These are SO EASY to make and they are a nice treat. They are low in sugar, okay in carbs and ... unlike most muffins ... actually have Protein in them!

Mix

1.5 cups of Reduced Sugar Cake Mix

1.5 cups of Protein powder

1 - 15 oz. can of pumpkin -- not pumpkin pie filling, but plain pumpkin

It will seem like it will never mix, but all of a sudden, the mix will turn into a sticky mess. When that happens, spoon into mini-muffin pans that have been pre-treated with PAM or some other cooking spray.

Bake at 385 for at least 9 minutes or until done in the middle.

You use different cake mix and protein powder to get different flavored muffins. So far I've made:

chocolate Muffins - Devil's food Reduced Sugar Cake Mix and Chocolate Protein Powder

banana Muffins - Yellow Reduced Sugar Cake Mix and Banana Protein Powder.

The Banana muffins, in particular, were to DIE FOR.

Edited January 4, 200917 yr by MacMadame

These sound great! Do you use the pumpkin with all the different recipes? I bet sweet potato would be good too. Where can I buy the reduced sugar cake mixes...I don't think I've seen them before??

Edited January 2, 200917 yr by georgia girl

I get mine at the grocery store. They are mixed in with the regular cake mixes.

ok, i printed this out yesterday mac & went shopping today.

gg - i found the pillsbury brand (low sugar) in my grocery store ... plan on making a few batches tomorrow.

thanks,

Let me know how it turns out!

Thanks, I will look next time I go to the grocery store.

Oh, I forgot to say that I do use pumpkin. I tried applesauce once but everything was too flat. Sweet potato might work but the cool thing about pumpkin is that it doesn't add that much to the carbs and it bumps up the protein a bit.

i had thought about apple sauce today, and decided against. just figured i'd try the pumpkin first.

Btw, I just checked my original recipe and you are supposed to bake at 385. I will update the original posting.

i made one batch this am:

1.5c low sugar yellow cake mix

1.5c banana scream Protein powder

15oz canned pumpkin

i had one this am, and it was pretty good. the smell wasn't so hot & i think i might tweak the recp (not sure how just yet). it wasn't sticky, the batter, more like it was creamy - not sure if it was the protein powder or what. the banana scream is VERY fine; not like my other protein powders - that might have been the issue.

overall i like them - and they are quite filling.

Well, I had a booger of a time finding the reduced sugar cake mix, but after going to 3 different stores I finally found one. I have some in the oven now! I did a yellow cake mix, Cookies and cream Protein powder, and pumpkin. It smelled pretty good...I'll let ya'll know how they turn out.

Oh, I found a reduced sugar brownie mix that has much less calories than the cake mix and next time I'm gonna try using the brownie mix instead of the cake mix and see what happens.

Hey, I was given a new recipe:

banana Surprise Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-15 oz container of LF Ricotta Cheese


-8 oz package of LF Cream cheese (you will need an additional 4 oz of LF cream cheese for the surprise part)


-1/2 c. Soy milk (I used Vanilla)


-1/2 c. Splenda


-1/2 c. Egg Beaters (or 2 eggs)


-1 tsp of Vanilla


-3 servings of your favorite flavor Protein powder (Of course I used Chike Banana)


-1/4 c. whole wheat flour

Mix together all ingredients (except the extra 4 oz of LF cream cheese) in a mixing bowl.

Pour into greased muffin tins - I made 12 and I could have made 3 more but I just tossed the excess batter - however the stats below are based on the full 15 for accuracy reasons (if that makes sense).

Cut the other 4 oz of LF cream cheese into 12 equally sized cubes and push down into the middle of each muffin (optional).



Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.



I haven't made these but they sound divine!

I also made a batch with the reduced sugar brownie mix last night and froze all of them. I think I like the brownie mix muffins better, just because I tasted less of the pumpkin in those. I like pumpkin okay, but the yellow cake mix batch tasted like pumpkin more than anything else.

They came out pretty dense, but they were very filling, so that's a good thing. Overall, I thought they were a good Protein snack. I really enjoyed them.

I like pumpkin okay, but the yellow cake mix batch tasted like pumpkin more than anything else.

They came out pretty dense, but they were very filling, so that's a good thing. Overall, I thought they were a good Protein snack. I really enjoyed them.

i thought the same thing....i tasted more pumpkin than anything else - a bit overpowering, even though i love pumpkin.

i think you can play around a LOT w/the basic recp mac put out - i like the brownie idea.

i don't really have a sweet tooth - and DH lost his being banded; however i do like a good muffin every now and then. when i hit starbucks and get my skinny coffees their muffins call my name - but after reading online the calories/carbs/fat, i always turn away.

mac - i LOVE ricotta. my mom growing up for her cocktail parties always made ricotta bake & ricotta pie. your ideas are sending me to the store again tomorrow:)

I think how much pumpkin you taste is a function of the protein powder you use. I'm going to try a different brand in the chocolate ones and see how that goes.

Okay, I've been playing with this recipe, trying to find a substitute for the pumpkin. Here's what I made today...

1.5 c. reduced sugar yellow cake mix

1.5 c. Cookies and cream Protein powder

10 oz Oikos plain greek yogurt (mixed with a little splenda and vanilla extract)

splash of egg subsitute (probably about the same amount as 1 egg)

The greek yogurt added 30 more grams of protein. It did give the muffins a teeny tiny bit of tang....not bad though. Overall I thought they turned out well. They were a little fluffier than the others.

I liked the flavor of the batch I made with RS brownie mix, but they turned out soooooo dense. I almost PB'ed the last one I ate (and I've only pb'ed twice since being banded).

I'm thinking of using SF chocolate pudding next time and see what happens. I love making these though. I freeze them and usually thaw one out in the morning while I'm drinking my coffee. I bet I have 30 in my freezer, lol.

Thanks for posting this recipe Mac! I've really enjoyed these little muffins and enjoyed playing around with the recipe.