It's been a long day. You come home from work and throw your bag on the counter. But the work doesn't stop there. You've got dinner to cook, washing to fold and the bins really need to go out.
Life is full of constant demands on your attention. So how do you treat yourself when you finally get to put your feet up after a long day?
Enter the bedtime chocolate protein drink: a comforting way to unwind as part of a relaxing night time routine. We love the soothing effect of a night time ritual. Do you want to take self care one step further? Try these delicious double chocolate protein cookies.
Key points
- A night time ritual. A chocolate protein drink is an easy way to unwind as part of a relaxing night time routine.
- A bedtime treat. These double chocolate protein cookies turn it into a dessert to enjoy before bed.
- Pick your flavour. This recipe uses chocolate, but salted caramel or vanilla work too.
- Fully vegan option. Use vegan chocolate chips and plant based swaps to make the recipe 100% vegan.
- Simple to bake. Shape into twelve balls and bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (180 fan forced).
This recipe uses a chocolate protein powder, however you can try it with salted caramel or vanilla flavours - they are all tasty! We still think the double chocolate treat is the most indulgent way to enjoy this recipe.
INGREDIENTS
- 65g Coconut Oil
- 85ml Almond Milk
- 40g Flaked Almonds
- 100g Dark Chocolate Chips (vegan if desired)
- 40g chocolate protein powder
- 2 tbsp Almond Butter
- 200g Coconut Sugar
- 180g Plain Flour (about 1 cup)
- 1 tsp of Baking Powder
- Pinch of sea salt + extra to taste
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (180 fan forced)
- Using a small pan on your cooktop, melt the coconut oil over a low heat, ensuring it never comes to the boil. Once melted, remove from heat and leave to cool a little.
- In a large bowl combine the coconut sugar, protein powder, flour, baking powder, flaked almonds & pinch of salt. Mix to combine.
- Pour in the almond milk, cooled coconut oil and almond butter and combine until a thick mixture forms.
- Add in dark chocolate chips and bring the mixture together.
- Shape the dough into twelve balls, rolling them and then gently pressing them down a little.
- Place the balls onto a baking tray lined with baking paper or a baking sheet. Space them out evenly across the tray, leave at least 3cm between them.
- Sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over each cookie. Be careful not to go overboard!
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Once baked, leave the cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes(if you have that much self control we applaud you!)
- Now for the most important part - enjoy!
The best part about this recipe is it can be made 100% vegan! As long as you use vegan chocolate chips we've got our plant based babes covered! We've also recommended coconut sugar and plant milks and butters. But feel free to substitute as you choose.
A chocolate protein drink is a simple addition to a night time routine. What better way to enhance it than with a delicious dessert to enjoy before bed.
If you loved this recipe, we have a whole range of healthy recipes you can browse, from high protein snacks to delicious recovery drinks. But let's be honest, they are mostly healthy snacks to help satisfy your sweet tooth. If you cook one of our recipes be sure to tell us all about it on Instagram - we love to see your creations!
If you are looking for a better night's sleep, browse our range of sleepy time products.
Can a cookie actually help you sleep?
Not on its own, and it is worth being straight about that.
A sleep-oriented drink powder in a cookie is a small amount of whatever it contains, spread across a batch. If the powder contains magnesium or ashwagandha, the per-cookie dose is well below what the research uses.
What is fair: eating something warm in the evening is a pleasant wind-down ritual, and ritual genuinely matters for sleep. The cookie is doing that job rather than a pharmacological one.
If sleep is the actual goal, the things that work are covered in five ways to improve your sleep: a consistent wake time, morning daylight, and a caffeine cut-off. None of them is a biscuit.
Should I eat these before bed?
If you want to. Eating before bed is not the problem it is often made out to be.
The evidence that late eating causes weight gain independent of total intake is weak. What matters is how much you eat across the day, not the hour it happens. A large, heavy meal close to bedtime can affect sleep quality through discomfort and reflux, which is a comfort issue rather than a metabolic one.
A cookie is unlikely to trouble either.
How long do they keep?
- Airtight container. Four to five days at room temperature.
- Freezer. Up to three months, baked or as raw dough balls.
- Not the fridge. It dries most cookies out faster than the bench does.
Freezing the raw dough is the better option if you would rather bake two at a time in the evening, which also makes more sense of the wind-down idea than baking a whole batch at 9pm.
