Now I am the first to admit that while I love love LOVE the smell of freshly roasted and brewed coffee (albeit black to the fancy schmancy flavored ones) I am not a coffee drinker. Though my Daddy used to tell me when I was little that I would crawl up on the kitchen table and sneak his. I’ve tried it a bajillion times but for me there is not enough cream and sugar on God’s green earth for me to add to it to make something I’d love to just grab a cup of. Kind of like how I am with beer. Hate hate HATE to drink it but absolutely LOVE to cook and bake with it. I have same relationship with coffee. It’s amazing when used with chocolate baked goods (baker’s secret – coffee really adds incredible depth to the flavor of chocolate). Espresso powder is a godsend just sayin’…
Since I’m a true lover of SI03 and their AMAZING Syntrax Protein Powders I wanted to try all flavors. I got the Lattes Cappuccino flavor to try as Mr. Fantabulous is a HUGE coffee lover. And as I already stated, I LOVE the smell of the stuff or the flavor of it in baked goods. I mixed up Mr. Fantabulous a protein drink to which I think he literally had 8 ounces done in under 4 seconds. He LOVED the Cappuccino! I mean L-O-V-E-D! Well knowing this was a big deal for me. See the standard was already set by the drink. I mean he already loved it so I had to be absolutely certain that using it in the baked good was just as awesome flavor-wise.
Now as I was mixing up his drink I kept thinking on how I could incorporate this powder but still retain that true cappuccino flavor. I thought about coffee cake (yeah I know… ‘coffee cake’ for a coffee flavored drink. Real ingenious there lady! LOL ) so I then went round and round in my head trying to come up with something easy, portable (for at the gym) and delicious. Thus these little puffs.
As I was mixing the dough the smell of coffee was intoxicating. I did make one batch with out the cinnamon in it and they were really good but I like to ‘push it’ just a bit more. I wanted fancy schmancy like those hoity toity flavored coffee drinks that I literally want to make into a body spray because they smell THAT good! Just by tweaking the base recipe a tad and the addition of the cinnamon chips… oh dear sweet heavens to Betsy I hit the nail on the head, the ball out of the park and scored the goal in double OT (Go PENS!) all with this puff! BUT… the true test was the man. He is my biggest, toughest (and sexiest) critic hands down. He’s brutally honest (which I love) and will tell me what he thinks of something I’ve made. 
I put a puff down in front of him and he gave me the look. You know that look of ‘Hmmm… what do we have here? Let me inspect it from 47 angles, smell it, feel it, nibble on it and then bite it but don’t talk to me while I’m tasting it’ look. So I sat with baited breath and I think possibly biting my lower lip in anticipation. Now he knows me well enough AND he knows what buttons to push to get me riled up. I swear to you he must have savored that one bite for 14 hours (well okay, at least 3 minutes). He was killing me. He then put the puff down, leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and said “Is that how you intended this to taste? What about the texture? What that on purpose or by accident?” without the most serious of faces. So of course being the gullible person I am, I fell hook line and sinker to his ‘act’. So I then got super serious and you could ‘see’ me thinking, analyzing my steps; the recipe in my head. I must have tuned him and my surroundings out while I was in deep analysis as he nudged me and said “Well?” When I looked up at him I guess my face of disappointment was enough for him to crack and bust a smile while popping the rest of the puff in his mouth and tell me (with stuffed face) that they were “Mmmazing!” while giggling. Needless to say he got backhanded (more like a ‘you big donkey’ whack) and a smile from me as he went for a 2nd puff.
Knowing he loved them I knew I would (well okay partially because I was tasting the raw dough um … a lot *wink* Hey! Don’t judge! I love raw batter like that). When I took my first bite the cappuccino flavor was so prominent but then as you continued to eat it the cinnamon chips infused with the cappuccino and it was pure heaven! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE these little puffs. I took several batches to work and I gave them to both coffee lovers and coffee haters. Every single person LOVED these.. even those that are not coffee fans at all. This recipe is a HUGE hit! You will so love these!
Just look how fat ‘n puffy these things are! That gorgeous Cappuccino color and the chunks of cinnamon chips!
Just one of these packages makes an entire batch of these amazing little puffs! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the portability of these packages AND of these puffs! Pack a few puffs and a package of protein powder and you’re ready for one killer work out!
And after an intense workout, THIS can be your reward. Your very HEALTHY Protein Packed Reward!
Protein Packed Cinnamon Cappuccino Latte Puffs
Find more fantabulous recipes, tips and tricks at www.thekitchenwhisperer.net. Also, join our TKW Family on Facebook
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg or 3 tablespoon egg whites
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar *See notes
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar (Or 1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)
- 1/2 cup Greek vanilla yogurt
- 1/4 cup fat free cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoon milk
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste (can use vanilla extract)
- 1 cup cinnamon chips
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup Syntrax Nectar Lattes Cappuccino Whey Isolate Protein Powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place egg, dark brown and light brown sugars mix on medium until mixture is shiny. ~1-2 minutes.
- Turn off the mixer and add in the yogurt, cream cheese, milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder.
- Turn the mixer on and mix just until blended.
- Add in the softened butter and beat to combine.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and put the paddle attachment in the sink.
- Add in the cinnamon chips and stir with a wooden spoon (or sturdy mixing spoon).
- Add in the flour and protein powder and mix into wet mixture.
- Using a small cookie scoop (or about 1 heaping tablespoon) scoop out some dough and place it the pan.
- Repeat leaving 1 1/2” apart.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes or until the edges or lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and cool on the pan for 1 minute.
- Transfer to a cooling rack.
- Store in an air tight container.
Notes
To make dark brown sugar use 1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend and add 7/8th teaspoon molasses.
Leave a Reply