An easy Protein Coffee Cake complete with a Cinnamon Coffee Streusel, perfect for a healthy snack or dessert. Made with whole wheat pasty flour, Greek yogurt, only a little butter, and sweetened with protein powder, this recipe makes a high protein, sugar free and healthy coffee cake!

I never really got why the dessert or snack cake was called a coffee cake even though it doesn’t have coffee; Just having it alongside coffee shouldn’t give it a name right?

Well I decided to add actual coffee to my protein coffee cake, so went with some instant coffee added to that typical cinnamon streusel. Definitely a step up.

I small batched this protein coffee cake when ProteinWorld sent over their new Instant Coffee (which has like a hint of chocolate and caramel, and some actual metabolism boosting effects) and MAJOR regrets on that.

This coffee cake was SO soft and just melted away with every bite……

Protein Coffee Cake Recipe Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour for a healthy and whole grain cake recipe. You can replace it with all purpose flour or gluten free baking flour if you like
Vanilla Protein Powder – this replaces the sugar in this recipe and is the key to what makes it a high protein cake. I used half ProteinWorld Slender Blend for this recipe (use the code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount) and half Quest Nutrition’s Vanilla protein powder – it’s a whey-caesin blend.
Non-fat Greek Yogurt another protein-packed ingredient!
Almond Milk for a slightly low calorie and healthy recipe; No buttermilk needed here
An Egg
Just a bit of softened butter
Baking Powder and Baking Soda
A bit of salt

The Cinnamon Coffee Streusel:

Instant Coffee: I used ProteinWorld new Slender Coffee – it has a thermogenic blend in it that helps boost metabolism and even has some protein in there. The code HAYLSKITCHEN gets you a discount here too.
Ground Cinnamon
1:1 Zero Calorie Sugar Substitute – I use Lakanto, to keep this recipe sugar free; (code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount here too)
Some cold Cubed Butter

How to make High Protein Coffee Cake

This protein powder coffee cake not only has simple ingredients, but is also really easy to make.

Here’s what you have to do:

Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a round 8” cake pan or 8 x 8” baking pan with parchment paper

Combine the dry ingredients in bowl: whole wheat pastry flour, half vanilla protein powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt

Beat the softened butter and half protein powder in a large bowl using a hand mixer until it’s completely mixed. This should take about 30 seconds.

Add wet ingredients and beat again: Greek Yogurt, almond milk and egg

Add the dry mixture to the wet mix and fold together. DO NOT OVER-MIX the batter or the cake will be too dense at the bottom.

For the Protein Streusel Cake:

Use a fork to combine flour, zero calorie sugar, cinnamon, coffee and cold butter to make cinnamon coffee streusel.

Pour ½ mixture into the prepared baking pan, sprinkle half streusel, pour remaining streusel on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. A tester inserted into the center should come out dry – no crumbs or batter.

For a 9 x 13” pan, double the recipe and bake for about 25-30 minutes again, but start checking early.

Tips for this Simple Protein Cake Recipe

Use softened butter
You want to be able to beat the butter and protein powder together. If you just took it out of the fridge, microwave it for about 7-10 seconds.

Use room temperature Yogurt, Milk and Eggs
Microwave these too for about 5 seconds if you took them out of the fridge, otherwise they will make the butter harden.

Don’t overmix the batter!
Make sure you gently fold the dry mix into the wet to combine them.
If you over-mix it, the protein powder and gluten from whole wheat flour will make it tough, dense and gummy.

Make ahead and Store Protein Powder Coffee Cake:

Another great part about this vanilla protein cake recipe is that you can make in advance for a party, and even store leftovers!

You can keep the protein powder cake out at room temperature (on the countertop) for a day – as long as it has no frosting. A few hours if it has the frosting.

Store any leftover cake in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

To freeze his protein vanilla cake, slice it, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and place the pieces in a freezer-safe zipper bag. They keep in the freezer for a few months.
You can even store the whole cake itself!

Alternate ingredients for Low Calorie Coffee Cake

I recommend making this healthy protein powder cake using the ingredients and products listed – especially the since it gives the best results.

If you need other options for the flours and such, here’s some alternatives:

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: Use all purpose flour or 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour for a gluten free protein cake.
Butter (in cake): Softened coconut oil or Vegan butter.
Regular non-dairy milk to replace almond milk.
Coconut Yogurt in place of Greek Yogurt

For a Vegan Protein Coffee Cake:

For a Vegan protein coffee cake, make sure you use a plant based protein powder, coconut yogurt and Vegan butter alternative. Also replace the egg with a flax egg (1 Tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 Tbsp water).

ProteinWorld has a Vegan protein blend as well (HAYLSKITCHEN for the discount here too).

More Healthy Protein Cake Recipes:

More Quest Protein Powder Dresserts Recipes: