Happy Thanksgiving week! I couldn’t resist making at least one more pumpkin recipe before everything turns to peppermint and chocolate 🙂 Here’s a great alternative to pumpkin pie if you’re feeling wild this year. Not to mention that one slice has 17 grams of protein!
I won’t get into details because I don’t want to make anyone feel guilty on this (my favorite) holiday…but a slice of this has less calories and about 3 times more protein than a slice of your typical pumpkin pie. And that’s before you add the whipped cream. Just saying…there’s still plenty of time to get to the grocery store 😉
So you may have noticed that something looks slightly off in these pictures. Well. Turns out that I bought a crooked cake stand at Bed, Bath & Beyond! I didn’t even think to check it out in the store and didn’t notice until after the cakes were in the oven and I had already washed the cake stand. I kept the sticker and I’m going to return it after this deliciousness has disappeared. So don’t mind the crookedness of the pictures, just focus on the pretty cake.
If you’ve never worked with oat flour before, it’s really easy…you can either buy it in the package already ground up or you can grind it up yourself. Just be sure to use rolled oats, not quick oats to make the flour. I use a NutriBullet with the milling blade attached but you could also use a regular food processor. You need 1 1/2 cups of oat flour so grind up 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats – they end up pretty much equal before and after grinding.
Hmmm look at that golden brown! This is the bottom of the cakes, I just flipped them out onto a cooling rack which kind of helped to flatten out the tops a bit. Anything to make it easier to frost!
I normally use fat free cream cheese but splurged on the next one up the line. A bit more fat means creamier frosting and fewer additives. I mix up the Greek yogurt with the protein powder before adding the cream cheese. If you do it the other way you’ll end up with lots of lumps!
I’m always wondering if I’m eating the best non-plain Greek yogurt for me…I need some flavor but don’t want all the sugar that comes with most flavored yogurts. Dannon Light & Fit is my favorite so far with only 7 grams of sugar plus 12 grams of protein per single serve container and I love the taste! Check out some other low sugar options on Eat This. A close runner up is Chobani Simply 100 – it might even be healthier but the flavor is not as good as Dannon in my opinion. Any other suggestions?
Pumpkin Protein Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
- 2 scoops Cellucor whey protein I used 1 scoop vanilla and 1 scoop cinnamon
- 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1/3 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
- 1 egg plus 3 egg whites
- 1 tbsp Simply Jif creamy peanut butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 oz tub Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese room temp
- 1 cup Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla Greek Yogurt
- 2 scoops Cellucor Whipped Vanilla whey protein
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine all dry cake ingredients in a large bowl, then mix in all wet ingredients.
- Spray two 9 inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Divide cake mix evenly between 2 cake pans and smooth with a spatula.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from pans and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
- Mix Greek yogurt and remaining protein powder until smooth, then add cream cheese and mix until smooth.
- Once cakes are cooled, frost the cake. Add a toothpick in the center of the cakes after adding the second layer of cake on top of the first icing layer. Garnish with pecans and cinnamon if desired.
- Store in the refrigerator covered.
