TikTok's 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies Are Packed With Protein
Protein is one of the three macronutrients that are essential for your body's functioning. Proteins are important for a lot of different body processes, not just building muscle. They affect everything from the strength of the immune system to the production of hormones and neurotransmitters. Protein also becomes more important as you age to preserve your skeletal muscle mass, so you're less likely to sustain an injury from a fall (per Better Health Channel).
To maintain the muscle you have, you'll need at least 0.8 grams of protein for each kilogram of body weight, according to Medical News Today. That's about 54 grams a day for someone weighing 150 pounds. An optimum amount is between 1.2 and 1.6 grams of protein for each kilogram of body weight, or between 82 and 109 grams for a 150-pound body. You can meet your daily protein needs by eating meat and dairy, but other foods can fill out your protein profile, such as nuts, seeds, legumes, and beans. Or you can be creative with your recipes by adding protein to your dessert. Claire Hodgins posted a 3-ingredient high-protein peanut butter cookie recipe on TikTok that gives you 8 grams of protein per cookie.
Peanut butter protein cookie recipe
The key ingredient that makes Hodgins's recipe high in protein is the protein powder. A typical scoop of protein powder gives you about 25 grams of protein, and a vanilla or peanut butter-flavored protein powder will work best for this recipe. The second ingredient in the recipe is peanut butter, which also gives you protein and some healthy fat. An egg is the third ingredient to add another 6 grams of protein.
To make the cookies, combine in a bowl ½ cup of peanut butter, ½ cup of protein powder (about two scoops), and an egg. You can add a little sweetener if your protein powder isn't sweetened. The mixture will be crumbly at first, but continue mixing until you can press the mixture until it sticks together. Form the mixture into 10 balls and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Using the tines of a fork, flatten each cookie by making a criss-cross pattern. Bake at 350 degrees for 4 to 5 minutes, being careful not to overbake them. A single cookie is 109 calories, 8 grams of protein, and 7 grams of fat (4.6 grams of unsaturated fat).
Know if you're getting enough protein or too much
Fiber and protein both make you feel full, so you might find yourself feeling hungry if you're not eating enough of either, according to MedicineNet. You could also have more fluctuations in your blood sugar if you're replacing protein with simple carbohydrates. Because protein helps you recover from workouts, you might find yourself more fatigued after exercising if your diet is lacking in protein. Protein also balances your mood because the amino acids build the key neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, so you could become moody if you don't get enough protein.
If you're not an athlete or a bodybuilder, you probably don't need more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, according to Harvard Medical School. For someone weighing 150 pounds, that's 136 grams of protein. While more protein will either pass through your system or be stored as fat, too much protein in your diet could pose some risks, depending on the source of your protein. Consuming too much red meat is high in saturated fat, which is often linked to heart disease and colon cancer. Too much protein might stress your kidneys and increase your risk of kidney stones.