Apple Cinnamon Protein Coffee Cake

I always find it hard to say what my FAVORITE recipe is. There are just too many great ones to choose from, plus it is usually highly dependent on my mood and hunger level. 

That, of course, was before this creation: Apple Cinnamon Protein Coffee Cake. Sure, it's a mouthful for a recipe title, but believe me - you will want mouthful after mouthful of this delicious and guilt-free coffee cake!

This coffee cake is great for an on-the-go breakfast, but you can also dress it up and serve it for a brunch party. I recently made this for a few girlfriends that came over for brunch and it was a hit! While this cake may seem like an indulgence, it is packed with protein (14 g per slice!) making it far healthier than any other morning pastry. The apples help to keep this coffee cake incredibly moist which is usually hard to achieve when baking with whey protein. What really makes this coffee cake is the walnut streusel topping! It is the perfect finishing touch to this healthy breakfast treat. 

I love that this is such a simple baked good. I know some of my other recipes can take a little more effort with muffin tins or donut pans but with this you literally mix everything in one bowl together and dump it into a single cake pan. 

 I've recently switched up my training and I'm almost exclusively training at 6am everyday before work. I forgot how much I love that burst of endorphins before work, not to mention how focused I am all morning. I don't eat breakfast prior to lifting (I actually prefer weight training fasted first thing!) but I do have my coffee with collagen and MCT oil following. This coffee cake is perfect to have with my coffee after a hard morning workout!

Well, now that the secret is out and you know what my favorite recipes is I hope you give this a try! 

Psst! This recipe uses True Nutrition Cinnamon Bun Whey Protein and I can't recommend this protein enough. I really do stand by their products and I know I'm getting a high quality protein powder at an extremely affordable price. Want to give it a try? Use the code 'MYENG' at checkout for 5% off your entire order!

Apple Cinnamon Protein Coffee Cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Bake Time: 25-30 minutes

Servings: 10 slices

Ingredients: 

• 3 scoops True Nutrition Cinnamon Bun Whey Protein (3/4 cup)
• 1-1/4 cup gluten free all-purpose flour (I used Gluten Free Baking Flour but typical all-purpose flour will work as well)
• 2 tbsp coconut palm sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 medium green apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• 2 egg
• 1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla

Walnut Streusel Topping

• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp coconut palm sugar
• 1 tbsp butter

Baking Accessories:

• 9 inch cake pan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare cake pan by greasing with coconut oil or butter. Set aside.
2. Toast walnuts by spreading them out on a baking sheet and placing in oven for 5-10 minutes. Be sure to keep a close watch on them so not to burn!
3. In a small bowl combine the remaining streusel topping ingredients. Cut the butter into very small pieces and then add to the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork until the butter has formed into small balls and is well coated. If necessary use fingers. Add toasted walnuts and continue to mix. Set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl combine your dry ingredients: whey protein, flour, coconut palm sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl with hand mixer, combine your wet ingredients: greek yogurt, eggs, applesauce, melted butter and vanilla. Mix at medium speed until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix and medium speed until incorporated. 
6. Fold apples into batter with a spatula until apples are evenly mixed in.
7. Pour batter into greased pan. Sprinkle walnut streusel topping on top of the cake. Bake for 25 - 30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Be sure not to over bake the cake since there is whey protein in the batter and it could easily become dry and rubbery. Allow to cool 10 minutes before slices. Serve warm or store in air-tight container for later. 

Nutritional Information (1 slice):

210 calories - 13.5 g Protein, 23.5 g Carbohydrates, 6.7 g Fat

Greek Cauliflower Crust Pizza

To Celebrate My Engineered Nutrition's 2nd Birthday, I'm bringing it back with another Cauliflower Crust Pizza! The first recipe I started the website with, enjoy!

Yum

Can you believe that My Engineered Nutrition just turn TWO on May 5th?! 

If you are thinking "Wow! No I can't believe it!" you are in good company, as I couldn't believe it either. So much so, that the actual birthday came and went before I even realized it...

But after shortly realizing it was my baby website's birthday, I got to the kitchen and created something I hope you love as much as I do. It seemed fitting to celebrate the 2nd year of my blog with an original: Cauliflower Crust Pizza. That's right, I love my original BBQ Chicken Pizza so much I had to do a spinoff! While I would love to take credit for coming up with this idea all on my own, it was actually a recommendation by my bestie. I often turn to her to ask her what I should make next because she's made many of my recipes and we share similar tastes (i.e. we both love food...a lot). 

She mentioned that she's been into making Greek pizzas lately and I knew I had to copy that. I am part Greek after all, and I grew up eating this familiar profile of flavors. There is no traditional pizza sauce to be found on this pizza, instead the cauliflower crust is topped with olive oil and fresh garlic. Then, it is really a free form of whatever toppings you are feeling or have on hand! For this little number, I used feta cheese, artichoke hearts, kalamata olive, pepperoncini, red onions, grape tomatoes and basil...whew, that's a mouthful. You'll notice I don't have exact measurements for the ingredients below - let's not overcomplicate things. I've made things extra simple too with my step-by-step guide to making the Cauliflower Crust. 

Seeing that it IS My Engineered Nutrition's 2nd birthday, I figured I'd share some fun stats! I am an engineer after all, and I love nothing more than looking at analytics and numbers.

In total, I've had over 104,000 page views in the last 2 years. Wow. Just wow. THANK YOU to everyone who supports me in my fun little hobby. It means the world to me.

My Top 10 Recipes over the last 2 years were:

1. Pumpkin Protein Donuts (over 18,000 views!!)
2. Cajun Baked Salmon
3. Sweet Potato Stacks
4. Fluffy Protein Pancakes
5. Banana Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins
6. How to Build an EPIC Cheese and Charcuterie Board
7. Coffee Cake Protein Muffins
8. Roasted Chicken Breast
9. Chocolate Coconut Protein Donuts
10. BBQ Chicken Pizza with Cauliflower Crust

Some of these really surprised me for being in the Top 10 and others I'm not surprised at all. I did slow down at posting and only brought you 14 new recipes this year. I'm hoping to be more regular this year and my goal is to post at least two recipes per month! 

As always, I'd love to hear your suggestions for recipes! Shoot me an email at myengineerednutrition@gmail.com

Greek Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes

Bake Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients

For the cauliflower crust

• 1 small to medium head of cauliflower, yielding about 3.5 cups flowerets (350g)
• 1/3 cup shredded fat-free or low-fat monterey jack cheese (1.5 oz)
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp coconut flour
• 1 tsp italian seasoning (equal parts dried oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary)
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the pizza toppings

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh garlic, minced
• Salt
• 1 oz feta cheese, crumbed
• Artichoke hearts (about 2 whole canned, sliced)
• Red onion, sliced
• Pepperoncini, sliced
• Grape tomatoes, halved
• Fresh basil, sliced
• Kalamata olives, halved

Directions

First, start with the the cauliflower crust. You can follow my step-by-step instructions here: Cauliflower Crust How-To

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. 
2. Chop cauliflower into small flowerets, discarding of leavings and stem. Place cauliflower into food processor and pulse until you get a "cauliflower rice" constancy.
3. Transfer cauliflower to a microwave-safe dish and microwave on high for 3 minutes. This steams the cauliflower.
4. Once cooked, transfer cauliflower again to a tea towel lined bowl. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle, gather up the towel and squeeze the cauliflower into a ball -- and continue to squeeze! I can't stress enough how important it is to squeeze ALL the liquid out of the cauliflower. You should have about 1/2 cup of liquid when you are done. The end result is a ball of cauliflower "flour".
5. In a mixing bowl combine cauliflower, shredded monterey jack cheese, egg white, coconut flour, seasonings and salt. Mix with hands until ingredients are well incorporated.
6. On a parchment lined baking sheet flatten out dough, shaping into a thin round disk, about 1/4" thick.
7. Bake in a 450° oven for 10-15 minutes or until it begins to turn golden.

Assemble the pizza.

1. Once baked, rub olive oil, minced garlic and salt over the crust.
2. Add the remaining toppings to the pizza..
3. Bake again at 450°F for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted slightly and onions have cooked.
4. Remove pizza from oven and allow to cool slightly before slicing.

Nutrition Information (approximate for 1 whole pizza):

330 calories - 20g Protein, 31g Carbohydrates (11g Fiber), 14g Fat