Chocolate protein bars that are rich, chocolatey, fudgy, gooey, and sinfully delicious.
3 Steps To Instant Popularity:
First, take a class trip to a remote location. Bonus points if the trip lasts more than a week, and double bonus points if the trip includes multiple bus rides of 5 hours or more.
Second, bring along a stash of chocolate protein bars large enough to feed a small army.
Third, wait patiently. By day 6, it is almost guaranteed your tired and hungry classmates will clamor for your attention and fight over who gets to sit next to you.
At least… this is the experience I had at age 16 when–equipped with raisins, cashews, and a bunch of Luna and Clif bars–I went on a 10-day class field trip to northern China.
The trip involved quite a lot of walking in the heat, packing up and changing locations almost daily, and many long and boring bus rides, with not nearly enough food to sustain the energy expended on all of these activities.
Somehow word got out that Katie had a secret stash of food in her suitcase, and by the end of the trip I was breaking each protein bar into eight or ten pieces so there’d be enough to go around.
What was the best class field trip you ever took… or what was the worst?
Due to all of the incredible memories made during my ten days in northern China, I look back on the trip as one of the best school field trips I ever took.
However at the time, when we were hiking through the freezing-cold mountains at 5am, eating unfamiliar foods (including a goat we’d seen alive earlier in the day), and going out of our minds with boredom on the tour bus, I probably would have told you it was the absolute worst trip I ever took!
Chocolate Protein Bars
Adapted from Black Bean Brownies
Fudge Brownie Chocolate Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
- 3 tbsp dutch or regular cocoa powder (15g)
- 7 tbsp chocolate protein powder (I used Nutribiotic) (45g)
- scant 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or agave or honey (Honey is not for strict vegans.) (75g)
- pinch pure stevia, or 2 tbsp sugar of choice
- 3 1/2 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil (35g)
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips (Not optional; omit at your own risk.)
Instructions
Homemade Chocolate Protein Bars: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except chips in a high-quality food processor, and blend until absolutely and completely smooth. (A blender works if you absolutely must, but the texture and taste will be much better in a food processor.) Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 8×8 square pan. Optional: sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top. Cook the homemade chocolate protein bars 16 minutes. They will still look underdone when you take them from the oven, but this is okay. Let cool, then pat down with a pancake spatula. Refrigerate overnight. The bars will have firmed up and are now ready to cut and eat. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. Makes about 10 bars.
Links Of The Day:
(How to make it the EASY way)
Hey Katie! Great recipe – stupid question but do I melt the coconut oil first or add it whole? My best school trip was to London…pretty average for someone from the UK!
Melt first.
How long do these last … i just have a batch in the oven 😀 … the batter mix was delish so I’m very excited to try them… will they last the week in the fridge? x
Yes.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! My teenage son needs good snacks with his busy high school schedule (and the fact that he cannot eat wheat or eggs). He does not like beans, but gobbles these bars up. I haven’t told him yet what is in them. 🙂 I didn’t have chocolate protein powder so I just added a little more cocoa. Yummy!
These are amazing. Thank you, Katie 🙂 I send them overseas to my Naval husband. He thinks he’s eating homemade man-food, but I know he’s eating healthy. Haha. I’m not as food creative as you; do you have any other flavors for protein bar recipes? I’m afraid if I didn’t make them dark colored (aka chocolate) they might not be as appetizing.
Thank you again. 🙂
Her recipe for peanut butter protein bars is really good: https://lett-trim.today/2013/04/04/homemade-peanut-butter-protein-bars/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Thanks so much for this recipe!! My almost 10 year old needed extra protein to stay full at school, but his classroom is peanut free due to a classmate with an allergy. And it seems like all the commercially available protein bars have peanuts. Besides, your protein bar is healthier. 😉 We also love using these on the days when both my son and his 6 year old sister have swim lessons. Just as a note, I don’t know if it’s my oven or something I’m doing wrong, but I find I have to bake them at least 23 minutes to get them “done”. I know you say it’s ok if they still look under done, but even after chilling my bars were ooey gooey and not even slightly firm in the middle of the pan.
Thank you so much for making them! Yes, oven temps vary… you might want to check and see if yours is calibrated correctly. Or just keep doing what you’re doing if it works! 😉
Hey! I just wanted to says this is my first recipe ever since i moved to my own home. Im quite old 29 year old but there is no age to start cooking! Since im training im happy i found a recipie high in protein that seem to taste great! The batch is currently cooking! I will surely give you back my thought about em!.. The only thing is i dont have any processor or blender so i mashed the maximum i could. Im sure it will be eatable!
Back! Ive now made the recipie several time and its very good! thanks
Alot of sugar compared to protein but still a good dessert for cheatmeal day !
Turned out great and kids had no idea it had black beans in it. 😉 I just tell them its my secret ingredient of love.
Love you! you bake like me! I love your recipes – after spending much time tweaking my own, I can make yours and know it is PERFECT!!! THANK YOU!!
Can these bars be made without the protein powder?
You should try the Black Bean Brownies that these are based on. They are absolutely wonderful. You can either cook them or eat the batter straight! And depending on your sugar taste, you can definitely cut back the type of sweetener.
I can’t get black beans. Will red beans work?
Trust me on this, you can use any kind of bean you want. <3
THIS RECIPE. I’ve never had a more foolproof cookie recipe. Oh man, I’ve used pigeon peas, white eyed kidney beans, chickpeas, and black beans. I’ve had to mash the beans with a potato squisher because I don’t have a food processor. I’ve omitted the stevia/sugar, cut the maple syrup to 1/4 cup, and even added grated carrot, and no matter how big or small I make the cookies 16 minutes is always the perfect time to take them from the oven. I don’t even bother cooling them overnight because they’re so bloody good warm. Addictive and perfect for the baking impared.
These are AWESOME! I made some the day before yesterday and they are almost gone. I made them because my husband needed something to eat between work and working out one night a week…and I found out he’d typically been eating a huge chocolate chip cookie! So I made these, he LOVES them, and last night he ate one before working out. He said it was delicious (I agree) and he made me promise that I’d send you a message to say “This one is a winner, Katie!”
Where can I buy nutribiotic protein powder at a brick and mortar store rather than on line? Can I use any type of protein powder?
It says you can use your favorite.
Dear readers of Katie!!! I know Katie doesn’t like things to be too sweet, so if you have tried this recipe, please tell me – do you find that the bars need to be sweeter? Or are they brownie-like enough the way they are? Thanks!
I think they are totally brownie-like as is, I used a RAW unflavored protein powder though so I added an extra tbsp. cocoa powder to make up for the lack of chocolate flavored protein powder, it was perfect and I usually like things on the sweeter side, I also used dark chocolate chips, perfect!
i was hoping to make these tonight (i went out and got more protein powder (Vega One chocolate cuz it was one sale! and i just used up the last of my last jar this morning!) and chocolate chips, and was looking for more cocoa powder (used up the last last night making chocolate coconut cookies 🙁 ) but the place i went, the cocoa powder was very pricey so… I’m going to have to hold off til tomorrow when I go out and get cocoa powder. can’t WAIT to try these! 🙂
I was skeptical with black beans being the main ingredient, I am a huge baker and sweets are my weakness but trying to eat healthier and lose weight and while exercising wanted a healthier protein bar instead of the sugar overloaded pre-made stuff. These completely impressed me, they were awesome, would never have guessed it was made with black beans, I am a chocolate junkie and these hit the spot with less guilt 🙂