Black Forest Protein Donuts – Like easy cake!

Just amazing Black Forest Protein Donuts with a rich chocolate protein cake donut, protein frosting and cherry topping! These black forest donuts are healthy, low fat and sugar-free too.

Okay these donuts are just hella amazing – soft and exactly like the cake! 

Best part – actually healthy and no sugar added and no butter or anything; Baked too!

Ingredients For Black Forest Protein Donuts

These black forest protein donuts are made with simple and healthy ingredients for an easy and indulgent dessert with no guilt!

• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – or a regular all purpose flour
• Chocolate Protein Powder – This adds in sweetness for a recipe with no added sugar.
  I used Quest Nutrition Chocolate Protein Powder for this donut recipe since it’s whey-casein and bakes well.
• Black Cocoa
• Unsweetened Cocoa
• Baking Powder
• Unsweetened Applesauce – Replaces the fat that’s in most donut recipes. 
• Egg Whites
• Non-fat Greek Yogurt

And for the Frosting on these Baked Black Forest Donuts

• Non-fat Greek Yogurt
• Vanilla Protein Powder; I used Whey-Casein Quest Nutrition again.

And then the Cherry Topping:

• Cherries – Be sure to remove the pits
• Lemon Juice
• Cornstarch
• Coconut Flour
• A bit of 1:1 Zero Calorie Sugar Substitute – I use Lakanto, to keep this recipe sugar free;  (code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount here).

Some Tips For Baked Black Forest Doughnuts with Protein Powder:

These black forest protein doughnuts are super easy to make, and here’s some tips to get them right!

• Use whey-casein protein powder as specified; It absorbs more liquid. If you use whey, use less liquid.
• Make sure your mixture has enough moisture in it. Protein powder is quite absorbent and if the wet ingredients are too little, the donuts will be dry! The mix should be like a slightly runny brownie batter.

• Taste the batter and see if you need some extra sweetener. I’d recommend using stevia powder to maintain the consistency of the batter and have low sugar black forest donut.

• Use room temperature egg whites and yogurt so they mix well with the dry ingredients.

• Be sure to grease the donut pan.

• Let the donuts and cherry mixture cool completely before assembling.

How to store Homemade Baked Black Forest Cake Donuts?

These homemade baked black forest cake donuts keep really well in the fridge, freezer, or even at room temperature.

Store black forest cake doughnuts at room temperature, for 1-2 days in an airtight container, or  5 days in the fridge.

Another option is to place the black forest doughnuts in freezer-safe zipper bags and freeze for up to 2 months.

Alternatives for Healthy Black Forest Donuts

I made these low calorie, low fat and healthy black forest donuts with this particular ingredient list, but here’s some options to try:

• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour or All purpose flour in the same amount by weight not cups.
• Chocolate Protein Powder: Use a Vanilla
• Applesauce: Mashed Banana or Pumpkin Puree
• Greek Yogurt: Coconut Yogurt

For the cherry topping:

• Cornstarch: Tapioca Scarch
• 1:1 Zero Calorie Sugar Replacement: Regular confectioners sugar (this won’t be sugar free though, and also higher in calories)

More Healthy Chocolate Protein Donut Recipes:

• Surprise Oreo Protein Donuts (Extra Low Calorie, Low Fat)
• Chocolate Orange Protein Donuts
• Peanut Butter Cup Protein Donuts
• Chocolate Coffee Protein Donuts
• Single Serve Chocolate Protein Donut
• Chocolate Protein Donut Holes

Black Forest Protein Donuts

5 from 1 vote

Print recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time18 minutes mins

Servings: 12 donuts

Calories: 82kcal

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Post-Workout

Cuisine: American

Just amazing Black Forest Protein Donuts with a rich chocolate protein cake donut, protein frosting and cherry topping! These black forest donuts are healthy, low fat and sugar-free too.

Ingredients

• ½ cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, or regular, 60g
• ⅔ cup Chocolate Protein Powder, Whey-Casein, 60g
• ¼ cup Black Cocoa Powder, 20g
• 2 tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 10g
• 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce, 240g
• 6 Egg Whites, about ¾ cup, about 186g
• ¼ cup Non-fat Greek Yogurt, 56g

Frosting:

• ½ cup Non-fat Greek Yogurt, 112g
• ¼ cup Vanilla Protein Powder, Whey-casein, 22g

Cherry Topping:

• 1 cup Cherries, Pitted, 155g
• ½ tablespoon Lemon Juice, 7g
• ½ tablespoon Cornstarch
• ½ tablespoon Zero Calorie 1:1 Sugar-free Sugar Replacement, 6g

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 12-hole donut pan with cooking spray to grease.
• In a large bowl, whisk together applesauce, egg whites and yogurt.
• In another bowl, mix flour, protein powder, black cocoa, cocoa powder and baking powder.
• Add dry mix to wet and mix with a large spoon until combined.

  Mixture will be runny.
• Divide mixture evenly among donut pan cavities, filling about ⅔-¾ way up.
• Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the donut comes out clean.

  Let cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool.

Cherry Topping:

• Heat cherries, lemon juice, sweetener and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally until fruit begins to break down and bubble, about 7-10 min.
• Use a spoon or potato masher to mash to desired consistency.
• Remove from heat let cool (place in fridge).

Frosting and Assemble:

• Let donuts and cherry topping cool completely.
• In a bowl, combine yogurt and protein powder.
• Use the back of a spoon or knife to spread frosting on top of donuts, and then add cherry mixture on top.

Notes

• Nutrition information is calculated using the products recommended below.
• See post for alternate ingredients, tips and storage options.

Product Recommendations:

• Quest Nutrition Chocolate Whey-Casein Protein Powder
• Lakanto Golden Monkfruit Sweetener
  • Use code HAYLSKITCHEN for 15% off your order
• Quest Nutrition Vanilla Whey-Casein Protein Powder

Nutrition:

• Servings: 12 donuts | Serving size: 1
• Calories: 82kcal
• Fat: 0.5g | Saturated fat: 0.2g
• Carbohydrates: 11.2g | Fiber: 2.2g | Sugar: 3.4g
• Protein: 9.5g