The Best Protein Cookie Dough (With 4 Flavor Options)

Is there anyone in this world who doesn’t love cookie dough?

If there is, I do not want to meet them, because that is absolutely crazy. But I think we can all agree that raw cookie dough maybe isn’t the healthiest snack in the world.

How about we change that with some protein cookie dough? Better yet, let’s make 4 different flavors of protein cookie dough!

Protein Cookie Dough (4 Flavors)

This protein cookie dough is as authentic as any other edible cookie dough out there, but this one is loaded up with protein.

And no, this isn’t cottage cheese pretending to be cookie dough. No offense to the cottage cheese fans out there, but the viral cottage cheese cookie dough that has made the rounds around the internet is basically cheesy cookie dough.

This edible protein cookie dough recipe is going to be as delicious as any real cookie dough you’ve ever had. I promise.

Plus, this protein cookie dough is gluten-free (and grain free), making it suitable for pretty much everybody out there.

The exact macros will vary based on the flavor you make, but each batch of cookie dough will contain anywhere from 420-500 calories and 40-44g of protein.

Don’t worry about the higher calories- you can break this cookie dough recipe up into as many servings as you want. You can certainly eat the entire batch though, I won’t judge.

We have 4 different options in this recipe: classic chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter cookie dough, chocolate cookie dough, and sugar cookie dough.

How To Make Protein Cookie Dough

If you’re in search of a simple recipe, this is it.

All we have to do is mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and let the cookie dough chill. If you have zero baking skills, you’re safe with this one!

Each flavor has slightly different ingredients, but the process of making protein cookie dough is exactly the same.

We’re going to mix up all of our ingredients except for the protein powder. When we mix everything up, it’s going to resemble a thick paste.

We’ll then add the protein powder as the very last ingredient.

By adding the protein powder last, it thickens everything up and becomes the perfect cookie dough consistency that we’re after.

I know it probably sounds like a silly added step, but trust me. I’ve been making recipes with protein powder for many years, and the best “trick” I’ve learned is to add protein powder as the final ingredient to yield the best consistency.

At this point, we’re done with all the hands-on steps, but we need to let the protein cookie dough sit in the fridge for at least one hour.

When it comes to no-bake recipes, especially when there is protein powder involved, letting it sit in the fridge is pivotal. This time in the fridge allows the mixture to thicken into the best consistency possible, and the flavors really develop as it sits.

Once the protein cookie dough has chilled, you can portion the cookie dough out however you want and dig right in!

Let’s explore each flavor and all of the ingredients you’ll need…

Protein Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

When you think cookie dough, the first thing you think of is probably chocolate chip. And for good reason: it’s incredible.

The chocolate chip cookie dough will taste as good as any other cookie dough you’ve ever had, but this version is packed with protein.

All of the exact measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here are the ingredients needed to make chocolate chip protein cookie dough:

Vanilla Whey/Casein Blend Protein Powder
Oat Flour
Almond Flour
Brown Sugar Substitute (or regular brown sugar)
Light Butter Spread
Sugar-Free Maple Syrup
Vanilla Extract
Chocolate Chips (mini chocolate chips work best, but I also like to use chopped chocolate)
Pinch of Salt

For the base of the cookie dough, I went with a combination of oat flour and almond flour. I’ve found that this combination works the best to create an authentic cookie flavor, and it’s an added bonus that they are gluten-free, too (I’m not gluten-free, but a lot of people out there are).

I use PEScience as my vanilla protein powder because it’s a whey & casein blend, which I’ve found to work best in this no-bake recipe. Whey protein powder alone will work, but the end result is much stickier. The addition of casein protein makes a very big difference!

You’ll also notice “light butter” in this recipe, which is simply butter spread that contains 50 calories per tablespoon compared to 100 calories in butter. Butter flavor works best in cookie dough recipes, but there are absolutely substitutions you can make for it.

Feel free to use your favorite nut butter instead, like almond butter of cashew butter. While the calories will increase, it will definitely end up being absolutely delicious.

Protein Sugar Cookie Dough

Whenever the holiday season rolls around, I’m all-in on anything sugar cookie flavored.

But sugar cookies are definitely not just a Christmas treat- they’re amazing all year long. The protein sugar cookie dough is definitely going to become a staple for me.

The ingredients are very similar to our chocolate chip protein cookie dough, with a couple of major differences:

Obviously, we are swapping out the chocolate chips for sprinkles in this one, but the other major difference is that we are using granular sugar instead of brown sugar.

Brown sugar works really well for cookie dough (and cookies) because it provides extra moisture and a deeper flavor, but regular ol’ sugar works best for sugar cookies. If you want an authentic sugar cookie flavor, granular sugar is the way to go.

In terms of protein powder, I highly recommend giving PEScience Cake Pop a try. Vanilla works great, but the cake pop flavor has the perfect sweetness to create a sugar cookie dough from.

Protein Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

If you want to maximize your protein, this peanut butter cookie dough is the perfect way to do it.

Thanks to powdered peanut butter, this protein cookie dough actually contains fewer calories and more protein than every other flavor!

Here’s what you’ll need:

If you love peanut butter, you’ll go crazy for this peanut butter protein cookie dough.

We’ve swapped the almond flour out for powdered peanut butter, which not only enhances the flavor, but also gives us a bit of a protein boost.

I highly recommend using PEScience Peanut Butter Cookie protein powder- the peanut butter flavor in it is so good. In fact, I make my own protein peanut butter spread from this protein powder and absolutely love it.

Protein Chocolate Cookie Dough

This chocolate cookie dough is similar to my Protein Brownie Batter recipe, but the difference in consistency makes this much more of a thick cookie dough.

There’s no shortage of rich chocolate flavor in this one to please any and all chocolate fans.

Ingredients needed:

The real star of the protein chocolate cookie dough is the PEScience chocolate truffle protein powder. I’ve tried a lot of chocolate protein powder in the past, and this one is by far my favorite tasting.

But chocolate protein powder alone would not give us enough flavor here- we need to bump things up with cocoa powder and additional chocolate chips.

I also highly recommend adding a little sea salt on top after you mix this one up, because salt & chocolate compliment each other as well as any two ingredients out there.

How to Portion Protein Powder Cookie Dough

You may look at this final product and think “there’s no way I won’t eat this entire thing.”

First of all: go for it! Nobody is stopping ya.

Secondly, I totally understand the dilemma, because it’s not a huge portion by any means. I’ve run into this same issue with the edible brownie batter recipe, too.

However, if you break it down into 2 Tbsp portions (like peanut butter) you’ll find that it’s quite favorable.

Nonetheless, I don’t expect you to just take 2 spoonfuls and call it a day, so a trick I like to use is creating cookie dough bites:

Simply break off pieces of the protein powder cookie dough and roll them into small bites.

There is no shortage of what you can do with cookie dough bites! You can use them to make Cookie Dough Froyo Popsicles…

Or my High Protein Cookie Dough Parfait.

You can even make larger cookie dough protein balls as I did in my brownie batter stuffed cookie dough bites recipe.

And last but certainly not least, you can form your cookie dough into cookie dough protein bars.

The possibilities are truly endless.

If you don’t feel like sitting down with an entire bowl of high protein cookie dough, these are all some great options for some portion control.

More High-Protein Recipes for Cookie Lovers

Cookies are my favorite dessert on the planet, so I have tons of high-protein recipes here that I know you’re going to love.

If you want to stay aboard the protein cookie train, here are some recommended recipes:

Ingredients

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Sugar Cookie Dough

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

Chocolate Cookie Dough

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients EXCEPT the protein powder (we mix the protein powder in as the final ingredient).
Add the liquid ingredients to your bowl and mix until a thick paste forms.
Add the protein powder last, which will thicken everything up and absorb the excess moisture to form cookie dough.
Cover the bowl, or add your protein cookie dough into a small Tupperware with a lid, and add to the fridge for at least one hour (overnight works best). This time in the fridge allows the cookie dough to thicken and for the flavors to develop. If you taste the cookie dough before chilling, the protein powder taste is much more prominent.
Once the cookie dough has chilled, it’s time to dig in. It’s optional, but I highly recommend topping with a little bit of sea salt to really bring out the flavors as well.
You can eat protein cookie dough with a spoon, form it into cookie dough bites, or anything else you can come up with! Just keep in mind that this cookie dough is not meant to be baked.

Notes

The protein I use (PEScience) is a blend of whey & casein protein powder. You can use a 100% whey protein, but it leads to a stickier result. The small amount of casein protein makes a world of difference in making this an authentic cookie dough consistency. If you go with a whey protein powder, it’s even more important to add the protein powder as the very last ingredient to prevent it from becoming too sticky.
Along those lines, if you do use whey protein, you may want to bump up the almond flour a bit to balance out the texture, or only use 1 scoop of whey protein powder instead of 1.5 scoops.
I have not tried using plant-based protein powder (like pea protein) to create a dairy free version. However, you can check out my dairy-free Blizzard which does contain a dairy free peanut butter cookie dough.

This cookie dough tastes much better after it has been refrigerated. You can eat it right away if you’re impatient, but giving it at least an hour in the fridge really helps the taste (and makes it feel much more like real cookie dough).
I do not count sugar substitutes in my carb totals because they contribute 0 calories. If you’re strict about carbs, be sure to include those in your calculations. Each flavor also varies slightly, so I recommend calculating your own nutrition facts.