HIGH PROTEIN VEGAN BROWNIES
These High Protein Vegan Brownies are definitely a HIT! Forget about those awful black bean brownies you’ve had in the past – these are fudgey, moist, with rich cocoa flavor smothered in a chocolate ganache. As someone who is not a huge fan of bean brownies, I promise you cannot taste the beans at all in these brownies! I’ve tested this recipe countless times to get the texture and flavor just right while keeping these brownies high in protein and fiber, low in sugar and fat. The kids and my husband love them too!
To up the protein content, I used LIV Body’s Lean Vegan Protein in German Chocolate flavor. LIV Body is my favorite brand because it has no artificial ingredients, but tastes amazing! Seriously the best vegan protein I’ve ever tried (and I’ve tried a lot). Their Lean Vegan Protein has added probiotics and digestive enzymes, is non-GMO and gluten-free. Use my code “NOEXCUSES” for 20% off all orders from www.livbody.com! 🙂
If you don’t have this particular brand, any plant-based protein should work so long as you like the flavor. You can also substitute whey or casein in this recipe, just omit the milk to achieve a thick batter. If you don’t have protein powder, you can leave it out, omit the milk, and increase the cocoa powder and sweetener to half a cup, or to taste.
To sweeten these High Protein Vegan Brownies, I used an organic stevia blend. The brand I use is twice as sweet as sugar with no bitter aftertaste! Feel free to sub twice as much (three-quarter cup) granulated monk fruit, granulated erythritol, or baking stevia if you like. You can also use three-quarter cup of granulated sugar… OR sub half a cup of honey or maple syrup and omit the milk. Both of these substitutions will significantly increase the carbs, sugar, and total calories! For best results, be sure to use a high-quality cocoa powder.
The type of beans also makes a difference! I’ve made these with both black beans and cannellini beans, and have to say I prefer the cannellini beans because they blend into a silky smooth texture. Kidney beans, great northern beans, or garbanzo beans (chickpeas) will work in a pinch, though.
This recipe also calls for almond butter and unsweetened almond milk. Of course, feel free to use any creamy nut butter you like (cashew butter, hazelnut butter, peanut butter or sunflower seed butter), or any milk you have on hand. You can also replace the brewed coffee with more milk – the coffee just adds a nice depth of flavor and brings out the cocoa. For the vanilla extract, make sure you get pure vanilla extract and not that imitation crap.
Now, you don’t need to add the chocolate ganache, because the brownies taste amazing without it, BUT they are rather unattractive without it (cracked tops that are darker in color). Plus, the extra chocolate layer just makes them that much more decadent and delicious! Making ganache is so simple: just heat one-quarter cup (2 fluid ounces) of milk in the microwave for 10-20 seconds, then stir in 2 ounces of chocolate until smooth and glossy. Then smother your brownies with your ganache! In this recipe, I used vegan dark chocolate.
Here’s the printable recipe for these High Protein Vegan Brownies! I’d love for you to rate and/or comment below if you try it 😉
This post contains affiliate links and is sponsored by LIV Body.
High Protein Vegan Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60g) vegan protein powder* I used LIV Body brand, use code NOEXCUSES for 20% off
- 6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 tbsp. calorie-free sweetener* I used one that's twice as sweet as sugar
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/2 cup cannellini beans* or black beans, or chickpeas
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk* or milk of choice
- 6 tbsp. brewed coffee* or more milk
- 1/4 cup creamy almond butter* or nut butter of choice
- 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Ganache topping:
- 2 oz. vegan dark chocolate bar or chips
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk* or milk of choice
*See above for more substitutions.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Drain and rinse beans thoroughly.
- Add beans to a blender or a food processor along with other wet ingredients (through extract) and blend/pulse until smooth (or mash with a fork, just be prepared for quite the arm workout!).
- Whisk together dry ingredients (through baking soda) in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add wet ingredients to bowl with dry ingredients and mix until smooth (batter should be thick but spreadable).
- Pour batter into an 8×8" baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick or knife inserted in center comes out dirty but not wet (you want the center gooey but not liquid – it will set further upon cooling).
- Allow pan to cool to the touch, then place pan in the fridge for 1-2 hours so they can get fudgey and delicious! At least 30 minutes (it's worth it).
- Brownies will keep in the fridge in an airtight container up to one week, or in the freezer up to one month.
Notes
Also in Blog
CHOCOLATE PEANUT PROTEIN CANDY BARS (VEGAN)
PUMPKIN CHIP PROTEIN BREAD (GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE)
This Pumpkin Chip Protein Bread has a rich, tender texture full of pumpkin spice and chocolate chips (no dry protein bread here). The kids and I can't get enough! Best of all, it's gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and easily made egg-free and vegan.
