The ultimate Chocolate Protein Poke Cake with a high protein cake, filing and frosting! Healthy chocolate poke cake is low sugar, low fat and a triple threat with the protein powder in there.

Truth be told, I was actually going for a poke cake when I made the Mocha Latte Protein Cake recently, but ended up messing up the recipe. The filling was off and cool whip didn’t work out too well for the frosting.

Ended up using the extra cool whip to make a mousse and just had it plain. So so good!

Well I used that base cake recipe, added a proper pudding filling, chocolate frosting, and voila!

Ingredients for Chocolate Protein Poke Cake

This Chocolate Protein Poke Cake is a healthy recipe made with whole wheat pastry flour, protein powder and monkfruit sweetener instead of regular flour and sugar.

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
Whey-Casein Chocolate Protein Powder needed for a high protein cake and also replaces the ‘sugar’.
I used Whey-Casein Chocolate protein powder from Quest Nutrition.
Whey Chocolate Protein Powder: Dymatize ISO 100 Chocolate Whey.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1:1 Zero Calorie Sugar Substitute – I use Lakanto, to keep this recipe sugar-free; (code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount here)
Hot Water
Unsweetened Applesauce
Some Lemon Juice
A bit of Melted Butter
Baking Soda

Protein Pudding

Unsweetened Almond Milk
Chocolate Protein Powder Quest Nutrition again here
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix: I used this sugar free and fat free one from Simply Delish. If you can’t find it, Jello is a great option too.

The Chocolate Protein Frosting Layer

Non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt
Chocolate Protein Powder – I used whey-casein from Quest.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

How to make the Easy Chocolate Poke Cake with Protein Powder

This chocolate poke cake is super easy to make, and doesn’t need any fancy baking skills. Here’s what you have to do:

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
Sieve the cocoa powder and flour so you don’t have any lumps!

Whisk the wet ingredients – hot water, applesauce, melted butter and lemon juice.
Use hot water; This is essential. Hot, not boiling, not warm.
Use melted butter so that it mixes well into the healthy chocolate poke cake batter.

Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix.
Batter will be runny.
Don’t over-mix the batter! Gently fold; over-mixing will make your poke cake dense because of the protein powder and wheat flour.

Taste the batter and see if you need some extra sweetener.
Use stevia powder to maintain the consistency of the batter and have healthy, sugar free chocolate poke cake.

Pour batter immediately into baking pan and bake
Don’t let the batter sit out too long (avoids reactions between the ingredients)

Stop baking when tester/knife comes out just dry, but moist.
Don’t over-bake the cake or it will get tough.

Make Filling:

WHEN CAKE IS STILL HOT, whisk pudding ingredients to make filling.
Don’t wait cake to cool!

Poke holes in cake (use rounded end of wooden spoon/spatula) not too close or too far – 1” ish apart.

Pour filing into holes immediately.

Frosting:

LET CAKE COOL BEFORE FROSTING or the frosting will melt.

Don’t add too much yogurt in the topping; It will come together; Just continue to mix.

How to store Ultimate Chocolate Poke Cake

Why ultimate? This chocolate poke cake uses protein powder for sweetness in the cake, pudding filling and frosting, so you really can’t beat it.

This poke cake has a Greek yogurt topping and can only be kept on the countertop for a couple of hours.
Store healthy chocolate poke cake in an airtight container in the fridge for upto 4 days or freezer for 2-3 months. Thaw frozen cake before eating.

Alternatives for Healthy Chocolate Poke Cake Recipe

For the perfect recipe, I would highly suggest using the ingredients recommended, but here’s some alternatives for a healthy chocolate poke cake:

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: Use All purpose flour or 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in the same amount by weight, not cups.
1:1 Zero Calorie Sugar Replacement: Regular confectioners sugar or coconut sugar (this won’t be sugar free though, and also higher in calories)
Unsweetened Applesauce: Mashed Banana or Pumpkin Puree
Melted Butter: Melted Coconut Oil or Dairy Free Butter
Lemon Juice: Apple Cider Vinegar or White Vinegar

Chocolate Pudding:

Almond Milk: Regular Milk
Chocolate Pudding Mix: Vanilla flavor

Chocolate Frosting Options:

Greek Yogurt: Coconut Yogurt

More Chocolate Protein Powder Cake Recipes: