Protein Pumpkin Spice Cake Pops

It’s the start of a new week and that means there’s a new ingredient challenge. And this week it’s the most basic fall ingredient of them all. Hello, pumpkin! Pumpkin’s incredibly versatile and I urge you to explore with it this week. It’s great in sweet and savory dishes and it’s rich in vitamin A, potassium, vitamin C, and fiber. You can’t go wrong with this one.

Protein Pumpkin Spice Cake Pops
Total time to make: Approx. 1 hour
Servings 16

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

• 200g canned garbanzo beans

• 90ml unsweetened almond milk

• 160g canned pumpkin

• 28g light butter (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread, not the spray)

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 scoops (62g) vanilla protein powder

• 30g powdered peanut butter

• 20g coconut flour

• 4g baking soda

• 2 tbsp + 2 tsp stevia in the raw (about 4g)

• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

• Pinch of salt

For the frosting:

• 1 scoop (31g) vanilla protein powder

• 30g nonfat Greek yogurt

• 4 tbsp stevia in the raw (about 6g)

• 20ml water

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the assembly:

• 200g white chocolate (I used candy melts)

• Cake pop sticks

• Styrofoam (if you have it)

• 5g sprinkles

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8x8 baking sheet with parchment paper

2. Add the garbanzo beans to a strainer and rinse with water

3. Then add them to a food processor with all of the wet ingredients: almond milk, pumpkin, butter, eggs and vanilla extract and blend until smooth

4. In a large bowl combine all of the dry ingredients: protein powder, powdered peanut butter, coconut flour, baking soda, stevia in the raw, pumpkin pie spice and the pinch of salt

5. Add the wet ingredient to the dry ingredients and mix until you have a cake like batter

6. Pour the batter into your baking pan and spread evenly

7. Bake for about 25 minutes. Check with a toothpick, if it comes out clean, they’re done.

8. While that cools, add all of the ingredients for the frosting to a bowl and stir until smooth

9. Once the cake has cooled transfer it to a large bowl and crumble it into fine crumbs with your hands

10. Add the frosting and mix it with your hands again until you’re able to form it into compact balls

11. Scoop out 1.5 ounces and roll into a ball with your hand, then place on a cookie sheet. Repeat, weighing out 1.5 ounces. Mine made 16 servings.

12. Put a small amount of white chocolate in a bowl and microwave until melted (I used about 10 candy melts)

13. Dip your cake pop sticks into the melted chocolate, then push them into the cake pop about halfway down. Repeat with the remaining cake pops.

14. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes (otherwise, they’ll fall apart when you dip them in the chocolate)

15. Melt the rest of your white chocolate in a mug

16. Dip each cake pop in the white chocolate, then stand upright by placing the cake pop stick in the styrofoam. If you don’t have any styrofoam, place them upside down on a piece of parchment paper. Add sprinkles before the chocolate sets.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 16
Amount Per Serving:
Calories 140
Total Fat 6 g
Sodium 180 mg
Total Carbohydrate 13 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 10 g
Protein 7 g