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)Â (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.
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Links Of The Day:
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(How to make it the EASY way)
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Wonderful recipe and story! What can I sub for agave/honey/maple syrup?
I had the same question and at the last second, while already making these bars, used Nature’s Hollow syrup http://natureshollow.com/ecommerce/product.i?pid=21&size=big which I already had been using in place of liquid sugars…turned out pretty good!
THIS. This is how a healthy brownie should be. Perfection. I am forever in debt to you now 🙂
These are great! I cut the sugar down to 1 tsp and cut the honey by half, and then added dry cranberries! My brain is reeling with new variations for the next batch 🙂
Katie,
First of all I have followed your blog for months now I have never been disappointed. Second of all, I have to say I made the Black Bean protein bars two days ago… I am literally speechless. I have never tasted something that is so healthy and so delicious at the same time. DELICIOUS AND NUTRITIOUS! So awesome. I used Hersey’s Dark chocolate cocoa powder and Chocolate Milkshake flavor protein by Quest… Holy Moses. SO GOOD!! Thank you thank you!! This blog is the best ! Keep them coming.
I’ve just made my first batch (yesterday) and I have to say that they taste great (after a night in the fridge)! And they are so much healthier than store bought protein bars. Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe 😉
Oh no I don’t have baking powder help help help what do I do lol
if I used an unflavored protein powder, would I need to add more cocoa powder or just follow the recipe as is?
What would you recommend as a substitute for the protein powder?
You can omit. https://lett-trim.today/2012/09/06/no-flour-black-bean-brownies/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hello I want to make these today, but I have a full unopened bag of Bobs Red Mill plain protein powder. So, how much extra chocolate would I need to add, and would it be the coco powder or chocolate chips?
Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes.
Hi Katie, I’m eager to try these. They look delicious, and fairly healthy! I see lots of questions and comments on which type of protein powder you used, but I was curious about what type of chocolate chips you use. Are they bittersweet or semi-sweet and which brand do you use? I imagine this would affect the nutritional profile as well as the taste. Thanks!
Not Katie, but I know in the past she has said she uses Enjoy Life mini chips or Fair Trade brand regular chips.
Hi can I please know the nutritional facts? the carb and calorie counts ect?
It’s listed right there in the post.
Any idea on a general price range for a batch of these protein bars? I know it is tough to guesstimate due to buying a lot of these ingredients in bulk.
I know this is late by miles and miles, but mine came out a soggy mess. I followed the recipe, except used canola oil instead of veg. Any ideas? I tried chilling and then re-baking. Texture seems to be more like brownies on the edges but just really soggy in the middle. Thanks for any help!
This is funny and reminds me of goldilocks. The person’s comment above you said hers were too dry, yours were too wet, and mine were just right. I bet it is a climate thing. Just bake yours longer next time. Worth a second shot because they are SO GOOD!
These were SO GOOD!!!!!! Thank you for the recipe! I want to try different flavors next time and am already brainstorming ideas.
I just made these brownies for Valentine’s Day:) one of the best recipes that I’ve tried for brownies! I miss can’t wait for the rest of my friends and family to taste these!
Excellent. I used a 19 oz can (26 g protein) of black beans with 2 scoops of whey isolate (natural flavor, 2 x 29 g protein) – providing a whopping 84 g of protein per recipe. These are my guilty pleasure after a workout! Thank you!