With this Cinnamon Swirl Protein Cake, you can have cake for breakfast! It’s a tasty, high-protein treat that will make you excited to get out of bed in the morning.
I don’t know about you, but I love a breakfast that reminds me of dessert!
There is something so fun about crawling out of bed in the morning and starting my day with a sweet treat. I guess that’s why people love to wake up and have a big breakfast of waffles or pancakes drowning in syrup, right?
However, as someone living with diabetes, eating sugary pancakes smothered in sugary syrup is not a good breakfast option. In fact, it’s not exactly a good breakfast option for anyone (even if it tastes great going down!)
I like to eat breakfasts that are high in protein and have a moderate amount of low-glycemic carbs and healthy fats. That’s why I created this nutritious (and very delicious) cinnamon swirl protein cake. Yes, cake for breakfast!
How to make cinnamon swirl protein cake
This delicious, breakfast-approved cake is very simple to make and only requires 6 ingredients (and one of them is water!)
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325 F (165 C).
Step 2: Blend the oats, egg white, and water until the consistency is smooth (I use a Nutribullet).
Step 3: Pour the mixture into a bowl. Whisk it together with the protein powder and 1 tsp. Stevia. The mixture should be like a thick pancake batter.
Step 4: Pour half of the batter into a small (about 4.5 inches across) nonstick pan and sprinkle with two-thirds of the cinnamon plus 1 tsp. Stevia. Pour the remaining batter and sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon.
Step 5: Pull a knife through the batter a few times to slightly mix in the cinnamon and Stevia.
Step 6: Bake for 25 minutes and let it rest for a few minutes before serving.
I love to make this cinnamon swirl protein cake in a small loaf pan because I can slice it up and eat one slice at a time, but you can make it in any oven-safe dish you want. As you can see in the photos, it also bakes great in a small round glass baking dish!
Nutrition and macros
As you might expect with the name, this recipe has a ton of protein (34 grams). It also has a moderate amount of carbs (18 grams) and fat (2 grams).
There are only 217 calories in the entire protein cake recipe, which makes it a healthy, low-calorie breakfast option.
Who knew eating cake for breakfast could be so good for you?
Making ahead of time
One thing I really love about this recipe is that it stores so well in the fridge.
If you’re rushing around most mornings like I am, you probably appreciate a breakfast that you can make the night before and just pop in the microwave the next morning.
This recipe is perfect for that! If you store it in the fridge, you can warm it up in the microwave for 30 seconds. It tastes good and it’s convenient. Talk about a win-win!
But just because this cinnamon swirl cake makes a great breakfast, that shouldn’t hold you back from eating it as a snack or dessert as well. With the high protein content (thanks mostly to the vanilla protein powder), it’s a great way to increase your protein consumption at any time of the day.
If you want to get a little decadent for dessert, you could spread a thin layer of almond butter on a slice. Yum!
Tip and tricks for this recipe
I have two important tips when it comes to this recipe.
First, although you might be tempted, don’t try to increase the ingredients and make a “giant loaf” for a bunch of meals. If you do that, it doesn’t get cooked all the way through… and the last thing you want is a mushy protein cake!
Second, make sure you’re using the right protein powder. You want a protein powder that is suitable for baking and has a strong vanilla flavor. I use Met-RX Vanilla Protein but other brands should work as well.
If you try this recipe and it doesn’t come out right, try changing your protein powder.
Storage
This delicious cake keeps very well in the fridge, so it’s a great recipe to make ahead of time to have for breakfast or a snack!
You can store this dish in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
More high protein recipes
I love incorporating protein powder into my baked goods. If you want to try a few more of these recipes, check out a few of my favorites that I know you’ll love!
For even more healthy high-protein recipes, take a look at my roundups of the best low-carb breakfast ideas for diabetics and diabetic desserts.
When you’ve tried this dish, please don’t forget to let me know how you liked it and rate the recipe in the comments below!
Cinnamon Swirl Protein Cake
Ingredients
- ¼ cup oats
- 1 egg white
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 2 tsp. Stevia
- ½ tbsp. cinnamon
- ⅓ Cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F (165 C)
- Blend the oats, egg white, and water until the consistency is smooth (I use a Nutribullet)
- Pour the mixture into a bowl. Whisk it together with the protein powder and 1 tsp. Stevia. The mixture should be like thick pancake batter.
- Pour half of the batter into a small (about 4.5 inches across) nonstick pan and sprinkle with two-thirds of the cinnamon plus 1 tsp. Stevia. Pour the remaining batter and sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon.
- Pull a knife through the batter a few times to slightly mix in the cinnamon and Stevia.
- Bake for 25 minutes and let it rest for a few minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Info Per Serving
Trying this tonight! So excited!
Can you use the whole egg instead of just the white?
Yes, the macronutrients will just shift a little
I just made this and it worked out great for me. I used the following:
1/3 cup cashew milk/water instead of just water
Added a pinch of salt
Pinch of baking powder
I used half the amount of cinnamon and made the recipe in a muffin tin with 6 slots and made 3 muffins. I cooked them for 17 minutes at 325 as mentioned in the recipe.
I used 30 grams of quest vanilla protein powder. Loving this recipe so much. I plugged it all in to myfitnesspal and it told me it was 145 calories with 28 grams of protein.
Edit: sorry everyone. Forgot to add in the oats. Oy vey. Revised nutrition per myfitness pal: 216 calories, 30 grams of protei n
Hey there! Thanks for the great recipe! I swapped out whole oats for powdered oats, cut out the Stevia altogether and added in a dash of vanilla essence in case my protein powder wasn’t vanilla-ey enough. After reading the comments, I also threw in 1/8 tsp of baking powder too and it rose…boy, did it rise! All over the bottom of my oven xD
The only things I would change would be a) the amount of cinnamon…I only used a teaspoon but it overpowered everything. I might only put in half next time and see how it goes, and b) slightly greasing the dish, as I’m staring at what is going to be a nasty washing up job!
I think I messed up the amount of protein powder though…my scoop is 50g but, from the comments, I thought it was approx 30g I should put in…should it have been 60g? The cake felt a little wet, and I wasn’t sure if that was why.
Great recipe though, and I’ve bookmarked it as I know I’ll come back to it again and again for my afternoon snack 🙂
Hi – glad you liked it enough to make it again 🙂
A scoop is usually about 30 grams (which should be about 20 g of protein) and if it feels wet I’d suggest cutting back the water a little
Would you perhaps be interested into making a step by step video?
I’ve tried your recipe multiple times but it still does not rise how I’d like it to.
However whipping the egg whites and folding it at the end does help a lot:)
Love your recipes!!
Thank you for that suggestion. You’re unfortunately not the only one who’s having issues with this recipe. I’ve redone it at home and it works for me but we might just have to take it off the site. I’m debating it
Please don’t take this recipe down! I love it as a change from my usual eggs n oats, protein pancakes and protein muffins. Sooooo yummy! I’ve usually double it and add 1/4 tsp of baking powder to help it rise.
Thank you for that feedback. Let me try and make it with a rising agent as well and then I can just update the recipe
What are good substitutions for the stevia. trying to reduce our sugar intake.
The best substitution for sugar is, in my opinion, Stevia. It’s a natural sweetener with no blood sugar impact. You can read more about sweeteners here: https://diabetesstrong.com/how-natural-artificial-sweeteners-affect-blood-sugar/
The taste is good and it’s filling, but the texture is a little hard.
This was not doughy at all for me after blending…
The choice of protein powder will make a large difference in how this turns out. You need to use a whey protein powder suitable for baking like the one I recommend in the recipe. Alternatively, you’ll have to reduce the water to adjust for your protein powder
Hi, could you tell me how many grams of protein powder one of your scoops equals? My protein powder requires two scoops for a shake which equals 30g. I’m wondering if I didn’t put enough in by using only one scoop.
Yes, that’s a great clarifying question. This recipe calls for 1 scoop which with the powder I used is about 1 oz / 29 grams and 20 grams of protein. So with yours, I’d use 2 scoops
Love the ingridiants and taste but mine always comes hard and flat 🙁 any suggestion to make it rize bigger?
Hm, you could whip the egg whites first and fold them in carefully. That might give you more volume. It might also come down to the protein powder you use
Mine also comes out flat and im using the same protein powder. Not sure what I’m doing wrong
Hm, that’s annoying. I think I’ll have to make a video for this recipe. Thank you for the feedback
Could I replace the egg white with aquafaba? Or any ideas for another vegan replacement?
I don’t know, I’ve never heard of or worked with that product
Great ecipe but what is a serving size?
This serves 1. On all our recipes you can find the serving size on the recipe card just above the ingredient list
Is the entire small loaf “one serving size” it lists all the nutritional info per serving, but doesn’t list what constitutes one serving
Thank you!
The whole loaf, all of the ingredients, is one serving