The BEST Homemade Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

Pre-packaged chocolate chip protein cookies you buy at the store are historically terrible.

They’re typically dense, dry, and completely lacking flavor.

It’s time we change that with the most unbelievably soft & moist protein cookie you’ve ever experienced.

This chocolate chip protein cookie weighs 6 ounces and packs 30g of protein!

But with 430 calories, this protein cookie may have higher calories than you’d like.

Don’t worry: we can use this recipe to create smaller chocolate chip protein cookies, too.

When you turn this recipe into 4 smaller chocolate chip protein cookies, each cookie contains just over 100 calories and contains 8 grams of protein, which is still very impressive.

One of the best parts of this protein cookie recipe is that it contains no eggs and no wheat flour, so it can safely be eaten as raw cookie dough or underbaked.

I originally went through 8 versions of this protein cookie recipe trying to get it just right. I played with the ratios, made substitutions, and adjusted the cook time/temperature. High-protein baking can be very stubborn if it’s not done correctly, so I want to share with you all of the trials and errors I went through.

Ultimately, my goal was to create a chocolate chip protein cookie recipe that was high in protein and still tastes like delicious homemade cookies. Foods that are packed with protein often just take on the artificial flavor of protein powder, so I wanted to make sure these tasted like real-deal cookies.

Whether you choose to go the route of one giant protein cookie or four smaller cookies, this is a very simple recipe.

 

Ingredients & substitutions for chocolate chip protein cookies

One of the toughest parts of healthy baking is successfully making substitutions. If you swap one tiny ingredient, it can result in a completely failed end result.

As I mentioned earlier, I went through 8 variations of this recipe, so I want to tell you which ingredients work best, and why.

 

1. Main Protein Source: A Whey/Casein Blend.

If you go through the recipes on my site, you’ll find that I use a whey/casein blend as my protein powder, specifically PEScience brand. Whey protein alone tends to lead to dry baked goods, so the addition of casein protein actually helps to hold onto moisture.

Whey protein powder alone can work, but you need to know what to expect.

I tested the difference between a whey/casein blend, and whey protein alone to illustrate the differences for you:

I purposely undercooked the whey protein cookie in hopes of preventing it from drying out, but that resulted in the middle being undercooked and the outside still becoming dry. You’ll also see that the whey protein caused the cookie to spread out much thinner.

All in all, whey protein works, but not nearly as well, which is why I HIGHLY recommend grabbing a protein blend. I use PEScience in all my recipes, and I highly recommend doing the same to make this recipe as fool-proof as possible.

If you don’t want to use PEScience for any reason, Quest also makes a great whey/casein blend.

If you’re vegan, I don’t think vegan protein powder will work nearly as well. Structurally it might work, but the flavor will definitely not be there.

I will add this: make sure you like the taste of the protein powder you use. If you have an old vanilla protein powder in the pantry that you can’t stomach, don’t try to make this recipe with it. Protein powder is one of the main ingredients, so this protein cookie is going to taste terrible if you hate your protein powder.

I highly suggest investing in a good brand, and PEScience has been treating me quite well so far. 

 

2. Main Flour: Oat Flour

I love using oat flour in cookies– it helps to give it the most authentic flavor when paired with protein powder. Plus, it pleases anyone who may be gluten-free! If you don’t have oat flour, you can very easily make your own by throwing some oats (quick oats or rolled oats both work) into a food processor or spice grinder.

Can you swap out oat flour in these protein cookies? Not really. I tried a version with regular all-purpose flour, but the cookie ended up being cakey. If you want a soft cookie, oat flour is the way to go.

If you absolutely have to make a swap, using more almond flour would likely be your best option, but since that’s a high-fat flour, it will change the final product.

 

3. Other Flours: Coconut Flour & Almond Flour

In my original attempt at this protein cookie, I utilized only coconut flour (without any almond flour). The cookie came out great, but coconut flour tends to have an overpowering taste. If you have a nut allergy and can’t use almond flour, leave that out of the recipe and double up on the coconut flour as I did.

The cookie will come out great, but you’ll be able to taste the coconut flour. When you use only a small amount like the recipe calls for, you cannot taste it at all (which is great, because I personally do not like coconut flour).

I use coconut flour because it is super absorbent and helps hold the structure of the cookies while still being low in calories. If you can’t do coconut flour for any reason (it’s a small amount in the recipe) you can just replace it with more almond flour.

Swapping the coconut flour out for almond flour will lead to these cookies spreading slightly more, but it won’t be detrimental.

 

4. Fat Source: Light Butter

Cookies need a fat source to keep them soft and chewy inside. If you try to make these low fat, you’re gonna end up with a cakey cookie, and that’s the opposite of what we want.

I use Country Crock, which is just a butter spread that contains half the calories of regular butter. If all you have is butter, you can absolutely use that, it will just add some extra calories to this protein cookie.

Coconut oil will also work, but like full-fat butter, it will add extra calories.

In one of my trials, I did try cutting the butter in half and swapping it out for unsweetened applesauce. Generally speaking, you can swap some fat in recipes with applesauce and get decent results. However, I’ve found that only truly works well in cakes.

When I swapped some of the butter for applesauce, the resulting cookie was cakier and a bit spongy.

 

How to make protein chocolate chip cookies

These chocolate chip protein cookies are very easy to make, but there are a few key steps that I need to highlight for you.

To start, we’re going to mix everything together in a bowl except our protein powder.

This is going to leave us with a very wet batter, which may not seem like what we want, but trust me.

Once that is all mixed together, we’re going to add the protein powder in LAST.

This is a trick I learned when I was making my Protein Cookie Dough Sandwiches. If you add the protein powder in first, you’re gonna end up with a significantly different end-product. Adding it last acts as a thickener, so we’re able to turn that sticky batter into a workable cookie dough.

At this stage, you’ll be left with a dough ball that’s roughly 6oz. Mine weighed in just under that, but that’s because I ate a small piece.

Hey, no judgment; this protein cookie recipe is safe to eat raw!

Now refrigerate the protein cookie dough for one hour.

I know, waiting is the worst. But, if you do not chill this cookie dough, the final texture will be way off.

Chilling the dough helps prevent the cookie from spreading too thin, and it actually helps to develop the flavors even better.

Once the dough has chilled, you’ll be able to bake one giant protein cookie or four smaller protein cookies. Let’s quickly walk through each…

 

Option 1: Make one giant protein cookie

How big is a “giant” protein cookie? I’m glad you asked.

I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with Lenny & Larry’s cookies. They’re the leading “protein cookie” on the market, and it seems a lot of people love them. I happen to not enjoy the taste, but that’s just me.

I wanted to use Lenny & Larry’s as my jumping-off point for these big protein cookies. In terms of size, I wanted them to be larger, and I wanted the nutrition to be more appealing. Here’s how they end up comparing:

As you can see, our 6oz protein cookie is a bit higher in fat (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), but other than that, I’d say it’s much more appealing across the board.

Plus, once you taste the difference, you’ll never turn back.

If you want to follow my lead and make one giant 6oz cookie, form your cookie dough into an oval shape so it’s taller than it is wide.

You can form the cookie dough into a ball to have it spread more into a traditional cookie shape once baked, but I love the height of a big gooey chocolate chip cookie.

We’re going to bake the cookie at 325 degrees F for 12 minutes, then let the cookie sit for one hour.

Letting the protein cookie sit allows it to firm up inside to be ready to eat. If you were to bite into the cookie right out of the oven, the inside would taste like hot melted cookie dough.

And if you formed your cookie into an oval as I did, the extra hour of cooling time allows it to shrink down a little bit, as you can see by the shape above.

Once the cookie is cooled, you’re ready to cut (or bite) into it and enjoy!

If it still feels too soft inside, you can let the cookie sit out at room temperature for even longer, or you can add it to the fridge to speed up the process.

But remember: these protein cookies are 100% safe to eat underbaked or even as raw edible cookie dough.

 

Option 2: Make four smaller chocolate chip protein cookies

If a giant protein cookie is too many calories for you, this recipe works really well as small 105-calorie protein cookies.

After your cookie dough has chilled, break it into 4 equal-sized dough balls.

Compared to the large cookie, we’re going to use a higher baking temperature for these protein cookies.

Bake the chocolate chip protein cookies at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes.

When you remove the protein cookies from the oven, they’re going to look a bit cakey…

The beauty of these protein cookies is that they set as they cool. So, as long as you have a bit of patience, these will transform into authentic chocolate chip cookies right before you eyes.

Allow these protein cookies to cool and fully set for one hour, and then they will be ready to go!

The interior is going to remain soft and gooey, but the outside of these cookies will firm up a bit.

 

 

More protein cookie recipes to enjoy

Cookies are one of my favorite desserts on the planet, so I have a ton of high-protein cookie options here on my site.

If a chocolate chip cookie recipe doesn’t do it for you, here are some other protein cookie recipes to check out.