Welcome to a recipe that transcends the realm of the ordinary. It’s as interesting as it gets and that’s because of one ingredient and one ingredient only: isomalto-oligosaccharide (IMO) syrup. Before you say “oh, I don’t have that!” and angrily close this post, read on for a second:
Isomalto-oligosaccharide (IMO) syrup is a very interesting ingredient. In terms of its texture, taste, consistency and composition, it’s unlike anything else out there. IMO is what you might imagine ET would eat because, even though it’s very much of this earth, its behaviour is very surreal!
Surreal how? Well… let’s start with its nutritional profile. Per 100g, IMO contain 160kcals, zero grams of protein, zero grams of fat, and 75 grams of carbs. But out of these 75 grams of carbs? 70 grams are fibre! That means that per 100g, you only get 5g net carbs. The rest are comprised of three kinds of dietary fibre: non-digestible oligos, digestion-resistant oligos, and digestible oligos. The body apparently ‘discards’ these 70g of fibre so that what you’re left with is a sweet and treacly syrup comprised of just 5g of net carbs per 100g. In the land of food, this is VERY unusual.
Let’s then move on to IMO’s texture, consistency, and cookability. Here’s where it all gets very interesting. See, you can integrate IMO syrup into your food by heating it lightly and you can also bake with it. When you do, you’ll notice that it makes extremely crunchy cookies and that it provides a solid ‘backbone’ to cakes etc, all without adding a lot of – or any -carbs.
Once you get your hands on the syrup, please try these cookies and report back. You’ll be extremely surprised by how they turn out – they’re almost macaronish in texture and crunch up like you wouldn’t believe a protein cookie can ever crunch up. As well as trying the cookies, also try the bars. Both the bars and this recipe include a few ingredient variations so you can get creative with your IMO.
There are some common questions, answered at the bottom of this post too (like “what happens if you don’t have IMO, what can you substitute that with?” and “is the powder the same thing as the syrup?”)
Ingredients for the cookies
2 tbsp IMO syrup
4 tbsp black onyx cocoa powder (See Note 1)
2 tbsp chocolate or vanilla whey protein powder
Ingredients for the Filling
1 tbsp mascarpone cheese (See Note 2)
1/8-1/4 cup vanilla whey protein powder
Directions
1. First, make your cookies by chucking all the above cookie ingredients in a bowl and mixing it up with a spoon until you get a soft dough that you can mould with your hands into ‘balls’ (it’s going to feel like play-dough!) If your dough is too sticky to allow you to do this, add a bit more cocoa powder to it until you get to the right consistency.
2. Shape 6-10 ‘balls’ out of the mix (depending on how big you want your cookies) and, using your hands, flatten them and place them on a non-stick baking tray or a regular cookie tray lined with baking paper.
3. Bake at 200C (around 395 F) for no more than 6 minutes! They often take 5 minutes to cook so please check them after five and if they’re cooked through, take them out of the oven.
4. Make your filling by mixing all your filling ingredients together. If you want your mix to be creamier than mine was, feel free to use casein!
5. Fill the cookies with the filling and PRESTO! That’s your cookies: done.
Recipe Notes
Note 1. Using onyx turns the cookies Oreo-like; if you don’t care about this though, just use regular cocoa powder!
Note 2. You can use quark or cream cheese instead
Note 3. Depending on how thick you want your mix… (24g) recommended.
Q & A
What happens if I don’t have IMO? What can I use instead?
If you don’t have IMO, you CAN get creative by just melting an IMO-containing candy (like sugar-free Werther’s) and using that in place of the syrup. The only downside is that the syrup you end up with will have other stuff in it which may or may not be a good thing (it depends on what you’re making).
Can I substitute the whey protein powder in your cookies for another protein powder, like casein or a vegan one?
Absolutely! Casein or Pea Protein 80 will be great in the cookies. We’d suggest that you either exclude the cocoa powder when you make them or add a tiny bit more of the IMO if you’re using casein or a vegan protein powder. That’s because casein and vegan protein powders absorb a lot more liquid than whey. Also, make sure also that your mix tastes just right (especially if you’re using a vegan powder) by just tasting it before cooking.
Is IMO powder and IMO syrup the same thing?
Technically yes but at the same time, no. The powder is a dried up version of the syrup so you’ll just have to add a bit of liquid to your mix to get to the same consistency. Be fearless, have fun, and play with it as if you were some kind of mad kitchen wizard with an experimental streak and a hell of a lot of passion.
100% Micellar Casein
Whey Protein 360
Pea Protein 80
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