These secretly-good-for-you chocolate workout brownies are high in protein, gluten free, oil free, vegan, and they can even have no sugar added.
If you are one of those people who love healthy desserts and how amazing they make you feel, be sure to put these brownies on your “must try” list.
Made up of just six plant-based ingredients, without any refined sugars or flour, the clean eating protein brownies are super quick and easy to prepare.
Also Try These Keto Muffins – Just 6 Ingredients
If you’re bored of energy bars, this could be your new favorite workout recipe.
They are great for:
Runners
Dancers
Weight Lifters
Yogis
Cyclists
Swimmers
Sports Players
And basically everyone else who loves chocolate and wants to incorporate it into a healthy, on-the-go snack.
Brownies with superpowers.
It’s like grabbing a post-workout energy bar, but with cleaner ingredients than most packaged energy bars – no soy protein isolate, sucralose, or high fructose corn syrup.
I know it’s completely frustrating when a healthy-tasting recipe claims to taste exactly like a real hot fudge brownie… so I will tell you right now:
These are not supposed to be like a decadent dessert. Just as you wouldn’t serve a tray of Luna Bars at a fancy dinner party or bake sale, I wouldn’t recommend the workout brownies for a party either.
They are definitely more of a healthy snack or dessert meant for people who enjoy the wholesome taste and nutrition of healthy desserts.
If you are one of those people, hopefully you will love this recipe as much as I do!
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
If you want a good protein powder recommendation to use in the recipe, I really like the plant-based protein by ALOHA.
All of their products are organic and free of soy, gluten, dairy, and artificial ingredients, and they use a combination of pumpkin seed, hemp seed, and pea protein, with 18g protein per serving. I was also happy to see the protein powder doesn’t contain stevia, so you don’t get that weird aftertaste many other chocolate protein powders seem to have.
**Note: The link to their website is not an affiliate code. I don’t make any commission on sales of their products. I love both the taste and the company’s philosophy, and this was the brand of protein powder I used for the workout brownies.
So if you want to make the recipe exactly like I did, I know using ALOHA protein powder yields good results.
(Watch The Recipe Video Above)
Brownie Frosting Options:
Basic Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Or, if you want to keep these brownies super healthy like I did, you can make your own chocolate “frosting” by simply combining cocoa powder with an avocado and a little sweetener of choice – here’s how to make avocado chocolate frosting.
You can also top them with Coconut Ice Cream and fresh berries, for a healthy post-workout fudge brownie sundae!
Chocolate Workout Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup overripe mashed banana or applesauce (for low carb, try these Keto Brownies)
- 2/3 cup nut butter of choice, or allergy-friendly sub
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp chocolate protein powder (such as this one), OR sub additional cocoa powder
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave, OR additional banana
- optional mini chocolate chips, crushed walnuts, etc.
Instructions
- Notes: If using applesauce or unsweetened protein powder, or if planning to eat the brownies unfrosted, I recommend including the sweetener of choice. Using peanut butter gives a peanut-butter flavor, while almond or cashew butter taste more neutral. Sunbutter or pumpkin seed butter can be used for allergy-friendly brownies. You can use regular unsweetened cocoa or a combination of regular and dutch.Preheat oven to 325 F. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper. If using natural nut butter, gently warm it until it is easily stir-able. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stir until completely smooth, and spread into the prepared pan (see video). Bake on the center rack 20-25 minutes (20 for super fudgy brownies) – they will be undercooked when you take them out. Let cool, then loosely cover with a paper towel and place in the fridge overnight, during which time they will firm up without losing their fudginess. They are also much sweeter the next day! Frosting options are listed earlier in this post, and you need about 1/2 cup total. Once cut, the brownies can either be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to a month. You can even eat them straight out of the freezer if you wish! As mentioned, they are more of a healthy snack than a decadent dessert – if you enjoy healthy desserts and snacks, hopefully you will love these!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
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Hi Katie, can I use coconut butter? I know the the texture is a bit different than the other nut butter eg almond, cashew, etc.
Thanks
Has anyone tried this with whey powder? I’m wondering if it would mess up the texture.
Miss Katie-
I follow a lifestyle called THM ( Trim Healthy a mama) you should check it out! It’s low carb/ slow carb way of eating. You don’t mix your fats and carbs together and always have a protein as your foundation. Could I sub out apple sauce for the banana? I don’t want to mix good carbs ( apple sauce, with my good fats- but butter.) also, if I used stevia liquid, how much would I use? I hope you’ll check out THM. It’s just amazing and not limiting !!! I would LOVE to seee your recipes in the THM community ???
Has anyone tried substituting something like splenda for the sweetener? And if so how much did you use? Thanks!
Maybe use the Splenda baking blend?
I LOVE the idea of these and I’m definitely going to try experimenting with them but maybe you can give some advice before I do. I can’t use nut/seed/soy butters which means I miss out on a whole bunch of great recipes like this… Do you have any suggestions on substitutes?
Peabutter?
hey Katie can I use Garden of Life Raw protein and Greens powder Chocolate flavor
You can!
I LOVE these. Made the brownie base as written – Used Aloha protein powder, unsweetened applesauce & added 1/4 cup maple syrup. I topped them with a more indulgent frosting (made from melted chocolate chips, peanut butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract & almond milk) and they are definitely dessert brownies. My husband even liked them (and he is always suspicious about my healthy desserts — his first question before tasting them was “there’s not black beans in this, is there??” 🙂 )
What brand of cocoa powder do you prefer?
Navitas is a great one (and fair trade). I know Katie often uses this one https://www.iherb.com/pr/navitas-naturals-cacao-powder-raw-chocolate-powder-16-oz-454-g/8254?rcode=KAT9868
-Jason (media relations)
Thanks!
Would these taste okay without any frosting?
These are amazing! My son loves chocolate brownie Cliff bars so I made these when we ran out. He loved them. I ate them for my nighttime treat. I served them at a family dinner for our vegan friends. Yum!