Quest Bar Protein Donut Recipe

Here a simple recipe for a high protein, low carb and all natural donut using a Quest Bar. I used the Quest Coconut Cashew flavor which you can get here: http://www.704nutrition.com/Dr-Oz-Quest-Natural-Protein-Bar-Coconut-Cashew-p/6340011.htm (use Coupon Code QUEST for $4 off).

Donut Ingredients:
- 1 Quest Coconut Cashew bar

Icing Ingredients:
- 1/2 Tablespoon Cream Cheese
- 1/2 Tablespoon Almond Milk (Coconut or regular milk would be good too)
- 1 Teaspoon Natural Sweetener (Stevia, Chicory Root, etc)
- Thickener as needed (Coconut powder, vanilla protein powder, psyllium husks, etc)

Toppings:
- Crushed Coconut Chips
- Decorative Sprinkles

Microwave Quest bar for 10 to 15 seconds. You want it soft enough to form into donut shape. Bake the the bar for 4-7 minutes at 350. While it's baking whip up the icing by combining all ingredients until you have the consistency of icing. Pull the donut out, let cool, apply icing and toppings, devour right away or put in the refrigerator for later. The crushed coconut chips were a great addition. They are addictively delicious but also provided a nice little crunch too.

Approximate Macros: 190-200 calories. 10 Grams Fat. 5 Net Carbs. 25 Grams protein.

High Protein, Low Carb Berrydelicious Cheesecake Muffin Recipe

I came across this blog post the other day (Quest Very Berry Cheesecake Recipe) and immediatly thought to myself that I have the exact opposite ingredients on hand and I could make my own version. She used a Quest Strawberry protein bar with raspberrry filling, I used a Quest Raspberry Bar with strawberry filling. Also, instead of using a whipped type of topping, I made 'protein' ice cream for mine. Here's my recipe:

CRUST:
1 White Chocolate Raspberry Quest Protein Bar

BERRY FILLING:
• 2 tablespoons liquid egg white
• 1 tablespoons nonfat cottage cheese
• 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder (I used this: BSN Syntha 6 Isolate Vanilla Ice Cream)
• 1 packet of Stevia
• 3 strawberries (1 reserved for topping/garnish)

VANILLA ICE CREAM TOPPING: 
• 1 tablespoon whipped cottage cheese
• 1 tablespoon BSN Vanilla Ice Cream flavored Whey Protein
• Vanilla Soy Milk 

Directions:
Make your ice cream a head of time so that it's ready when the muffins are done. Mix all ice cream ingredients together to desired consistency in a flat surfaced Tupperware container. The flatter the suffurace area, the quicker the mix will freeze. Check every 10 mins and stir. NOTE: the mixture was very sweet before freezing, so I did not opt to add Stevia or other sweetener. However, it lost a lot of it's sweetness during the freezing process so next time I will add in some sweetener either before freezing or during the stir/freeze process or both.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 3 mini muffin cups with cooking spray. (I used paper muffin cups, but next time will use a pan because some of my muffin stuck to the paper) Sprinkle pan cups with a little Stevia or other no calorie granulated sugar. Microwave your bar for 10 seconds. Add a little drop or two of water first to help retain the moisture. You'll need the bars to be moist so that you can form them into the crust. Chop into 3 equal pieces, flatten and press into and up the sides of 3 mini muffin cups. Toss all filling ingredients into a mini blender, or mix with a spoon in a coffee cup as I did. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Spoon filling into your cups. Bake for 10 minutes, or until center is set but not hard. Let cool, add ice cream topping and garnish with a sprinkle of Stevia and strawberry. NOTE: You may want to rub the top of the crust with olive oil to prevent it from burning in case your filling mixture needs to cook longer than anticipated.

Final Product:

Macros: 295 Kcals, 33 grams Protein, 37 grams Carbs (19 of which is Fiber). 

Macros based on product's nutritional facts, which don't add up.

Links to product used:

• Quest Nutrition White Chocolate Raspberry Protein Bars: http://www.704nutrition.com/Quest-White-Chocolate-Raspberry-Protein-Bar-p/quest_white_chocolate.htm
• BSN Syntha 6 Isolate Protein Powder: http://www.704nutrition.com/BSN-Syntha-6-Isolate-Reviews-p/syntha-6-isolate.htm 

For my readers, if you don't know about Quest bars they are high in protein, fiber and quality fats with no added sugar. They only use high quality bio-available proteins, ingredients you know and understand, and are Gluten free. If you want to try a box, use coupon code 'QUEST' to get $4 off any flavor. Here's the link: http://www.704nutrition.com/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=13&search=quest+protein&show=100&page=1&brand=QUEST