The Best Protein Brownies

May 22, 2011

The Best Protein Brownies


When you train/workout a lot, in order to get the necessary daily protein intake we have sometimes to resort to protein bars. There’s nothing wrong with it. Your body needs readily available amino-acids and these snacks do the trick.
However, most of the protein bars you can buy at the health store contain a bunch of stuff with unpronounceable names. In addition, the taste is often off-putting (personally, I still have to find one that I really like).
The solution? Make your own, simple as that. Maybe even in the form of brownies.
What about that?
I tried several recipes over the last couple years and perfected this one, which is has become a staple of my diet.
These are truly amazing brownies, loaded with protein!

The Best Protein Brownies


The Best Protein Brownies                                                                      Print this Recipe!

[Updated 1/27/2013]. I’ve been baking these brownies for over two years and tweaked the original recipe several times.
This is the final version. I decided there was no need at all for flour, I also cut the sugar a bit and found that coconut oil (or butter) yielded better results than canola oil. Lastly, sprinkling the chocolate chips on top felt a like a chocolate redundancy.

Ingredients
Makes 16 brownies

1 cup / 2.6 oz / 74 gr protein powder (either unflavored or vanilla)
¼ cup / 0.8 oz / 22 grams oats, ground
8 oz / 225 gr +70% dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup / 4 oz / 113 grams coconut oil (or butter)
1 cup / 7.75 oz / 220 gr firmly packed brown sugar (or baking Splenda®)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs (or flax eggs or 8 egg whites)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional, to enhance chocolate taste)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C), place a rack in the upper third of the oven. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. Line the pan with foil and grease the foil. This will help you remove the brownies.
Whisk together protein powder, ground oats, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Place coconut oil (or butter) and chopped chocolate in a medium sized heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water (making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not otuch the water). Stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Remove the bowl from over the boiling water, let mixture sit for a few minutes.
In the meantime, in a large bowl mix sugar, vanilla, espresso powder (if using) and eggs (or flax eggs or egg whites). Whisk until pale and thick.Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture. Whisk until batter is smooth. Add the protein powder mixture all at once and stir by hand until all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet ingredients and no flour is visible.
Pour batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes, until the center is firm and level with sides and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan.

Nutrition facts

One protein brownie scores the following nutrition facts: 230 calories, 11 grams of fat, 20 grams of carbs and 11 grams of protein.

19 comments:

  1. Yummy! Although I'd like to change the vanilla-flavored whey protein supplement to chocolate. Don't like vanilla that much. I can down16 brownies in one meal, though I know I shouldn't.

    herbal supplements online

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    Replies
    1. Florence, if you need a little added reinforcement for portion size, it's possible to bake them in muffin/mini muffin tins. Just bear in mind that the baking time will be shorter. Don't feel ashamed, even I have found myself having to do that sometimes lol.

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  2. I agree with Florence about using chocolate protein powder...how about doing that along with the addition of vanilla extract? Chef Jay does it all the time! lol

    Personally, I would supercharge the rich brownie flavor by adding a packet or 2 of sugar-free hot cocoa mix (mix it along with the other dry ingredients), a scant handful of coarsely chopped walnuts...and perhaps supercharge the nutrtitive value too by adding one block of pureed (previously frozen) spinach. The only caveat to doing that is that they must be COMPLETELY cooled, and NEVER served/eaten warm, else the spinach flavor becomes obvious (sorry, fresh-from-the-oven fans lol!) Plus, the typical sugarless/no sugar added cocoa mix will provide an added boost of calcium. And the walnuts contain healthy fats.

    Otherwise, pretty solid looking recipe! Looks yummy :.P I am soooo bookmarking this. Thanks!

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  3. I made these yesterday and used chocolate protein powder (Isopure Dutch Chocolate- 75g total in the cup). They came out amazing. Great recipe, thanks for sharing.

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  4. These are awesome brownies. Thanks for sharing the recipe. And for anyone who is interested in the nutrtional info:
    Servings Per Recipe: 16
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories: 263.1
    Total Fat: 11.0 g
    Cholesterol: 23.1 mg
    Sodium: 39.1 mg
    Total Carbs: 37.9 g
    Dietary Fiber: 1.8 g
    Protein: 15.2 g

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  5. Great recipe, personally I used chocolate protein powder and lowered the amount of brown sugar by 1/4 cup because of the protein powders sweetness, then used peanut butter instead of canola oil/butter so lowered the carb content and upped the protein content slightly and still taste amazing!

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  6. These turned out fantastic! I used muffin cups and made 12 servings and popped them in the freezer to stay fresh. These brownies held up really well in our packs, even under the abuse of heavy Colorado mountain biking. Testing some variations today!

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  7. These were great! I Subbed the oil for 8ox of baby food applesauce for the oil and 1 cup of granulated Splenda for the sugar. Tasty and very moist!

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  8. i have a recipe for a chocolate coconut slice using casein protein (supreme chocolate)

    Ingredients:
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    2 scoop Optimum Gold Standard 100% Casein (supreme chocolate)
    1 cup coconut
    1/3 cup self raising flour
    1 egg
    1 cup of soy milky soy milk

    Method:
    Mix protein, coconut and sifted self raising flour into a bowl.
    whisk lightly egg in another bowl. Add milk to egg and stir together.
    add wet ingredients to dry and mix till it forms a dough.
    spray a greased brownie tray (i use a bar type tin that is silicon) it's easier to make sure they don't over cook and become too dry. i pop them out of the silicon once it is firm on top and put them back in upside down to cook the bottom and make sure that it doesn't make the top too dry.
    cook in oven on 180 degrees for 10-15 mins keep an eye on them so it doesn't become too dry.

    if using a brownie tin will make 9. calories are -Calories 104.8, fat 6.8 g, Total Carbohydrate 18.9 g, Dietary Fiber 1.7 g and Protein 8.2 g

    If using a bar type silicon cut the 6 bars in half and you will get 12. the calories for 12 are- Calories 8.6, Total Fat 5.1 g Total Carbohydrate 14.2 g, Dietary Fiber 1.3 g, Sugars 8.6 g and Protein 6.2 g

    hope you enjoy

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  9. I've made these brownies twice and while the batter tastes awesome, I'm having trouble getting the center to cook(sides end up well done and the center of the pan doesn't cook). Any suggestions on how to correct it?

    These are awesome, I just need to figure out how to cook them!

    Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Unknown,

      I've experienced the same problem in the past, and I've solved it by rotating the pan halfway through. You might also want to try placing the rack in the oven at 3/4 instead of the middle.

      Hope this helps!

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    2. I love reading your articles!!
      I'm curious to know your thoughts and recommendations on protein powders, Also your thoughts on other supplements to build muscle/burn fat.
      I've been asking around at my gym and realize that many people that exercise don't necessarily make the "healthiest" choices when it comes to trying to lose fat and gain muscle.
      I really watch what I put into my body. I'm a vegetarian and trying to build lean muscle in a healthy/natural way. I'd like to hear a little more about vegan/vegetarian body builders/ triathletes. Any info would be highly appreciated.

      Mariel
      mceped7@gmail.com

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  10. These look fantastic. I can't wait to try

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  11. If I used 100% Bakers chocolate, should I just add more sugar? I'm having trouble finding 70+% chocolate unless you go to 100%. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. I think it can be a good idea to balance out the bitterness of the 100% choc with a tiny bit more of sugar.
      However, if you can't get 70% or 80% dark chocolate, you can also use one with lower cocoa solids (i.e., 50%), which are generally easier to find commercially.

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    2. Thanks! I'll give it a try with a little more sugar.

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  12. Has anyone tried substituting the Whey Protein with Hemp protein powder?

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  13. Those look like the best protein brownies recipe I've seen so far! Any thoughts on diminishing the amount of brown sugar/ splenda? It does seem like quite a lot. Would cutting it, say, in half, affect just the taste, or also the texture? Anyway, will definitely try this. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. I was wondering the same. And if vegan protein powder would work as a substitute for whey protein

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