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Delicious, melt in your mouth, high protein tiramisu is a great healthier treat to enjoy. It’s made with better feel good ingredients like blended cottage cheese, espresso and soaked ladyfingers. This will leave you feeling satiated and no guilt going back for seconds!
Ingredient Notes
All other ingredients and measurements can be found in the recipe card towards the bottom of this post.
- Farmer Cheese. Or blended cottage cheese. This is used in place of mascarpone cheese. It offers more protein, less fat and less salt if you use farmer cheese (which is found in the same area as cottage cheese!)
- Granulated Sugar Sugar is used to sweeten things up a smidge. It also helps stabilize the structure of the cream filling as it sets in the refrigerator.
- Vanilla Extract. For flavor.
- Milk. Use heavy cream or 2% just a small amount is needed for this recipe.
- Ladyfingers. These are dry, egg-based sponge cookies. They are used because their porous, airy structure allows them to soak up a significant amount of liquid without immediately disintegrating into mush, providing the “cake” layers of the dessert.
- Espresso Strong, dark coffee is essential to cut through the richness of the creamy filling and sugar. I use instant espresso!
- Cocoa Powder A generous dusting of unsweetened cocoa powder on top provides a final hit of bitterness.
- Rum Traditionally, a splash of alcohol is added to the coffee soak or the cream. This is completely optional.
Steps To Make Protein Tiramisu
Ready to make this treat? Let me walk you through the recipe. For your convenience, there is a full ingredient list and detailed instructions in the printable recipe card below.
- Step One. Prepare the Coffee Base Combine 1.5 cups of strong brewed instant espresso and rum (if using) in a flat container, like a baking dish or pyrex. Be sure to let it cool – set it aside to cool. It is crucial the coffee isn’t hot, or it will melt the ladyfingers too quickly.
- Step Two. Make the cream filling. In a food processor, add the farmer cheese or cottage cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla. blend until it’s smooth.
- Step Three. Quickly dip each cookie into the cooled coffee mixture. Less than 1 second per side. You want them moistened but not dripping or soggy.
- Step Four. Arrange the dipped ladyfingers in a single layer at the bottom of an 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking dish. Give them a quick dash of cocoa over the top. Next, spread half of the protein cream over the cookies, smoothing it out with a spatula. Repeat with a second layer of dipped ladyfingers and the remaining cream.
- Step Five. Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but 24 hours is ideal for the best texture. Right before serving, use a fine-mesh sieve to dust a thick, even layer of unsweetened cocoa powder over the top. Slice and serve!
Tiramisu Tips
- Dip fast! Ladyfingers are like sponges. Dip them into the espresso for no more than one second per side. Work quickly.
- Soaking. While 3 hours is the minimum, a full 24-hour chill is the secret to a perfect texture. This allows the ladyfingers to finish softening and the flavors to really come through.
- To Slice Clean – For the cleanest presentation, wipe your knife with a warm, damp cloth between every single cut. This prevents the cocoa powder from dragging into the white cream layers.
Other yummy desserts
Dessert
Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
Breakfast
Strawberry Yogurt Muffins
Dessert
Peanut Butter Banana Bars
Breakfast
Easy Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Protein Tiramisu
Delicious, melt in your mouth, high protein tiramisu is a great healthier treat to enjoy. It's made with better feel good ingredients like blended cottage cheese, espresso and soaked ladyfingers.
Equipment
- 8×8 baking dish or similar in size
Ingredients
- 16 oz farmer cheese or cottage cheese blended, about 2 cups
- 2 Tbsp milk
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ cup cold espresso , I use instant espresso powder
- 2 Tbsp rum , optional!
- 1 package lady fingers
- ¼ cup cocoa powder , for dusting the top of the layers
Instructions
- Prepare the Coffee Base Combine 1.5 cups of strong brewed instant espresso and rum (if using) in a flat container, like a baking dish or pyrex. Be sure to let it cool – set it aside to cool. It is crucial the coffee isn't hot, or it will melt the ladyfingers too quickly.
- Make the cream filling. In a food processor, add the farmer cheese or cottage cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend until it's smooth.
- Quickly dip each cookie into the cooled coffee mixture. Less than 1 second per side. You want them moistened but not dripping or soggy.
- Working quickly, arrange the dipped ladyfingers in a single layer at the bottom of an 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking dish. dash the layer with a little coca powder. Next, spread half of the protein cream over the cookies, smoothing it out with a spatula. Repeat with a second layer of dipped ladyfingers and the remaining cream.
- Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but 24 hours is ideal for the best texture. Right before serving, use a fine-mesh sieve to dust a thick, even layer of unsweetened cocoa powder over the top. Slice and serve!
Notes
- Dip fast! Ladyfingers are like sponges. Dip them into the espresso for no more than one second per side. Work quickly.
- Soaking. While 3 hours is the minimum, a full 24-hour chill is the secret to a perfect texture. This allows the ladyfingers to finish softening and the flavors to really come through.
- To Slice Clean – For the cleanest presentation, wipe your knife with a warm, damp cloth between every single cut. This prevents the cocoa powder from dragging into the white cream layers.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 slice of tiramisu | Calories: 308kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 354mg | Potassium: 100mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 192IU | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Leave a comment below!
I hope you all love this one!
This tiramisu recipe totally worked. I try to hit my low carb / high protein diet goals with most things I eat so I made it with my homemade almond flour based, unsweetened ladyfinger cookies (so easy to make and so delicious) and since I try to stay away from sugar, I replaced all of it in the cream filling with some unsweetened vanilla protein powder (which is whey based so it has a nice sweet flavor already, without any sweeteners). I added a shot of coffee liqueur and also some Creme de cacao (because I try to stay away from sugar but not from alcohol, haha) since I wouldn’t share this treat with my kid anyway since (coffee!). I absolutely love it, it only gets better every day since I made it and the macros I got with this version make it a complete guilt-free bliss (278 Cal per serving with only 16 g carbs, 14 g fat and amazing 21 g protein!) yay
I think next time I’ll add some whipped pasteurized egg whites to the cream to make it even more protein-rich and a bit lighter in texture. And maybe even some egg yolks for the richness. Can’t wait already! 😅