AMY'S 30-SECOND PROTEIN COOKIE

1 teaspoon butter

1/2 scoop vanilla or chocolate whey protein powder, 1/6 cup

2 teaspoons granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda *

Water, about 3/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon

In a small microwaveable bowl, heat the butter in the microwave about 20 seconds or until melted. If you're using liquid Splenda, mix it into the melted butter now. Stir in the whey powder and granular Splenda as well as you can. It will be very dry. Gradually add some water, about 1/8 teaspoon at a time, just until you can form the mixture into a ball that isn't too sticky to handle. Keep the dough ball in the bowl and microwave on HIGH 15-30 seconds or until the dough puffs up. Don't over cook it or it will come out very dry. In my microwave it takes about 15 seconds or so. Cool and eat.

If you microwave the cookie for about 15 seconds you'll get a more tender, chewy cookie but it won't be very big. Microwaving it for closer to 30 seconds causes the dough to puff up almost twice as much but the cookie will be pretty dry and crumbly. The photo above shows a 15 second cookie and the photo below is how they look after 25-30 seconds of cooking.

Makes 1 cookie

Can be frozen

* If you don't have liquid Splenda, you could use a little Da Vinci syrup in place of the water and Splenda.

With granular Splenda:

Per Cookie: 88 Calories; 5g Fat; 9g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:

Per Cookie: 84 Calories; 5g Fat; 9g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 1g Net Carb

I made my first two experimental cookies without adding any sweetener. They weren't overly sweet but that's not always a bad thing if you're trying to curb your sweet tooth. However, I think that they're a little better with the additional Splenda. I only had chocolate whey powder so that's what I used. They have a sort of brownie flavor. Amy makes hers with French vanilla Designer Whey Protein. You have to be very careful how long you cook them because they turn dry and crumbly in a matter of seconds. Amy said they were very addictive but I thought that one cookie was quite satisfying for so few carbs and the consistency makes them kind of self-limiting. They're also not so good that you'll be tempted to eat too many. Amy limits her fat and calories but I don't. So, this version of the recipe calls for real butter rather than the butter-flavored spray that Amy used in hers. Amy's official name for this is Evil Protein Cookie. You can watch a video of her making this recipe on her website Eating Low.

Here is how the dough should look before microwaving:

And, here is a 30 second cookie:

I finally bought some vanilla whey protein powder so here is how they look in vanilla:

I like the vanilla cookies a lot better than the chocolate ones. They have a nice, buttery flavor almost, but not quite, like a sugar cookie. Make sure that you don't overwork the dough or they come out very tough and chewy. I kind of like them that way though. It makes them take longer to eat.

I thought I'd save some time and mix up enough dough for four cookies at once. By making a larger batch, I was able to save some carbs by using liquid Splenda. Here's the recipe:

FOUR 30-SECOND PROTEIN COOKIES

4 teaspoons butter

2 scoops vanilla or chocolate whey protein powder, 2/3 cup

8 teaspoons granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda

About 3 teaspoons water, or as needed

Follow the instructions for the original recipe but divide the dough into four equal balls. You can place them all on a plate and microwave them at the same time. You may need to adjust the cooking time a little. Also, if you slightly flatten the balls of dough they'll come out more cookie shaped.

Makes 4 cookies

Can be frozen