Waking up to a piece of this moist and tender Pumpkin Breakfast Cake is one of my favorite things about fall. Low in calories and high in protein, it’s a healthy morning pick-me-up that tastes like a decadent treat!
The Best High-Protein Breakfast for Fall
Every sweet tooth wakes up with the temptation to devour a slice of last night’s cake for breakfast. Thanks to this super simple recipe, you can give in to that temptation with no feelings of guilt whatsoever! While your average cake is meant to be indulgent rather than nutritious, this hearty breakfast cake gives you the best of both worlds.
It’s made with organic pumpkin, gluten-free rolled oats, plant-based milk, protein powder and more. Warm pumpkin spices enhance the flavor of the cake while a drizzle of melted dark chocolate tops it off. Sometimes I’ll eat a piece of this cake for breakfast, another one after lunch and a third one after dinner!
What You’ll Need
This convenient make-ahead breakfast uses a short list of wholesome ingredients. The amounts are specified in the recipe card below this post.
For the Protein Pumpkin Cake
- Organic Pumpkin: Be sure to grab pure pumpkin puree – not pumpkin pie filling.
- Gluten-Free Rolled Oats: Use your food processor to grind the oats into flour.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk: Or unsweetened coconut milk.
- Pure Maple Syrup
- Large Eggs
- AllWhites 100% Liquid Egg Whites: Or 6 additional egg whites.
- Pumpkin Spice Mix
- Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
For the Dark Chocolate Drizzle
- Dairy-Free Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: Feel free to use darker chocolate chips if desired.
- Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
How to Make Protein Pumpkin Breakfast Cake
This healthy breakfast cake is easy to prepare with two bowls and one pan. Cleanup will be quick and painless!
- Prep for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with baking spray or extra virgin coconut oil.
- Make Batter: Combine all of the cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl. The batter will be very wet.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake the cake for 1 hour.
- Let Cool: Remove your cake from the oven and transfer it to a rack so it can finish cooling.
- Make Topping: Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil into a small heat-proof bowl and microwave the mixture for 1 minute. Stir until smooth.
- Drizzle Over Cake: Drizzle the chocolate topping over the cake in a back-and-forth pattern.
- Enjoy! Cut the cake into squares and serve it.
Tips for Success
These expert tips and tricks will help you craft the most crave-worthy breakfast cake.
- Use Oat Flour in a Pinch: If you don’t have any old-fashioned oats to grind up, just use 3/4 cup of pre-packaged oat flour. Problem solved!
- Speed Up the Cooling Time: Want your cake to cool more quickly? Pop it into the fridge to push things along.
- Melt the Chocolate in a Double Boiler: Candy melting pots and double boilers do a great job of melting chocolate quickly and evenly. If you have one of those appliances, you might want to put it to use.
Add-In Ideas
There are tons of good-for-you ingredients loaded into this breakfast cake. But as they say, the more the merrier!
- Chopped Nuts
- Chocolate Chips
- Shredded Coconut
- Hemp Seeds
- Dried Fruit
- Peanut Butter Chips
- Cacao Nibs
- Fresh Lime Zest
Serving Suggestions
This cake makes a great companion for your morning coffee or tea. If you’d like to serve another dish alongside it, I suggest picking something like Yogurt Parfaits or Paleo Egg Cups. Whenever I’m going all in with the protein, I’ll pair my pumpkin cake with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake.
Storage Instructions
Keep extra breakfast cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. I usually enjoy it cold, but you can microwave individual servings for 5-10 seconds if you’d like.
Can I Freeze This Breakfast Cake?
You can! Wrap each slice in a tight layer of plastic wrap and freeze them in an airtight container or storage bag. Enjoy the frozen cake within 3 months, thawing it out in the fridge before you dig in.
More Easy Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Spice Protein Muffins
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones
- Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Cake With Dark Chocolate Frosting
Protein Pumpkin Breakfast Cake
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
For the Protein Pumpkin Breakfast Cake
- 1 can organic pure pumpkin
- 1 cup old fashioned oats processed in food processor into flour
- 2 cups unsweetened Almond milk or unsweetened coconut milk
- ¾ cup pure maple syrup
- 4 whole large eggs
- ¾ cup AllWhites 100% Liquid Egg Whites or 6 additional egg whites
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin spice mix
- 8 Tablespoons vanilla whey protein powder
For the Dark Chocolate Drizzle
- 3 tablespoon dairy free semi-sweet chocolate chips {enjoy life}
- 1/4 teaspoon extra virgin coconut oil
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat oven 350°. Grease a 9 x 13” pan with baking spray or extra virgin coconut oil.
- Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. The mix will be very wet.
- Pour into prepared greased baking pan and bake for 60 minutes.
- Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool completely, or place in refrigerator to cool quickly.
Add the Topping
- Place ingredients in small bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth.
- Drizzle over cake in a back and forth pattern.
- Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
- To Store: Refrigerate extras in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
- To Freeze: Wrap each slice in a tight layer of plastic wrap and freeze them in an airtight container or storage bag. Enjoy frozen cake within 3 months, thawing it out in the fridge before digging in.
Categories:
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of AllWhites 100% Liquid Egg Whites. The opinions and text are all mine.
Love using egg whites in oatmeal.
I love egg white omelettes with roasted veggies.
Wow — That’s a short ceremony! I just love the idea of healthy cake for breakfast — yum!
Thanks, Dee. Yep the ceremony was short and sweet.
I like my egg whites scrambled.
I have made a yummy french toast with just egg whites!
This looks delicious but I like the yolk too! How many regular eggs would you use?? Thanks! I discovered your blog when Autumn featured your blueberry superfood bars; they are so good.
Thanks, Elizabeth. I love those superfood bars!! I do have four full eggs in this recipe, so you will be getting all the benefits that the yolk offers. Using the egg whites gives this cake a very light, almost souffle texture. If you want you can substitute 2 whole eggs for the egg whites, but you will end up with a denser texture. Hope this helps!!
I’ll just use the whites then as called for, thank you. Can’t wait to make them!
I like them boiled with a little bit of cajun seasoning on them
I just love waking up to an already prepared breakfast! And, I mean…this cake! For breakfast! Love it!
i like egg whites around christmas with peppermint in them i know its weird but i just love it but other than that know fact now i like eating eggs whites with green onions
This looks like it is going to be my new fave way to use egg whites!