Peanut Butter Protein Brownies

A lot of good brownie recipes have been on the fourm recently so I decided to tweak them a bit to make them in to protein bars, made them last night and they are awesome ...




Peanut Butter Protein Brownies
Entire recipe makes 8 bars
Serving size is 1 brownie bar WITH yogurt icing!
**PER SERVING: 164 calories; 8 g fat (only 2 sat); 15 g carbohydrates; 12 g protein; 4 g fiber; 3 g sugar

Ingredients:
-Brownie:
2/3 cup oat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup liquid egg substitute
2 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups splenda or sugar substitutue
1/4 cup plain, unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp instant espresso (optional)
2 tsp vanilla extract (I subed with vanilla syrup + caramel sugar free syrup)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used allmax isolflex)

-Cream Cheese Topping:
3 tbsp reduced-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup splenda
1/4 cup liquid egg substitute
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp vanilla yogurt (can use greek yogurt instead)
1 tsp sugar free vanilla syrup or caramel (can use vanilla extract)
4 tbsp natural crunchy peanut butter

-Peanut Butter Yogurt Icing (optional)
2 tbsp all natural crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (or greek)
1/4 cup splenda

*****I know a lot of people don`t like to use Splenda or other sugar substitues, If you would like replace the splenda with more apple sauce, and use one of your favourite natural sweetners instead such as agave, or honey! Also If you use granulated brown sugar to make the brownies they will have more of that chewy signature brownie texture, just be sure to adjust the nutrition info!******

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Coat brownie pan or baking pan with cooking spray.

To make cream cheese topping: Place cream cheese in a small mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and beat until smooth. Add egg, flour, yogurt and vanilla and peanut butter; beat until well blended (I don`t have a mixer so I used a fork and it worked just find, just took a little extra effort).

To prepare brownie: Whisk oat flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Place egg, egg whites and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat with the electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add applesauce, espresso and vanilla; beat until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until well blended, stopping once to scrape down the sides.

Scrape about half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Slowly pour the topping evenly on top. Drop the remaining brownie batter in large dollops over the topping. Draw the tip of a sharp knife or skewer through the two batters to create a swirled effect.
Bake the brownies until the top is just firm to the touch, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan and place in fridge. Cut into 8 bars.

To Prepare Peanut Butter Yogurt Icing (optional): Mix all ingredients well in a bowl and spread on brownies after they have cooled in the fridge! (I added nuts on top of mine but that is not in the nutrition info)


Enjoy