This Protein Cake recipe is a high-protein moist chocolate birthday cake perfect for a healthy celebration. It’s packed with 15 grams of protein per serving and topped with the best creamy smooth chocolate protein frosting.
We love high-protein recipes, and we have shared so many, like my Strawberry Protein Balls, Protein Oatmeal Cookies, or Overnight Oats with Protein Powder. Our most popular are the homemade protein bars or our protein powder mug cake.
What Is This Protein Cake?
This protein cake recipe is inspired by our protein powder mug cake, usually microwaved in a ramekin. Here we turned the recipe into a family-size protein cake recipe, a larger version of our favorite protein snack, baked in less than 25 minutes for a quick healthy cake.
If you love a moist, fudgy chocolate cake but want to keep it healthy and packed with wholesome ingredients, this protein cake is what you need.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need are a few simple ingredients:
- Oat Flour – Oat flour is simply made from rolled oats pulsed into a thin flour-like texture. Check my tutorial on how to make oat flour if you need it.
- Chocolate or Vanilla Protein Powder – We use clean pea protein powder made with just three ingredients. You can also use almond protein powder or peanut protein powder.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – I prefer to use unsweetened cocoa because it makes it easier to balance the sweetness.
- Non-Dairy Milk of Choice – Soy milk is high in protein, but almond milk or oat milk are also great options.
- Baking Powder – This gives the cake a soft and fluffy texture.
- Yogurt of Choice – High-protein soy yogurt is our favorite. It also works with cashew yogurt and coconut yogurt, but the latter gives the cake a slight coconut texture.
- Maple Syrup – Any liquid sweetener works, such as coconut nectar, agave syrup, or rice malt syrup. Sugar-free alternatives also work.
How To Make A Protein Cake
This protein cake recipe is very easy to put together and perfect to fix your sweet tooth with no guilt.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper and lightly oil it with an oil spray. Set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients: oat flour, protein powder, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add dairy-free milk, yogurt or applesauce, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
- Stir to bring all the ingredients together and form a smooth cake batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center rack of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until a pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool completely at room temperature before frosting.
Protein Frosting
To frost this healthy dessert, we use our creamy protein frosting recipe made from:
- Greek Yogurt – We use plant-based Greek style yogurt, feel free to use any yogurt you love.
- Protein Powder
- Almond Milk
- Maple Syrup
Stir the ingredients until the frosting is thick and creamy. Spread on top of the cooled cake. Decorate the cake with sprinkles if you like.
Storage Instructions
Store cake leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. You can also freeze the protein cake in a sealed box for up to one month. Thaw slices at room temperature the day before.
Allergy Swaps
If you have some food allergies, pick some of the options below:
- Low-Carb – You can use a low-carb protein powder and low-carb sweetener for this recipe.
- Yogurt-Free – Swap the yogurt for the same amount of mashed ripe bananas, peanut butter, pumpkin puree, or unsweetened applesauce.
- Gluten-Free – Choose gluten-free oats, gluten-free protein powder, and wheat-free baking powder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find below my answers to the most common questions on this recipe.
We recommend using clean protein powder. It means protein powders with minimal ingredients listed in the ingredients list for a healthy cake.
We use a pea protein powder that contains only three ingredients: natural flavor, pea protein, and a low-carb sweetener. Feel free to use hemp, peanut, or soy protein powder.
Note that this recipe hasn’t been tested with an animal protein powder like whey protein or casein, and we can’t recommend these options.
More Protein Recipes
Below are some more high-protein recipes, perfect as a post-workout snack, breakfast, or healthy dessert.
Did You Like This Recipe?
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Protein Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Oat Flour
- ⅓ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- ⅓ cup Chocolate Protein Powder - before 1/4
- 3 teaspoons Baking Powder - before 2
- 1 cup Soy Milk - before 1
- ⅓ cup Vegan Yogurt of Choice - or applesauce
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup Maple Syrup
Frosting
- 2 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- ½ cup Chocolate Protein Powder
- ⅓ cup Vegan Yogurt of Choice
- ¼ cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Almond Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper and lightly oil with oil spray. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together: oat flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, and baking powder
- Stir in the liquid ingredients: soy milk, yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly.
- Bake the protein cake on the center rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don't over bake, or it gets dry.
- Cool down on a cooling rack before frosting.
Frosting
- Stir all the frosting ingredients together into a mixing bowl. If too thick or dry, stir in more almond milk.
- Spread over the protein cake and add sprinkles if you like.
I can’t wait to try.
Can I use a 6inch tin instead?
Sure, but the smaller the pan is the longer it takes to bake.
Hi! Can i use pea protein powder here?
Absolutely!
This was such a hit!! I baked two 9 inch layers though (I didn’t double the recipe because I decided to do a 2nd layer after I poured the batter into the 1st pan) and then doubled the frosting recipe. I put a layer of bananas in the middle of the cake plus frosting and then frosting all over the two layers, plus rainbow sprinkles. It was SOOOOOOO GOOD!!! Wish I could post a pic!
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it.
I have a severe oat allergy is there another option?
I didn’t try something else yet, may be all-purpose wheat flour could work as well.