The most healthy vegan protein brownie recipe

These healthy vegan protein brownies is another absolute favourite recipe I make over and over! It’s not only so fudgy and tasty, but it is also 100% guilt free!! No refined sugar, no gluten, no oil, oh!! So good to treat yourself while nourishing your body, right ?

HOW TO MAKE THESE HEALTHY BROWNIES?

Ingredients

These vegan protein brownies have very simple and healthy ingredients. The secret of these brownies to get such texture, such taste, and such nutritional value ? Chickpeas !!

Chickpeas are packed in nutrients, minerals, fibers.. which will make you full quickly! You won’t want to eat the whole batch like a regular white flour white sugar and oil brownie. These ingredients fill you up and calm your hunger and sweet tooth right away. Still watch out if you’re a foodie, because who said you need to be hungry to eat these goodies 🙂

By getting more full through a nutritive snack, dessert, or breakfast, you reduce your potential calorie intake on the next meal!

Chickpeas also have a low glycemic index, which may help you to manage your blood sugar level.

Oat flour is a highly nutritive flour. Oats are parts of the healthiest whole grains. They are rich in fibers, protein, anti oxidants. They are also very filling and good for your gut. They naturally get to a jelly texture when mixed with liquids, which is healthy your your digestive track.

Peanut butter is a good alternative to oil because it adds extra nutrients such as protein, fibers, vitamins and minerals such as vitamin E, magnesium, iron, vitamin B6. . It is also good for your heart health and your blood sugar management.

Unsweetened cacao powder is a super food. It contains polyphenols which are natural anti oxydants found in vegetable, fruits, wine, and chocolate. It is packed with a multitude of health benefits such as reducing inflammation, helping cholesterol levels, lowering risk of heart attack, positively impacting your mood, providing a fast filling of fullness.

Eat brownies and be happy and healthy 😉

Vegan protein powder (I use the brand Orgain) is an ingredient I eat daily as a vegan. It contains a nice blend of plant based protein such as chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, soy protein powders, quinoa, hemp protein, brown rice protein (…). This protein powder is also low sugar which is an important criteria! I hate hidden sugars and this is something I am mindful about. If I eat sugar I want to know I do such as when I eat a candy. But no need for little hidden sugar in every single product otherwise it adds up quickly.

Agave syrup is less harmful and more natural than regular sugar. But for people that are carefully watching their glycemic index, it might be preferable to opt for my recipes using coconut sugar. Contrarily to coconut sugar, agave is high in fructose content and is more processed than coconut sugar. Coconut sugar is more mellow than agave on the liver and pancreas. I use both in my recipes.

My favorite natural sweetener is by far coconut sugar. But some of my recipes require a liquid sweetener, which I often opt for agave, maple syrup, or home made date paste. It always good to select a raw coconut sugar and agave syrup to preserve the natural enzymes and health benefits they have.

Agave is more nutritious than regular sugar, it contains vitamin B6, which can participate positively in how your body will break down foods such as carbs and proteins.

Coconut yogurt is a great dairy yogurt alternative. It helps with digestive health, packed with good bacteria. It is also high in healthy fats. It contains vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A, B12, E, potassium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus. The culture found in coconut yogurt also helps the absorption of calcium, which can participate in a good bone health.

Coconut butter is one of the best source of healthy fats out there!! It is super rich in minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. It is known to boost your metabolism and could help with weight management, increase energy level, and keep you full longer. Definitely one of my favorite super food lately, been using it a lot in my recipe and it’s such an interesting taste.

Preparation

Make sure you use cooked chickpeas. You can either used canned or cook your dry chickpeas until soft.

To make your oat flour, simply blend oats in a food processor or blender. You may also get it in the flour form at the store. I use GF oats for better digestion and less bloating feeling.

Blend all brownie base ingredients , you may stop the engine 2-3 times and use your spatula to mix the batter together. When you transfer the batter to the baking pan, make sure it’s well combine and forms an homogeneous dough. Try to have chickpeas well incorporated in the batter so you don’t find little chickpea pieces inside the brownie.

Add the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips only after you blended the mixture!

The frosting is super easy and tasty. Both versions of the frosting (with coconut yogurt or coconut butter) work amazing. I do have a little preference for the coconut butter version, which will also be higher in calories, but oh whatever! healthy fats anyways 🙂 Just mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. I recommend using a fork to mix it well.

HOW TO SERVE

These brownies could be served for breakfast, snack, post work out, dessert.. anything. I sometimes start to eat them before the meal cause I just can’t wait 🙂 what’s wrong with eating “dessert” first ?!

You could enjoy them just a glass of plant based milk, maybe some vanilla (n)ice cream if it’s dessert time (will be sharing a nice cream recipe soon!!). You can eat them on the go, can also do a “dessert or café gourmand” we say in French. It’s like a combo dessert plate with a bunch of different mini slice of dessert, I used to love to have this with a coffee or tea on the side as a dessert in Europe. So many ways to eat them, just get creative!

HOW TO STORE

Brownies are known to taste better on day 2, so don’t eat all of them on day 1 or you would miss out!! You can eat them up to 1 week after making if stored in a sealed container. I usually leave them hanging in the baking pan couple days and they’re still super good on day 3-4. But if you push further, make sure they’re sealed in a container to maintain freshness.

Thank you for reading, leave me a comment /feed back once you tried it out!!

-Nati xx