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Short-Order Kitchen

Sugar Cookie Protein Bars

By Wes Ellis2 min read
A pile of homemade sugar cookies with crackled tops.
Recipe card
Servings
1
Prep
5 minutes
Cook
90 seconds
Method
Microwave
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 20 of the thread Microwave muffins and mug cakes

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • Cook it in a wide bowl so it comes out flat enough to cut.
  • About 90 seconds, then the toothpick test.
  • Turn it out and cut into bars once it's cooled a little.
  • Sprinkles in the batter, on top, or both.
THE RECIPE · SUGAR COOKIE PROTEIN BARS

Ingredients

Frosting (optional)

You'll need

  • Wide microwave-safe bowl
  • Fork or small whisk
  • Knife
  • Small bowl for the frosting

Directions

  1. Grease a wide bowl. Stir the protein powder, pancake mix and milk together until smooth, then stir in the sprinkles if you're using them.
  2. Microwave on high for about 90 seconds, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
  3. Let it cool slightly, then turn it out onto a plate and cut it into bars.
  4. If you're frosting, stir the protein powder into the yogurt or blended cottage cheese and spread it over the bars. More sprinkles on top.
Notes Unfrosted leftovers keep 2 to 3 days in the fridge; warm them for 15 to 20 seconds. Roughly 250 calories and 40 g protein per serving, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/sugar-cookie-protein-bars/

Calling a single mug cakeA single serving of cake batter cooked right in a mug or bowl in the microwave, usually in a minute or two. It won't brown like an oven cake, but it's done before you could preheat one.More: Protein Blueberry Muffins, Baked or Microwaved "bars" is a bit of a stretch. But cook the batter in a wide bowl, turn it out, cut it up, and it does look like a small plate of frosted sugar cookie bars. That changes how it eats more than you'd think.

The bowl makes the bars

In a mug, this is a tall muffin. In a wide, flat bowl, the batter spreads thin and cooks into a low, flat round, which is exactly the right shape for cutting. Let it cool for a couple of minutes so it firms up, then run a knife around the edge and flip it onto a plate.

Cut it into three or four strips. The cut sides give the frosting something to cling to, and it just looks more like a treat than a lump of cake in a bowl.

Tip

Sprinkles in the batter bleed a little color as they heat. If you want clean dots of color, save them for the top.

Flavor

Sugar cookie protein powder, if you can find it, is the obvious choice. Vanilla or cake batter works nearly as well, and the sprinkles do a lot of the "sugar cookie" work visually.

For the same idea in a bowl, see the Cupcake Pancake Bowl. The Sugar Cookie Bites are a no-microwave take on the flavor, and there's a sugar cookie cold brewCoffee steeped in cold water for many hours instead of brewed hot. It comes out smoother and less bitter, and it's already cold, which makes it friendlier to protein powder.More: Protein Coffee: Sugar Cookie Cold Brew and PSL Cold Foam in the Protein Coffee post if you want something to drink alongside.

Heads up

Frost only the bars you're eating now. Yogurt frosting doesn't keep well on leftovers.

LINKED FROM3 notes

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