Tip of the day: Soy protein powder

Posted by on Sep 3, 2010 in Blog |

If you want to add some protein to your recipes, consider using plain, unflavored soy protein powder. I found a 32 oz. can at Whole Foods for $11.99—not bad. It provides 23 grams of protein in one scoop (included in the can), 1 g fat, and a bunch of vitamins. I have been perusing my recipes to find ways to add protein to baked goods for our 14 year old who is doing sports conditioning to get ready for basketball tryouts. He has become such a string bean after growing to the height of 6’2” and not gaining a pound over the past 2 years during this growth spurt. Last year, basketball made him even leaner, so I wanted to avoid that this year.

So, I tried adding a scoop of protein powder to pancakes…and it worked beautifully (you do need to add an additional 2-4 Tbsp. or so of liquid). I am getting ready to put the recipe on the site…I call them “Quadruple-Protein Pancakes”. For the protein component, I use:

1 1/2 c. of 2% milk=12 g protein, 9 g fat

1 c. plain, low-fat yogurt=13 g protein, 4 g fat

3 egg whites=12 g protein, 0 g fat

1 scoop soy protein powder=23 g protein, 1 g fat

Pretty awesome for a pancake, right?! :) When you divide the 14 g fat by the 12-14 pancakes it makes, they are really not all that bad, about 1 g fat per pancake—and you could bring the fat content even lower by using non-fat milk. Some fat is needed in your diet, though, so this is really not a bad amount. To get an estimate of the fat content from a homemade recipe…add up all of the nutritional info from the ingredients and divide by the number of servings. I am sure a dietician might have a different formula, :) , but this will do for a rough estimate.

I do add a sprinkling of chocolate chips, but that certainly isn’t enough to detract from the protein powerhouses that these little guys are. And, if the kids don’t eat them…doesn’t really matter what’s in them, right? They do eat the plain ones, as well. :)

So, pick up a canister of plain, unflavored soy protein powder and experiment away! Add it to muffins, pancakes, waffles, and breads.