Whisk the wet ingredients (except butter) in a large bowl: Milk, eggs, yogurt and maple syrup

Add the dry mix to wet and fold until just combined; Use a fork!

Now add in the butter and mix again. DO NOT OVER-MIX the batter or the cornbread will be too dense.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. A tester inserted into the center should come out completely dry – no crumbs or batter. The top should be dry and springy to touch.

To make protein cornbread muffins:

If you prefer muffins instead of a whole pan or cornbread, use a muffin pan lined with cupcake liners (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) or grease a nonstick muffin pan.

Pour the protein cornbread mix into the muffin cups and bake for about 18-20 minutes to make protein cornbread muffins!

Tips for Perfect High Protein Cornbread

Don’t over-mix the batter!
Make sure you gently mix the dry mix into the wet to combine them, and then just lightly mix in the melted butter
If you over-mix the batter your cornbread will be very thick and dense.

Use a fork to mix the batter instead of a spoon so you have a nice and light mixture.

Reduce the milk when replacing protein powder with flour
We add extra milk in since the protein powder in this cornbread recipe is quite absorbent. So if you use flour instead of the protein powder, be sure to reduce the milk by about 1-2 tablespoons.

Let the cornbread cool completely before cutting into it!

How do you store Skinny Protein Packed Cornbread?

This protein cornbread recipe can be stored on the countertop at room temperature and is freezer friendly too!

Store leftover cornbread at room temperature for up to 2 days in an airtight container.

To store cornbread in the fridge, place it in a container and it will keep for 5-6 days.

To freeze the protein cornbread, slice into pieces, wrap each in plastic wrap, and place them in a freezer-safe zipper bag. The unsliced whole cornbread cake is freezer friendly too.

Alternatives for Healthy Cornbread Recipe

I really recommend making this high protein cornbread with the ingredients – and products – in the recipe for a perfect soft and sweet and skinny cornbread. If you don’t have some of the ingredients on hand, here’s some alternatives you can try.

Just a note that I haven’t tried all of these options out, so I can’t say they’re all going to work.

Replace the gluten free all purpose flour with regular AP flour. Whole wheat pastry flour or a half-and-half of whole wheat and all purpose for a healthy cornbread with whole wheat flour.
Use extra flour in place of the unflavored protein powder. You might also want to reduce the amount of milk in this case – by about 2 tablespoons.
Switch out the almond milk for any other non-dairy milk or regular milk.
Use coconut yogurt and Vegan butter for a dairy free cornbread.
Switch out the maple syrup for honey – you won’t have the option for a sugar free recipe in this case.

Dishes to serve with High Protein Cornbread:

More high protein cake recipes with Quest Protein Powder: