Cookie butter is one of the best spreads on the planet. Peanut butter is still the ultimate spread, but cookie butter is a close second.

I mean, it’s cookies that are blended up into a spreadable dessert. How could it possibly get any better than that?

The only problem with traditional cookie butter, if you can call it that, is that it’s pretty high in calories. A serving of cookie butter is comparable to a serving of peanut butter or almond butter, but without any of the protein.

It’s time for us to fix that.

Dipping biscoff cookie in cookie butterDipping biscoff cookie in cookie butter

Enter: homemade, high-protein cookie butter.

This is one of the simplest desserts I’ve ever made, but it’s also easily one of my favorites.

Our cookie butter spread requires only THREE ingredients, contains half the calories of traditional cookie butter, is loaded with protein, and tastes every bit as authentic.

The consistency ends up being very similiar to authentic cookie butter (although noticeably lighter in color), but the nutrition facts are far more impressive.

Protein cookie butter vs regular cookie butterProtein cookie butter vs regular cookie butter

Regular Cookie Butter (2 Tbsp): 180 Calories, 12g Fat, 16g Carbs, <1g Protein

Protein Cookie Butter (2 Tbsp): 85 Calories, 3g Fat, 9g Carbs, 6g Protein

If you have 2 servings of our protein cookie butter, it will be 170 calories, 6g fat, 18g carbs, and 12g protein! That’s like a protein bar, but tastes 500x better!

I mean, seriously: you can barely tell the difference!

 

What is cookie butter, anyway?

If you’ve never had cookie butter, you need to change that ASAP.

Lotus makes the original Biscoff Cookie Butter, but Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie Butter is nearly an identical product and just as delicious.

They take Biscoff cookies (which are similar in taste to thick graham crackers) and blend them with some sugar and oil to create a creamy cookie spread.

What can you do with cookie butter? If you’re like most people, you’ll eat it straight out of the jar, using every bit of willpower you possess to try not to eat the entire jar in one sitting.

But you can use cookie butter for plenty of other things, too: spread over toast, drizzle over pancakes or waffles, make stuffed French toast, mix into ice cream, etc.

My protein cookie butter spread over toast!

Basically, if you can dream it, you can do it with cookie butter.

 

Ingredients needed for high-protein cookie butter

To make our high-protein cookie butter, we only need three simple ingredients: protein powder, Biscoff cookies, and milk.

Really, that’s it!

Because the ingredients list is so tiny, each ingredient is very important. Well, the type of milk you use isn’t all that important: I tested with unsweetened almond milk, cashew milk, and dairy milk, and all worked the same.

Milk aside, here’s why I use these specific ingredients:

 

Biscoff Cookies

These are the cookies used in authentic cookie butter, so I wanted to mimic that flavor exactly. The reason these cookies work so well is that there is fat in them, with lends itself to a buttery consistency once blended.

I attempted a batch with regular graham crackers, as well as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and neither worked very well because they lack fat content. Those batches ended up being more of a pudding-like consistency rather than a spread.

Oreos surprisingly didn’t work very well either, because it turns out they become TOO liquidy with the cream.

If you need a substitute for Biscoff cookies, look for a cookie with some fat in it. I tried Trader Joe’s Honey Graham Crackers, which have a very similar flavor & nutritional profile to Biscoff cookies, and it actually worked pretty well. The taste was slightly different, but the consistency was great.

My local grocery store carries Biscoff cookies, so I’d check any grocery store to find them.

 

PEScience Snickerdoodle Protein (a whey/casein protein blend)

PEScience Snickerdoodle proteinPEScience Snickerdoodle proteinPEScience Snickerdoodle protein

The flavor of this protein powder is the PERFECT compliment for this cookie butter. Seriously, I am blown away by how well it works.

Vanilla protein powder also works great, but I’d stick with someone cinnamony if you can. I tested with regular vanilla protein powder, and it worked very well, but it could definitely use a touch of cinnamon if you go that route.

If you want to buy this snickerdoodle flavored protein powder, be sure to use my code “Matt” to save 15% here.

 

Can you use other types of protein powder?

In short, yes, but the whey & casein blend yields the best result.

I used PEScience in all of my recipes because I truly believe that the taste is superior to other brands. And, in cases like this, the whey & casein blend creates the most authentic consistency.

Quest Nutrition makes another whey & casein blend protein that is also solid, if you need a different recommendation.

Because I love my readers, I tested three other types of protein powder to see how they would compare. Here’s what I found…

Whey/Casein Blend (PEScience): This is what I used for the recipe, and it created the most authentic flavor AND consistency.

Whey Protein Powder: The result is very liquidy & slimy if you follow the same recipe measurements. With whey protein, you’ll need to use less liquid or more protein powder to thicken the cookie butter. Even if you do that, it’s still slimy compared to the others, which falls short for me.

Casein Protein Powder: This cookie butter was the lightest in color and consistency. It fluffed up more than the others (so you get more volume out of it), but it ended up being more like a mousse than spreadable butter. If you use casein protein powder, you’ll need to use 1/2 cup of milk instead.

Plant Protein: This one actually worked extremely well for the right consistency, but I just can’t get over the flavor. The pea protein flavor always seems to overpower the rest of the flavors. If you don’t mind the pea protein flavor and need a dairy free version, this definitely works. I added a tablespoon of sugar to try to offset the Earthy flavor, but it didn’t have much of an effect. If you use plant-based protein, you’ll definitely need extra sweetener.

 

How to make protein cookie butter

If you have a high-speed blender or food processor (I use a Ninja), you’ll have protein cookie butter ready to go in a matter of minutes.

1. Add your Biscoff cookies to the blender and let the blender run for about 30 seconds until they break down into crumbs.

2. Add the scoop of protein powder and blend for a few seconds to mix the dry ingredients together.

3. Add 1/4 cup of milk, then blend until smooth.

4. Add to a bowl or container and refrigerate for at least one hour to allow the cookie butter to thicken and the flavors to develop.

When you first blend the cookie butter, it’s going to be the consistency of a dip.

After it sits in the fridge and thickens, it will more resemble a thick cookie dough while still being spreadable, which is exactly what we’re after.

 

How to make protein cookie butter without a blender

No blender? No problem! While you’ll get the best results from throwing everything together in a blender or food processor, you can get by without it.

All you need to do is create fine crumbs from the Biscoff cookies, then you can simply use a bowl to mix the rest of the ingredients.

If you have a spice grinder, you’ll be able to create a really fine crumb from the cookies. Otherwise, you can simply put the Biscoff cookies in a bag and smash them down into crumbs.

Then, all you have to do is add your protein powder and cookie crumbs to a bowl, stir in the milk, and you’re good to go!

 

More high-protein spreads and quick recipes to enjoy

This protein cookie butter is an extremely easy recipe to make, and I’ve got plenty more recipes just like it here on my blog!

Whether you’re in the mood for another spread, or a simple no-bake recipe, I’ve got you covered:

 

Ingredients

Makes one batch with 5 servings (each serving is 2 Tbsp)

Instructions

  1. Add the Biscoff cookies to a high-speed blender or food processor and blend into a fine crumb about 30 seconds.
  2. Add the protein powder and blend for a few seconds to mix the powder and cookie crumbs together.
  3. Scrape down the sides, then pour in 1/4 cup of milk.
  4. Blend until everything comes together and it smooths out (about 1 more minute). You may need to scrape down the sides once more before finishing.
  5. Add the cookie butter to a small container and place it in the fridge for at least one hour (I always recommend overnight). When you let the protein cookie butter sit, it’s going to firm up into an authentic cookie butter consistency, but the flavor will also improve significantly. With no-bake recipes that use protein powder, the flavor of the protein powder becomes more subtle as it sits.

Notes

  • The best tasting protein I have used for this recipe is PEScience’s Snickerdoodle protein. The flavor complements this recipe perfectly, and the whey & casein blend gives the ideal consistency. I did test vanilla protein powder, and it works great, but you end up with slightly less flavor at the end. If you want to use whey protein, casein protein, or plant-based protein, please see my notes above this recipe card (along with photos) to visually see how each of these different types of protein powder works in this recipe.
  • How I calculated calories & servings: The entire mixture weighed about 160g, and a single serving is 32g (the standard for nut butter & other spreads). So, there are 5 servings in this recipe, and I was able to easily calculate the nutrition based on that.
  • For comparison purposes, Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter contains 170 Calories, 11g Fat, 16g Carbs, and 1g Protein for 2 tablespoons.
  • If you do not have a blender, you can crush the cookies into a fine crumb using any other method available to you (a spice grinder, crushing the cookies inside of a bag, etc). Then, add the crumbs to a bowl, mix with protein powder, then add your milk. Stir until it comes together to form a spread.

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Nutrition Information

Yield 5

Serving Size 2 Tbsp (32g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 85Total Fat 3gCarbohydrates 9gProtein 6g


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