Protein Brownies
on Nov 30, 2024, Updated Mar 29, 2025
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When I started my health and fitness journey, one of my biggest struggles was meeting my daily protein goal. I began finding creative ways to incorporate protein powder into some of my favorite recipes, so I wouldn’t have to suffer through another piece of chicken breast 🙅♀️.
If you’re looking to increase your protein intake without sacrificing treats, then this recipe is for 🫵! Whether you’re after a mid-day snack made with quality ingredients or need a pre/post-workout treat to help you get those gains 💪, these Protein Brownies are going to become your new obsession. In just 4 ingredients and about 5 minutes, you can whip up fudgy, decadent chocolate brownies that will have everyone requesting the recipe – even the gym bros!
Why You’ll Love Protein Brownies
These Protein Brownies are the perfect treat—healthy, free of added sugar, yet rich and satisfying. Keep in mind that these brownies are not as sweet as regular brownies, so don’t expect the same sugar rush you’re used to 🫨. The sweetness comes solely from the bananas 🍌, which makes these brownies a guilt-free delicious option, far from those overly “healthy” treats you dodge at a potluck. More importantly, the added protein is undetectable, so you don’t have to worry about a gritty or grainy texture. Trust me, unlike your ex, these Protein Brownies will have you weak in the knees for all the right reasons 😜.
How to Prepare
🌡️ Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
🍌 Add the peeled, ripe bananas to a mixing bowl and mash with a fork.
🥜 Add in the nut (or seed) butter and stir.
🍫 Then add in the unsweetened cacao and protein powder and stir together.
🤎 Pour batter into a parchment paper-lined 8×8 baking dish. (Optionally, top with chocolate chips before baking).
😋 Bake for 15-20 minutes, cool, slice and enjoy!
Nonna’s Tip 🍌
If your bananas are super ripe, I find that this recipe doesn’t need any added sweetener at all!
Variations and Substitutions for Protein Brownies
- Experiment with a different 🥜 nut or seed butters like almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter.
- For a sweeter brownie, you could add sweeteners such as 🍯 honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup.
- Change up the flavor of your Protein Brownies with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or even a pinch of 🧂 salt.
- Have fun with some toppings: chocolate chips (white or dark), 🥥 coconut flakes, or even chopped candy canes for a holiday treat.
- For a soft and gooey consistency, feel free to under-bake it a bit!
Similar Recipes
Healthy Banana Brownies
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Black Bean Brownies
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Cottage Cheese Pudding
5 mins
Fudgesicle Recipe
8 hrs 5 mins
Nutritional Highlights
These Protein Brownies seriously feel like an ooey, gooey indulgent brownie, but they’re sooooo not. Each brownie has 7 grams of protein thanks to the protein powder and nut butter, PLUS, there’s absolutely no refined sugar: just super ripe and sweet bananas and optionally maple syrup if you need a little more. These are also only 137 calories per square (which are pretty generously-sized IMO!), and are gluten- and dairy-free.
This is the perfect little bite when you need a pick-me-up in the afternoon but do not want to lose sight of your goals for the day. Satisfying, guilt-free, and really delicious!
Best Served With
- Serve by Protein Brownies for dessert with a scoop of vanilla 🍨 ice cream or my delicious Cottage Cheese Ice Cream.
- A dollop of whipped cream.
- Some fresh fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, or 🫐 blueberries.
- A glass of 🥛 milk.
Common Questions
Not at all! If you’d like to add a little sweetness you can add it in (or honey or agave syrup instead), otherwise totally omit it.
Yes, you can use frozen bananas. Just make sure to thaw and drain any excess liquid before mashing them.
Yes, you can use something smaller for thicker brownies, but you may have to extend the cooking time.
Insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies and then if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, they are done. If it comes out with wet batter, they need more time.
You can grease the pan with butter or cooking spray, but parchment paper helps to prevent sticking and makes cleanup easier.
Protein Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 bananas, very ripe
- ½ cup organic peanut butter, or any nut or seed butter
- ⅛ cup cacao powder
- 1 scoop protein powder, chocolate or chocolate/peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
- Add the peeled, ripe bananas to a mixing bowl and mash with a fork.
- Add in the nut (or seed) butter and stir. Add in the unsweetened cacao and protein powder and stir together.
- Pour batter into a parchment paper-lined 8×8 baking dish. (Optionally, top with chocolate chips before baking).
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
As someone who’s wheat- and egg-intolerant with a lot of experience baking around it, I was a little skeptical of this recipe as soon as I saw not only bananas as the egg substitute, but the note to use “very ripe” bananas; the addition of peanut butter specifically as the main nut butter recommendation also rose an eyebrow, given peanut butter is the strongest flavored nut butter and doesn’t seem to add much to the recipe beyond additional protein. I decided to give the recipe a fair shot anyways, but should really have stuck to my instincts. The result was so soft it ripped apart into a mess just trying to cut it into squares – the recipe calls for parchment lining because it literally does not have enough structure to survive being removed from the pan otherwise.
Trying a bite, you get an overwhelming banana flavor with a hint of peanut butter – unsurprising, given that the recipe calls for two strongly flavored ingredients and specifies to use one of them in a form that maximizes that flavor. To the author’s credit, it is entirely true that using very ripe bananas removes the need for sugar. However it also frankly removes the need for cocoa powder, as you’re not going to taste the chocolate anyways, even if your protein powder is also chocolate flavored. The banana will overpower any of your flavorings and you may as well make banana bread instead. These are simply not good, and it was extremely disappointing to find yet another recipe blog promising an egg and flour free recipe that did not respect the baked good it was imitating or try to find appropriate substitutes for the ingredients; it might be fine for health nuts who don’t actually care if their “healthy brownie recipe” actually makes proper brownies, but for someone who can’t eat normal recipes, this genre of recipe is the plague of my baking existence. It really is not that hard to look up substitutes that aren’t bananas and try a couple iterations to get a good, sturdy consistency that does the job right.
If I were to try this recipe again, I would absolutely not use bananas or peanut butter, OR try to go without flour. Protein powder (at least quality powder) and cocoa powder do not have enough structure to completely replace the flour; their grain is too fine. The better tack would likely be to find a normal brownie recipe and substitute approximately 1/4th of a cup of the flour and cocoa powder for the scoop of protein powder, perhaps reducing some of the sugar (but likely not necessary if you’re only having one or two at a time); if trying to go eggless, I’ve had a lot of success using plain greek yogurt with a small amount of baking powder for baked goods like brownies, but frankly if you’re looking for protein you’d do better to use the eggs if you can. You can use pumpkin puree instead, but you risk a slightly pumpkin-y flavor and less structure without the added protein from the yogurt.
Cool
I substituted with sunflower butter (my son is allergic to peanuts) and these turned out great! 🙌
If you’re looking for a good protein snack, these are it! I bring them to work and to the gym as a post-workout treat, and just wow!
Are you for real!? These are GOOD…not only good for a protein brownie, but good, good. Will definitely keep making these!
These brownies hit the spot perfectly! What I love about them is how ridiculously easy they are to make. They are not only delicious, but also packed with protein to make me feel a little less guilty about indulging! These are a must-try!