The Quat is getting her protein on in style.
That, my friends, is 26 grams of protein in a sweet, nutty 127-calorie package. (Sesame seeds not included, those were left over from dinner.)
Now that whey and (moreso) casein are no longer an option for me I've had to branch out toward other protein powders. Not that there's anything wrong with that, except I feel as though I was just getting to know those two dairy proteins. Whey had turned out to be the magic ingredient for perfect oatcakes, and casein was extremely promising as a creamy spread to go with those. Just as I was making efforts to drastically increase my protein intake without existing on chicken breasts. So it goes.
I ordered the plainest and most reasonably priced rice, soy, and pea protein powders I could find and went to town. Pea is on probation for now, but I have been exploring the possibilities afforded by the first two. As a first attempt, I simply used 15g of each type of protein powder in the standard whey-based proatcake recipe (2 servings per loaf pan). Baked 45 minutes, both exemplars sank miserably. To the extent that extending the baking time often helps, I tried again but left the loaves in the oven for a full hour. Better.
The basic "proatcake" recipe lives here. Note the shorter baking time recommended for a whey protein version vs. these (1 hour at 375 convection in my usual silicone loaf pan).
To the left is the rice protein exemplar, a touch overdone as per the white outer ring (i.e., dry crust), but with a moist crumb that retained its structural integrity within. To the right, the soy protein version, which collapsed out of the oven. It still presents the white outer ring, somehow, so lengthening its baking time further might not be the solution. Modifying wet/dry ratios or playing with temperature are next.
As companions to these loaves, I have been playing around with protein powder-based spreads to match.
The first spread was:
28g rice protein
10g toasted sesame flour (toast in a skillet on medium heat for a few minutes, whisking continuously, until it smells... toasty)
1/2 t (1.5g) konjac glucommanan powder
1/4 c Splenda or preferred sweetener, to taste
a dash of cinnamon
pinch salt
Water, as needed (150 ml here)
Some vanilla extract was added after tasting. Using a total of 150 ml of water, a slightly gritty (that's mainly the sesame) mashed potato consistency is achieved. I measured the amount of water used for this post, but I normally add water, walk away (the konjac needs time), add water, etc. as I busy myself with other things until I'm ready to eat. I'll do a runnier spread if I am planning to eat it crepe-style in a an oat fiber flatbread. To the extent that this spread gets much of its body from water thickened by a hydrocolloid -- and thus has that watery taste/texture -- I would suggest increasing the sesame flour and decreasing the konjac to 1/4 t if your macros will allow, and see how much water you need in this case.
As posted, the above amounts make two generous servings of spread, each one more than enough for one serving of (pr)oatcake. One serving has 71 calories, 14,5g protein, 2.3g carbs (0.8 net), and 0.6g fat.
The second spread uses soy protein powder and coconut flour rather than a rice-sesame combination, keeping the respective weights of protein and flour the same. The soy protein has a much finer consistency and already absorbs water more readily than rice protein. Coconut flour also absorbs a large amount of water. Thus, with also 150 ml of liquids (here, water, lemon juice, lemon essential oil and coconut extract), we're in the ganache frosting... or slightly dry instant mashed potatoes... territory in terms of consistency.
One serving (out of two) nets 81 calories, 14.5g protein, 6.1g carbs (0.7 net), and 1.8g fat.
Oh, did you know that turmeric stains silicone? Now you do. I've been making all sorts of variants of these protein spreads to go into oat fiber wraps (post coming soon), such as various ratios of protein powder and nut powder (peanut or almond). As a post-workout protein fix, it keeps me quite content ...But I somehow still fantasize about a wild weekend filled with dairy protein. Go figure.