Surprise Rocky Road Protein Cupcakes with a marshmallow almond filling! Healthy, low fat and low sugar rocky road cupcakes are perfect for a party.

Another recipe concept that I’d had on my list for a bit – a rocky road something. I considered a cake, but these cupcakes sounded way cooler. Not gonna lie, they turned out AMAZING! Soft and moist with the perfect crunch from the almonds and fluffiness from marshmallows.

A must-try cupcake recipe – be it Christmas season or not!

Ingredients for Rocky Road Protein Cupcakes

These rocky road protein cupcakes are made with clean ingredients and simple ones you probably already have in your pantry. They have no butter or eggs, and very little sugar – pretty much what comes from the marshmallows. Here’s what you need for these creative Christmas cupcakes:

For the Chocolate Protein Cupcake

Chocolate Protein Powder – this replaces the ‘sugar’; I used Whey-Casein Chocolate protein powder from Quest Nutrition.
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Unsweetened Applesauce – adds moisture and gives you a proper soft cupcake
Hot Water
Some Lemon Juice
A bit of Melted Butter
Baking Soda

The Rocky Road Filling:

Mini Marshmallows
Chopped Almonds

For the Protein Chocolate Frosting:

Chocolate Protein Powder: I recommend Quest Nutrition Chocolate here since it’s whey-casein and blends well with the yogurt.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Non-fat Greek Yogurt

How to make Rocky Road Cupcakes with Protein Powder

These rocky road cupcakes might look daunting, but are actually super easy to make! Here’s what it takes:

Prepare oven and baking pan – Preheat your oven to 350°F and line 8 cups of a muffin pan with cupcake lines. Lightly spray insides with cooking spray.
You can also use a silicon pan or liners.
Mix Dry ingredients – Use a large bowl and whik together flour, chocolate protein powder, unflavored protein powder, coconut flour, unsweetened cocoa powder and baking soda.
Whisk wet ingredients – In another bowl, whisk together hot water, unsweetened applesauce, melted butter, lemon juice and vanilla extract
Make cupcake batter – Pour wet mix into dry mix and whisk gently. Stop when the mixture is smooth; Don’t over-mix or the cupcakes will turn out too dry.
Bake – Pour the mixture evenly among the cucpake liners (fill about ¾ way), and bake about 15-18 minutes.
Cool! Let the cupcakes cool about 5 minutes in the pan, then on a cooling rack; Cool completely befire you proceed with the filling and frosting.
Make frosting – Stir together Greek yogurt, chocolate protein powder and cocoa powder in a bowl.
Assemble – Use a teaspoon measure to scoop out a hollow on the top of the cupcakes;
Place 2 mini marshmallows and a few chopped almonds inside.
Spread frosting on the top.

Tips for the perfect Chocolate Marshmallow Almond Protein Cupcakes

Follow these pointers in the process and you will have the perfect chocolate marshmallow and almond cupcakes!

Use whey-casein protein powder for the recipe; It mixes will with the ingredients and gives the texture you want.

Grease the cupcake liners if they aren’t silicon.
This will allow the protein powder cupcakes to come off easily.

Use melted Butter so that it mixes well into the healthy chocolate rocky road cupcake batter.

Don’t over-mix the batter!
Make sure you stop whisking as soon as the dry and wet mix is combined.
If you over-mix it, the protein powder will make the low calorie rocky road cupcakes tough, dense and gummy.
Taste the batter and see if you need some extra sweetener. I’d recommend using stevia powder to maintain the consistency of the batter and have sugar free and healthy cupcakes.

Don’t let the batter sit out too long; Pour immediately into baking pan and bake.
This is to avoid any reactions between the ingredients.

Don’t over-fill baking pan cavities or the cupcake batter will overflow!
Fill only about ¾ the way up.

Don’t over-bake the mini rocky road cakes or they might get tough; Remove when the tester/knife comes out just dry; Little moisture is okay.

Let cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting, or the filling and frosting will melt away.

How to Store Chocolate Rocky Road Cupcakes

These chocolate rocky road marshmallow cupcakes have to be stored properly to they remain fresh longer.

Place stuffed rocky road cucakes in an airtight container and you can keep them on the countertop for 2-3 hours, fridge for 5 days or freezer for 2-3 months.

To defrost frozen chocolate rocky road protein cupcakes, leave them on the countertop or place them in the fridge overnight. I would not recommend using the microwave.

Alternatives for Healthy Rocky Road Cupcakes

I made these healthy rocky road cupcakes low fat, low calorie and low sugar with the set of ingredients above, but here’s some options to try. I havn’t given them all a go yet, so I can’t say how they all would work.

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: Use All purpose flour or 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in the same amount by weight not cups.
Unflavored Protein Powder: 2 Tbsp extra flour – 15g.
Coconut flour: Try ⅓ cup oat flour or almond flour (I haven’t tried this myself so can’t say how it will work)
Melted Butter: Melted Coconut Oil or Dairy Free Butter
Lemon Juice: Apple Cider Vinegar or White Vinegar

Alternatives for Cupcake Fililng:

Mini Marshmallows: Cut-up regular marshmallows or even Vegan marshmallows

Options for Cupcake Frosting:

Greek Yogurt: Coconut Yogurt

Some Unique Chocolate Protein Cupcake Recipes

More High-Protein Desserts with Marshmallow