So this has been puzzling me for a week. I recently saw a recipe online for a microwave protein brownie that seemingly had some very odd ingredients. I had all these ingredients so decided to try it, and was super surprised when I created a product that was otherwise indistinguishable from a normal brownie.
For clarity the recipe combines the following: Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, honey, baking powder, and protein powder. This is all mixed together into a wet mix and then microwaved for roughly a minute. What is confusing to me is that I don’t understand how this combination of ingredients turn into a cake like structure. My presumption is that it’s a weird interaction between the greek yogurt and the baking powder (otherwise why not just use normal yogurt), but how that results in cake like fluffiness I’m not sure. The heat makes it rises and bubble a lot, but I’m genuinely curious as to the reaction that’s happening here. I’m just so puzzled about the textural/ consistency change.
Edit: a lot of people are curious about the recipe so here it is. https://theproteinchef.co/the-best-microwave-protein-brownie-recipe/
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It really comes down to baking chemistry. Baking powder produces bubbles. Proteins create structure and help to trap the bubbles. However, not all protein is the same. The gluten structure in wheat is also elastic, which helps baked goods to rise as well.
So substituting different proteins for wheat flour will help to trap the bubbles, but will not produce the same result and texture as wheat flour.
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