Soft and sweet Protein Monkey Bread Muffins but healthy, sugar free and low fat! Protein monkey bread bites use protein powder, greek yogurt and monkfruit sweetener, and is a great healthy monkey bread recipe from scratch!
Jump to RecipeThis took 2 attempts to nail, but I really didn’t mind it coz they were just super easy to make! Mix in a bowl, divide, roll, and bake.
Perfectly sweet and soft and fluffy! Basically everything you want in a monkey bread, but healthy, high protein and as muffins!
Ingredients For Protein Monkey Bread Muffins
This protein monkey bread muffins recipe needs just simple and healthy ingredients and have no yeast; Baking powder instead. They make a great gluten free and sugar free monkey bread too!
- 1:1 Gluten Free (All Purpose) Baking Flour – or a regular all purpose flour
- Vanilla Protein Powder for extra high protein bread balls, and also replace the sweetener.
I used Quest Vanilla milkshake flavor since it’s a whey-caesin and works best for baking. - Unflavored Protein Powder to replace some of the flour (and carbs) in the recipe for a slightly low calorie protein bread. I used a whey-caesin blend from Quest Nutrition
- Non-fat Greek Yogurt another protein-packed ingredient
- A bit of Unsweetened Almond Milk
- Baking Powder
The Sugar-free Cinnamon Sugar coating:
- 1:1 Zero Calorie Sugar Substitute – I use Lakanto Golden here (same code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount)
- Cinnamon
- A bit of Melted Butter
Tips for Protein Powder Monkey Bread Muffins
This protein powder monkey bread muffin really is an easy from scratch recipe, but here’s some pointers for the perfect protein bread balls:
- Use cold yogurt and milk.
- Don’t skip the milk; It adds a fair amount of moisture.
- Don’t over-mix the dough or it will get too warm and soft. Also, the protein powder can make the protein bread tough.
- Don’t let dough sit out for too long; Work quickly; You don’t want the dough to get warm and hard to handle.
- Slightly sticky dough is wanted. It should still be rollable with slightly wet hands though.
- Use wet palms to roll the dough into balls so it doesn’t stick to your palms. The dough is actually very sticky.
Use a Mini Bundt Pan
Instead of a muffin pan, you can also turn these into mini bundt pan monkey bread bites; Just do the same with putting 2-3 bread balls in each cavity.
Store Protein Packed Monkey Bread Bites
This protein packed monkey bread is a great meal prep recipe and can be store in the fridge, on the counter or in the freezer.
Healthy monkey bread muffins keep on the countertop in an airtight container for 2 days.
Store the protein monkey bread bites for one for up to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
For a freezer friendly option, freeze the healthy monkey bread bites on a baking sheet and then transfer to freezer safe zipper bag. It should keep up to 2 months.
When it’s time to eat, thaw to room temperature and warm them in the microwave for extra goodness.
Alternatives for Healthy Monkey Bread Muffins
I made this healthy monkey bread muffins recipe from scratch using the ingredients above for a low fat, sugar free and high protein recipe, but you can make a few swaps to make it work.
I haven’t tried them all though so you have to let me know if you do and how it turns out.
- 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour: All purpose flour or Whole Wheat Pastry Flour in the same amount by weight not cups
- Unflavored Protein Powder: More Plain flour, but reduce the amount of yogurt to maybe ⅔ cup
- Unsweetened Greek Yogurt: Vanilla greek yogurt, but try to keep it light.
Coconut yogurt could be an option - 1:1 Zero Calorie Sugar Replacement: Regular confectioners sugar (this won’t be sugar free though, and also higher in calories)
For a Vegan Option
The original recipe here has no eggs and no milk, so protein monkey bead muffins be easily turned Vegan.
Replace the Greek Yogurt with Coconut Yogurt, use a plant based protein powder
I haven’t tried this option yet, so let me know how it goes if you do!
More Protein Bread Recipes you’ll love:
- Protein Strawberry Bread
- Protein Pull Apart Bread with Pancake Mix
- Double Chocolate Protein Loaf with Nutella
- Chocolate Protein Banana Bread
- Blueberry Protein Pancake Bread
Protein Monkey Bread Muffins (Easy, Sugar Free!)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour, 90g, see post for sub
- ¼ cup Vanilla Protein Powder, 22g
- ¼ cup Unflavored Protein Powder, 22g, see post for sub
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- ¾ cup Non-fat Greek Yogurt, 168g
- ½ Tbsp Unsweetened Almond Milk, 7ml
Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- 2 tsp melted Butter, 11g
- 1½ Tbsp Zero Calorie 1:1 Sugar Replacement, 18g
- 1½ tsp Cinnamon
Optional Icing:
- Zero Calorie 1:1 Powdered Sugar Substitute, or regular
- Milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 6 cups of a muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, vanilla protein powder, unflavored protein powder and baking powder.
- Add yogurt and milk and mix until combined to form a shaggy, sticky dough ball; Stop as soon as ball forms.DO NOT OVER-MIX or the protein powder will make the bread balls tough.
- Slightly wet your palms, divide dough into 18 pieces (1-2 Tbsp size).Roll into balls (wet palms again as needed).Dough will be sticky.
Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- Melt Butter in microwave-safe bowl if not already melted.
- In a small shallow bowl, combine sugar replacement and cinnamon.
- Roll a dough ball in melted butter, then in cinnamon sugar mixture, and place in a muffin pan cup.Repeat with all balls, placing 3 in each cup.
- Bake for 14-15 minutes until outside and center(dough ball intersection) is dry.Toothpick inserted into muffin should come out clean.
- For icing: Stir together powdered sugar and a bit of milk in a bowl and drizzle on muffins.
Notes
- Add stevia sweetener if your protein powder is not sweet enough.
- Nutrition information is calculated using the products recommended below and does not include icing.
- See post for alternate ingredients, tips and storage options.
- Quest Nutrition Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder
- Quest Nutrition Multi-purpose Mix Protein Powder
- Lakanto Golden Monkfruit Sweetener
- Use code HAYLSKITCHEN for 15% off your order
- Servings: 6 muffins | Serving size: 1
- Calories: 105kcal
- Fat: 1.6g | Saturated fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 16.6g | Fiber: 1.3g | Sugar: 0.9g
- Protein: 9.7g
[…] Protein Monkey Bread Muffins […]
So good! I’ve Made it 3 times in the past 2 days ?
Yass! The real sign of a successful recipe 🙂
Shockingly good for the macros. I’ve made it 3 times in 2 days, and I’m kinda snobby about my baked goods ?
Good taste and macros are what we go for! I’m so happy you loved them enough to repeat!
This is delicious! I used vegan protein powder and vegan yogurt and it turned out great. Love how high the protein is in this 🙂
Yayy! This is so great to know Marina! I’m sure your success with a Vegan version of these monkey bread muffins is going to convince others too 🙂