Each time I enter Trader Joe’s, I always stick the same 4 things in my shopping basket: bananas (I eat one every day), bagged spinach (ditto), a 3-pack of the red dark chocolate bars (remind me to write the FDA; dark chocolate should really have its own category in the Food Pyramid), and a box of chocolate chip brownie & oat bars.
What? You haven’t tried their chocolate chip brownie & oat bars? Why n…
Oh. Because I bought them all.
I’m sorry!
For a little while last year, I stocked up on those boxes like a grizzly bear about to hibernate for the winter. I added three, four, five of them into my basket every time—each box containing 6 individual brownie bars—and barely survived through a week or two. My guy made multiple “emergency” trips to TJ’s just for my brownie bars, and the cashiers probably memorized both of our faces from those purchases alone.
“Hey, look! It’s the brownie bar girl again!”
“Wanna bet how many she gets?”
Now that I bake for a living, I’m slightly embarrassed to be that dependent on factory-produced snack bars, so I resolved the make a copycat.
Well, maybe more of a copy-ish cat.
Trader Joe’s, Oroweat, Fiber One, and most other companies offering high-fiber baked goods don’t solely depend on oats or wheat flour as a source and often add in extra as a separate ingredient. To bump up the fiber in my bars, I would’ve needed to special order chicory root extract online, pay an arm and a leg, and wait 2-3 weeks for shipping. I didn’t think you’d want to do that either!
To compensate for less fiber, I added extra protein. I used the Gourmet Chocolate Designer Whey stocked at most TJ’s because it contained the largest amount of protein and the fewest number of calories per 1-scoop serving. If you choose a different brand, the calorie and protein content may change. With this Designer Whey, I more than doubled the amount of protein per bar compared to TJ’s version!
Finally, I made my bars fudgier than TJ’s because that’s the way I like my brownies! (See here and here.) The ooey gooey middles melt in your mouth, leaving you licking your fingers and reaching for another well.
That’s my personal experience, anyway.
My Chocolate Chip Brownie & Oat Bars are one of the healthiest snack bars you’ll ever make. They’re clean-eating friendly, low calorie, and packed with 6.5 grams of protein. Plus that taste like ooey gooey rich dark chocolate dessert brownies.
Running to your kitchen yet?
These taste like fudgy brownies, but they’re actually a really healthy snack! Store any leftovers in ziplock baggies for at least 1 week.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and coat an 8”-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats and next 6 ingredients (through salt). In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, applesauce, and egg whites. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 300°F for 13-15 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan before slicing into 10 bars.
Note: If you don’t have quick oats, you can make your own! Measure ½ cup of old-fashioned oats, and pulse 5-8 times in a food processor.
Hahaha this is the cutest post! I’ve never heard of these… but they look amazing!! yum!
Thanks Kristina! I only recently discovered that TJ’s also sells a PB version of these bars. I practically eat two at a time — one of each — because I’m too indecisive to just choose one!
I LOVE that 2 out of your 4 TJ’s staples included chocolate!! Haha, so you! This copy-ish-cat looks to die for- I haven’t had the real thing (since SOMEONE bought them all), but I’d make these in a heartbeat. 😉
I’m just surprised I didn’t include more than 2! 🙂 I’ll save you a box the next time I buy them. Well, if I ever do buy them again!
I do love those bars! But these look delicioussss!
We must have the same TJ’s grocery shopping list Erin! Somehow we always seem to choose the same things, especially when it comes to chocolate!
WHOOOO!! I wish you lived near me..and came into the TJ’s I worked at and then we could have been best friends and I could have hoarded boxes in the back for you. HAHA! I love your version though!! I’ve never tried the TJ’s one (dairy in them booo!) I lovee the sound of, “now that I bake for a living.” YOU GO GIRL!
Ohhh my goodness, I wish I lived near you too — and NOT just because you’d save all of the TJ’s brownie bars for me! We could go running, have coffee dates, and take a loooong road trip to Disneyland. Sound like a plan? 🙂
Haha, you always manage to make me laugh Amy. Hoarding brownie oat bars? Yep, I totally get it. I (still) do the same with junk-food chocolate (mostly Cadbury’s dairy milk). None of the fancy stuff does the same thing. Anyway, back to the recipe. These look INCREDIBLE. The dark, illusive chocolate looks so mysterious when flecked with little chunks of oat. Good on you for making such an incredible copycat version. I definitely need to give the recipe a go! x
I hoard anything and everything chocolate! Especially chocolate cake with fudgy frosting… Don’t even try to sneak a bite! (My poor guy learned that the hard way. 😉 ) Cadbury’s makes good chocolate — you have great taste Laura!
These look heavenly! I gotta make them asap… but my cookies n’ cream protein powder is already pretty sweet, can I omit the honey? Would that change the texture of the bars?
Thanks Angie! Omitting the honey would make these bars really dry and crumbly; they need that equivalent of liquid ingredients to keep them soft and moist. You could possibly try substituting milk or additional applesauce, but I’m not entirely sure how that’d turn out since I haven’t tried it myself. I’d love to hear what you try and what you think of them!
i made these twice, because the first time i thought I messed up. The batter itself was very bitter! So i baked them anyway just incase, and though had the brownie texture, the taste was not so great. I made them again thinking I did something wrong….came out the same way. Any clue why they are coming out very funky in flavor? Not at all chocolatey, almost like the bitterness of the unsweetened chocolate is overwhelming still
I’m sorry to hear that Dana! I can think of a few possibilities. First, how are you measuring the cocoa powder? When I pack it into the measuring cup, then I end up adding almost 1.5 times as much as when I simply scoop and level the cocoa powder (like with flour), which could contribute to the overwhelming bitterness. And what protein powder are you using? It could also be that your chocolate protein powder has a little less sweetness than the one I used. Another way to overcome the bitterness would be to replace some of the applesauce with additional honey (maybe 2 tablespoons or so). I really hope one of these fixes works for you!
UUUuuummm, yes, that is all… 😉
With how much we both seem to love chocolate, I’m not surprised that you’d say that! 😉
is there a substitution for the protein powder? these sound great but I don’t really want to buy protein powder for one recipe.
I haven’t tried it, but you could probably substitute an additional 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cocoa powder. Because the cocoa powder is unsweetened, the bars would have a deeper dark chocolate flavor instead. I’d love to hear what substitutions you try Tiffany! 🙂