Fellow chocolate lovers, you are in luck! This Chocolate Fudgy Protein Bar is the cat’s meow and so far everyone that’s tried it agrees.

 

Truth ~ I only got two pieces out of the first pan I made, my husband ate the entire remaining pieces in less than 24 hours. So, of course, I had to make more. He kept asking me if they were good for him since they had healthier ingredients. Honestly, give the man a green light and he will consume all the sweets in the house!

These bars are made with a scoop of chocolate protein powder, ripe bananas, pure maple syrup, cocoa, and a few other simple ingredients. They are a refrigerated treat so if you take them on a picnic or road trip bring a cooler.

This is a recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie; Chocolate Workout Brownies. I added peanut butter, chocolate drizzle combination over mine with chopped nuts.  I tend to add chocolate drizzle and nuts on just about all our brownies and bars. My husband likes nuts in all his cookies and brownies. Plus the bars are kind of pretty that way.

I love these rich chocolate bars and I’ve made them five times already! I named my Fudgy Protein Bars because for me it’s like eating a healthier piece of fudge with a protein boost. And…I don’t just save them for workouts : )

Looking at all this wonderful chocolate you can see why I have made them five times in just a few weeks time.

 

 

Chocolate Fudgy Protein Bars                             Makes 14 Bars
1 cup ripe or spotted bananas, mashed
2/3 cup peanut butter or any nut butter of your choice. I’ve used sunflower seed butter with great results.
3 Tbsp or 1 scoop chocolate protein powder. I use Orgain Organic Protein Powder; it is gluten-free and plant-based.
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup pure maple syrup or agave ~ honey is an option for nonplant-based.
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp mini allergy-friendly chocolate chips
additional 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1/4 cup chocolate chips and chopped nuts for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 325. Line an 8″X 8″ pan with parchment paper.

In a medium-size mixing bowl add mashed bananas and peanut butter. Mix well.
Stir in chocolate protein powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix well.
Add vanilla, syrup, nuts, and chocolate chips. Mix until well combined.
Pour mixture into lined baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

Don’t test doneness, just remove from oven and let them reach room temperature. At this point, you can melt the additional chocolate chips and peanut butter together in the microwave in a small custard dish. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. I heat the mixture for about 40 seconds on 50% power. Stir to combine and drizzle or spread like a thin coating of frosting over bars. Sprinkle chopped nuts overall. As the chocolate cools it will become firm and this helps the nuts stick to the bars.

Another option is to sprinkle the nuts over the bars first and drizzle the chocolate peanut butter mixture over top. Either way works to help the nuts stay put…plus it’s tasty too!

Cut the bars and enjoy! Now with that said, these bars are intended to be eaten chilled or frozen. I love them frozen best. They are like fudge candy. But…I absolutely always eat a warm one as well.

 

Each fudgy square has 5 grams of protein.

If you want to reduce the number of calories in these bars just leave off the nuts and drizzle on top.

And if you count weight watcher points do this: leave out all nuts and chocolate chips from the recipe and each bar become just 3 WW points each!

This is how I like mine. I heat the peanut butter and chocolate chips separately in the microwave, then drizzle over bars one at a time. I also leave off the nuts.