High protein cookies?

Question

Hey :)
So, recently my grandmother has came to stay with us (for a month or two) She is starting to show signs dementia and one of the main problems we have is she doesn't want to eat and she won't go to the doctors. 
BUT she LOVES sweets (she was raised in an orphanage so sweets were not available when she was young) I am hoping to find a recipe for a cookie that tastes sweet but will have some nutrients. They need to be soft due to her having teeth problems. Recently I made some No-bake cookies with pb and oats in them, and she gobbled those up. 

Does anyone else have any recipes or ideas that might help us out? and please no judging, we are honestly doing the best we can do to get her to eat, but we can't fight this way everyday. 

Thanks :)
Emm

Answer

Here's a brownie recipe from Jessica Seinfeld (she sneaks healthy food into meals for her family):
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=86273

You could add nuts for more protein.

Answer

Peanut butter was the first thing that came to mind, but finding ways to add in wheat germ or dry milk powder could be useful too for extra protein. Also I'd look at gluten free flours, which may have some amount of bean flours in them. Bob's Red Mill is just one producer of a lot of specialty flours that may have more nutrients than regular white flour http://www.bobsredmill.com/flours-meals/ There are some Spanish sweets based on egg yolks, where they are basically candied. Never made it, but the concept has always sounded interesting. Also halva. I just bought some that says 14 grams protein per 100 gram serving (and a 33g fat, and 34 g sugar so not health food). Not sure if halva comes in a softer or chewier variety, this stuff is firm but melts in your mouth. Also, if you are near a good Asian supermarket, they have tofu dessert cups that might work. Like these: http://www.sunrise-soya.com/soy-products/sunrise-tofu-dessert.php I like the coconut. Consistency is like barely set jello.

Can you get her to take a multivitamin? If she doesn't eat, protein is not her only concern. Children's chewable gummy vitamins might be more appealing, as long as she doesn't eat too many thinking they're candy.

Answer

Here is a chocolate chip cookie pie recipe that uses beans (white beans or garbanzos). 
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/31/deep-dish-cookie-pie/
 I think that you could omit the applesauce and use an egg instead. Unsure if these would work as actual cookies rather than a pie.

I know you asked for cookies, but maybe milkshakes or smoothies could be added, too? Mix together milk, banana, whey protein powder, and any other flavors she likes...like canned pumpkin and cinnamon, or pb and cocoa powder.

Here is an "oatmeal clafoutis" -- a baked oatmeal. Cut into bars to make them look like cookies. Omit nuts, and possibly add an extra egg for more protein.
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2004/03/oatmeal_breakfast_clafoutis.php

Or black bean brownies:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/black-bean-brownies/detail.aspx
Sorry, I know these are not cookies. Just trying to think of high protein sweets.

((Hugs)).

Answer

I tried this recipe for ricotta brownies recently and loved it. There is a lot of sugar, but with four eggs and a cup of ricotta cheese, there' also a decent amount of protein for a dessert. If you can find a high-protein flour that would give you another boost. 

(And speaking of ricotta, there are recipes for ricotta cheesecakes that are pretty good, too - I think of them as slightly healthier than the cream cheese versions).

This is from "America's Best Recipes: A 1995 Hometown Collection" published by Oxmoor House.

1. Melt 1 cup of butter with 4 oz of unsweetened chocolate. Stir and let cool slightly.

2. Beat 3 eggs and 2 cups of sugar together in a medium bowl. Add to the chocolate and stir to combine.

3. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup ricotta cheese (I used whole-milk ricotta), 1 egg, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla in another bowl. Add to chcolate mixture and stir well until mixed. 

4. Spread batter in a greased 9x13x2-inch pan. Sprinkle 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans over the batter, if desired. Bake 40-45 minutes at 350 F or until a ttothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Answer

There are lots of Low Carb recipes that are very healthy with better nutrient profiles- and higher calories. Google for recipes like "black bean brownies" and "flax cookies". You could go ahead and add some real sugar instead of low carb sweetners- while still using the base recipes and benefits. You can also add flax meal (for Omega3 and fiber), ground chia seed (protein and antioxidants) in almost any traditional recipe to increase the nutritional value by leaps and bounds. I use whey protein powder (in vanilla flavor) to add to my muffins and cookies.

I wonder if she might eat a protein bar (covered in chocolate) if you cut it into squares like you baked it yourself :) Or protein shakes? Elderly folks typically like Ensure chocolate or vanilla shakes too. If she will drink a shake, making your own super healthy ones are really easy.

Answer

You may want to try the Runner's World website and see if they have any recipes. A friend of mine gets the magazine and every issue features healthy but tasty recipes. I would think they would have a high protein cookie or granola recipe. Also, check the NYTimes, because it has at least two sections devoted to healthy eating w/ recipes. This is one recipe I found doing a quick search on NYT after reading your post. 

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/one-smart-cookie/?scp=1&sq=high%20protein%20cookies%20recipe&st=cse

Answer

This page is from a vegan blog, but it deals directly with incorporating protein powder into food including treats. She talks about subbing protein powder for flour! Maybe you will get a bit of inspiration here.

Answer

This might be a helpful thread on healthy cookies for kids:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/624122

As I note there I have made the sneaky chef breakfast cookies which were good. I couldn't find them for you on that site, but they are here: http://www.pregnancy.org/article/breakfast-cookies-2-points-weight-watchers
But according to that website they are pretty low cal which might not be what you want.

Answer

not sure if this is up your/her alley, but...

6 tbsp butter
2 tbsp almond butter
1 oz quinoa flour
1 oz soy flour
1/2 oz toasted wheat germ
4 oz bread flour
1/4 c nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 ounces granulated sugar
5 ounces light brown sugar
1 egg
2 yolks
1-2 tsp vanilla
add-ins of choice - dried fruit, dark chocolate chips, coconut, etc.

Melt butter (brown it if you're so inclined); stir together with sugars. Add in eggs and vanilla. Mix together all dry except add-ins. Mix into wet. Put add-ins of choice in. Refrigerate for at least a few hours. Underbake for sure... sometimes I do at 350 if i want a crispier edge; sometimes at 300 or 325 for a slow bake, and still pull out before seemingly done.

Answer

Hi Emm,

I am so sorry to hear of your grandmother's situation.

Would she eat popovers with butter and jam or curd? With the jam or curd, they would be sweet. You can make the popovers with more whites than yolks to boost the protein. 

Ditto for Dutch Babies---use more white than yolk and use a sweet topping such as caramelized apples or a blueberry sauce. You could even top the Dutch Baby with a fruit sauce AND ice cream to get a in few more calories.

Ellie Krieger's Breakfast Cookies are not particularly high in protein, but they have lots of whole grains and they are delicious.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/breakfast-cookies-recipe/index.html

I loved the peanut butter cookie idea someone posted.

Would she eat custards and puddings? She'd get milk in those and you could experiment with upping the eggs in them. If she loves sweets, I'd be looking at something like butterscotch or caramel pudding first.

Angel Food Cake? Topped with an egg-custard?

Christina Tosi has a recipe for Blueberries and Cream cookies with milk crumbs made from powdered milk. I think the crumbs are the best part of those cookies. I think you could increase the quantity of milk crumbs in her cookies (which I plan to do the next time I make them) and they'd be even more delicious (and higher in protein):
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/09/blueberry_and_cream_cookies

Adding nuts to cookies will up the protein too, of course.

What about bread pudding made with eggs?

Answer

I have been making this simple peanut butter cookie for kids and their friends for years.

PROTEIN RICH PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 egg
1 c. sugar (white)
1 c. crunchy peanut butter

Mix together. Oven at 350 degrees about 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a rack.

BTW, if she has teeth issues, you can use smooth peanut butter as well. My kids used to
love them and I've even cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup at times. If your grandmother likes
peanut butter, she will love these cookies.

Answer

If you have access to chickpea flour, I can vouch for these cookies: http://www.chefslittlehelper.com/node/28235

You can play around with the seasonings and thrown-in ingredients -- for example of the latter if you're looking at cramming as many nutrients in as possible, when out of chocolate I made them with dried cherries and sliced almonds broken up a bit. Orange as a flavour goes well too.

I also second pinehurst's cottage cheese dessert idea; my mom used to feed us cottage cheese with chopped pineapple, and it was easy to eat.

Answer

one more thought... Financiers... decent protein from the ground nuts and egg whites... i have a good recipe if you're interested... you can bake them in muffin cups as well if you don't have molds...

Answer

I have a bag of Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour that can be partially substituted for flour in cookie recipes for added fiber and protein. There's a tasty sugar cookie recipe on the bag. Just another option...

Answer

Unjury protein powder is highly recommended in the medical community (I've used it and a friend with cancer uses it). You get 20 grams of protein a serving. It makes shakes yes BUT you can also use it in hot milk for hot chocolate. Unjury is available online. Link below.

You can also make nice soft peanut butter balls with Unjury that pack a nice protein wallop:

Unjury Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:

3/4 cup peanut butter ( I like Simply Jif)
3 scoops chocolate Unjury protein powder

Directions:

1. Put peanut butter in a mixing bowl.
2. Add protein powder, 1 scoop at a time, stirring well after each scoop until dough is formed.
3. Roll dough into 10 to 12 balls.
4. Wrap and freeze overnight. Serve at room temperature. (For parties, I put mine in small paper baking cups to serve. And yes, I have actually served these at some parties.)

Optional Additions: Dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, or cherries), spices (cinnamon or nutmeg), oatmeal, chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds).

http://www.unjury.com/store/protein/

Answer

Emmnemms, I am so sorry that you are going through this. My grandmother has alzheimer's and it was very hard to get her to eat a lot at the beginning as well. We basically just let her eat what she wanted, basically a lot of sweets. However, I really wish that I had thought of incorporating protein like you are doing into them. I would recommend trying out bodybuilding.com for protein cookie recipes and I would also look up Jamie Eason's carrot cake squares. They are high in protein but are still sweet. I hope this helps!

Answer

Sorry to hear about your challenges. I'd recommend egg white protein powder, which is the easiest thing to digest. http://www.roseacre.com/ Rose Acre Farms is the best source for this and it'll be super reasonable on your budget. 

We use this egg white powder to make both protein shakes (with veggies, fruit, whatever), and to make our own protein bars - most of the commercial stuff is simply terrible and full of things that we'd never eat. 

You can easily add this protein powder into cookes or whatever. You can also use egg whites as a binder to help everything stick together and stay moist. 

For protein shakes, use some kind of juice. We prefer peach nectar and mango nectar, and those are usually in the latin or asian section of your store. But you can easily use apple cider, apple juice, or whatever you like. Add a banana, or other fresh fruit, and some honey to sweeten it, etc. Perhaps even a touch of vanilla. 


That aside - what might really be a big help to her is to start getting a good amount of high quality fish oil into her diet. This is easy to hide in a shake. The best and most reasonable out there is Carlson. It does not taste or smell at all like fish and she won't have any gas or bad breath as a result. This is a wonderful refined oil that is very high in DHA and EPA. These are critical to maintaining mental health. Start her on 1 TB a day. More won't hurt and might help! This stuff has been absolutely proven to help avoid or even reverse the deterioration of mental health!

Online sources are the best way to get it - local stores are much more expensive. 
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=carlson+fish+oil&um=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1050&bih=653&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=15540875805135069064&sa=X&ei=FVLATp895OXRAcyy0ecE&ved=0CIYBEPMCMAA#scoring=tp

Topics

Locations

Your post has been published!

High protein cookies?

Chowhound Recommends

What's the Difference

What Is the Difference Between Sugar Cookies and Snickerdoodles?

More from Chowhound

Guides

The Ultimate Spring Produce Guide: What's in Season & How to Use It

Recipe Round-Ups

Quick and Easy Instant Pot Breakfast Recipes for Less Morning Stress

Guides

How to Care for Enameled Cast Iron So It Lasts a Lifetime

Home

The Best Tool to Clean a Wood Cutting Board Is Probably in Your Compost Bin

Trending Discussions

Favorite Chowhound Memories

A Final Goodbye for Chowhound

Chowhound Recipes That You are Saving

Food52: Goodbye to Chowhound, the Internet’s First Food Hub

NY Times: Chowhound Closes After 25 Years of Food Obsession, Wisdom and Debate

Quick Links

Latest Discussions

Cookbook of the Month

Dish of the Month

Weekly Menu Planning

Get fresh food news delivered to your inbox

12 Irish Foods to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day That Aren’t Corned Beef and Cabbage

Chowhound

Policies

Community

Editorial

Content