THE POWDERS

WHEY PROTEIN POWDER 

The king of protein powders, whey protein is probably the most popular powder in the market. While there is also Goat Whey protein one can buy (and I need to add it to this list), most Whey Protein is made from cow's milk. It's dairyish and tastes great as a shake, making it thicker and creamy. In cooking whey, you have to be very careful though because it has the potential of overpowering food and making it super dry, carboardlike and rubbery To counter this - its drying potential - make sure you use a lot of 'wet' and 'tuxture-packed' ingredients like: pumpkin puree, cooked sweet potato, cottage cheese, yogurt, quark, and/or lots of egg whites. You can whey for all kinds of things besides shakes. You can, for example, use it to make protein cheesecake, protein cake, protein flan/custard or glorious oh so glorious protein fluff!

EGG WHITE PROTEIN POWDER 

Egg White Powder, bought from baking aisles, is fantastic for meringues and protein mousses that need to be extra puffy. Egg White Powder bought in bulk though, from protein stores for example, tends to not meringue up, i.e. it never gets any soft (let alone hard) peaks. It is still really good for baking though, making batters gain a more concise texture and contributing to airier protein cakes like this one or this one which turned out heavenly. You can also use it to make omelets, protein porridge, and/or just throw it into your next protein pancakes for an extra protein baaaam!

BROWN RICE PROTEIN POWDER 

*Sigh* Ever since I discovered Growing Naturals' I'm kind of over the moon because cooking with brown rice protein powder - chocolate AND vanilla yields fantastic sweet things (like this and this and aaaa --> this!) Brown rice protein pow also makes fantastic savory stuff. For example, it makes really good protein breads and even soups! See, the thing with brown rice protein powder is that it makes your batter really thick and it makes stuff hold together really well. As with most powders of this kind though (the kind that 'absorb' liquids), you have to be careful to not use waaaay too much because it can then become too dense to properly get the best out of. On the whole, brown rice protein pow goes extremely well with chocolate and also with things using hemp protein powder! 

CASEIN PROTEIN POWDER
This is also a powder brought to us by the wonderful animal that is The Cow. While it belongs to the same family as Whey though, Casein acts totally differently in food. You notice this as soon as you mix it to make protein puddings or shakes - your mixture is thicker, creamier, and considerably less sticky. I love to use Casein, in protein puddings, protein bars, protein "creme brulees" and also to bake with (see all the christmas cakes etc)! Unlike Whey, Casein dries baked goods a lot less, adding instead a bready texture to them. One of favorite ways of using Casein is for frostings. See this one, this one, this one, and this one, for example. I am convinced it is by far the best frosting-making powder.

HEMP PROTEIN POWDER 
Hemp is high in omega 3, it is full of fibre and it bakes gorgeous chocolatey things. I'm a big fan. I find it tastes kind of beh on it's own (particularly as a shake) and prefer to use it in things like truffles, cakes, chocolates, and brownies. I also sometimes use it in savory pancakes though. The thing with Hemp is that, like Pea and also Casein, it absorbs a lot of liquid so that, when you use it, you have to use a lot of egg whites, cottage cheese, quark and/or milk. The result is a thicker mix that you can then confidently bake with knowledge that your final product will most likely be nice and moist :-)

PEA PROTEIN POWDER

Pea Protein Pow is an wonderful all-round powder. When you smell it for the first time, you're immediately get hit with a strong smell of 'FOOD.' It smells savoryish and well, like peas! It's not salty though and, for this reason, you can use it in both savory AND sweet things. You can, for example, make really rich and creamy protein sauces with it; you can make protein soups, and you can make protein patties, crepes, savory pancakes, and breads. Because it gives such a wonderful bready texture to baked goods, I find pea pow one of the best flour-replacing powders. Turn the savory package over though and suddenly you have a great mellow ingredient with which to make protein cakes!  protein muffins! protein ice cream! 

BEEF PROTEIN POWDER 

I saw an ad for this once (check it out) and thought "NO WAY!" because, well... REALLY? Part of me was horrified at the idea in the context of "come ON, who would rather not just EAT the beef!?" and "now THAT must taste... 'interesting'" but another part of me was totally and absolutely mesmerized at the idea "I wonder if you can make a cake with it or turn it into..."