This past Friday, my alarm sounded a little earlier than normal. After groggily pacing through my morning workout routine, showering, and checking blog work off of my to do list, I loaded my weekend bag and little pup into my car to drive to my parents’ house.
Despite a few slow cars in the far left freeway lane, I still pulled into the driveway by mid-afternoon. My dog and I raced through the front door while shouting (and barking) a quick hello to my dad before I quickly changed into a thick sweater, tucking a fleece blanket under one arm and a puffy winter coat under the other.
Then Dad and I hopped into his car to drive to the baseball game!
We walked through the stadium gates shortly after they opened, making a beeline for our seats behind the home team’s dugout. While most of our family and friends prefer to arrive just before the first pitch, Dad and I love getting to the ballpark as early as possible to watch batting practice.
Yes, I know most people find baseball games boring, let alone sitting in an empty stadium for an extra 2 hours with almost no action to watch whatsoever, but those moments have always been my favorite quality father-daughter times. We alternate between talking about the game, our work, and life in general, and I always end up thinking just how lucky I am to have my dad and share that special bond with him.
The only downside to arriving at the stadium early is that my stomach starts rumbling partway through the game! With limited food options, and because I rarely find the atomic hot sausages appealing that my dad usually buys, I often tuck homemade snacks into my purse. These Mocha Brownie Protein Bars were what got me through Friday’s game!
These bars are incredibly easy to make, and they were actually inspired by my friend Jessica’s cookbook, DIY Protein Bars. The cookbook is full of healthy recipes, all made gluten-free with no refined sugar, with fun flavors like s’mores, caramel macchiato, and chubby hubby. I’m dying to try all of them!
This recipe of mine required just 4 ingredients—how simple is that?? The bars start with vanilla protein powder, and I used PlantFusion to keep them gluten-free, vegan, and clean-eating friendly. Even for chocolate recipes, I still prefer vanilla protein powder because it usually has a nicer flavor compared to chocolate powders.
For the mocha flavor, we’ll add cocoa powder and coffee. The stronger the coffee, the more prominent its taste. I originally made these protein bars with regular strength coffee, and I could barely detect it through the chocolate. (Not a bad thing for a chocoholic like me!) If you prefer more of a coffee flavor, use double strength instead.
After mixing together the ingredients, plus a little Truvia for sweetness, press the mixture into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. (Easier clean up!) Chill until firm—or if you forget like me, until you remember that you have a chocolaty snack in the fridge!—before slicing into bars.
Nothing beats a fudgy brownie-like snack!
| Mocha Brownie Protein Bars | | Print |
- 3 scoops (90g) plant-based vanilla protein powder (I used PlantFusion)
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured correctly)
- ½ cup (50g) old-fashioned oats (gluten-free if necessary)
- 2 tbsp (28g) Truvia (or other sweetener, to taste)
- 1 cup (240mL) cold coffee
- Line a 9x5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together the protein powder, cocoa powder, oats, and Truvia. Mix in the cold coffee until fully incorporated. Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan, and evenly press it down with a spatula. Chill for at least 2 hours, or until firm, before slicing into bars.
The bars can be somewhat fragile and flimsy, even if eaten directly from the refrigerator. For firmer bars, freeze for 10-20 minutes before eating.
For a more prominent coffee flavor, use double-strength coffee instead.
For more tips and answers to all other questions, including substitutions, see my Protein Powder Recipes: Tips & FAQ page.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, low carb, high protein}
More protein bar recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Protein Bars by Desserts With Benefits
♥ Chewy Dark Chocolate Cherry Protein Granola Bars by Ambitious Kitchen
♥ Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip Protein Bars by iFOODreal
♥ Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Bars on Cupcakes & Kale Chips
Hi! I’m planning on making these and my younger brother is eating them as well. I was wondering if I could use almond milk to substitute the caffeine? Also, could I use chocolate protein powder? Thanks.
I’m honored that you want to try making this recipe Tania! Yes, you can substitute almond milk in place of the coffee. The chocolate version of the protein powder that I used should also work. (If you’re using another brand of protein powder, I highly recommend reading over my Protein Powder FAQ Page before you start! There’s a link to it at the bottom of the Notes section of this recipe.) 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you and your brother think of these protein bars!
Hii there!
Is there a substitute for the Oats?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making these protein bars, Tarryn! Is there something specific that you had in mind? I know certain ingredients are hard to find in grocery stores right now, so I wanted to check to see what you had available to you before making suggestions of ingredients you weren’t able to find! 🙂
I can’t have oats😟 I’m not allowed any type of grains. Thank you so much for getting back to me
It’s my pleasure, Tarryn! What ingredients do you have available to you that you’re able to eat and would like to try substituting? 🙂
Could I use coconut?
I’m not quite sure what you mean, Tarryn! What exact coconut product did you have in mind — shredded coconut, flaked coconut, coconut flour, something else?
Sorry! Yes! Shredded coconut. Or coconut flour
Thanks for clarifying Tarryn! I think coconut flour would work better than shredded coconut since it’s really absorbent, and that’s the role the oats play in these protein bars. Since coconut flour is more absorbent than oats, I’d recommend starting with just 3-4 tablespoons to replace the oats. When you originally stir the mixture together, but before transferring it to the pan, let the mixture sit on the counter for 10 minutes to let the coconut flour work its absorbent magic. 😉 If the mixture seems too wet, stir in a bit more coconut flour! If it’s too dry, then add a bit more coffee. Does that make sense? 🙂 I’m really excited to hear how your protein bars turn out!
Hi,
When I made mine, it never solidified in the fridge, it just stayed as an something in-between a liquid and a solid. Could you let me know what I need to do to make them solid.
I’m honored that you tried making these protein bars, Zo! To make them more solid, you can either pop them in the freezer (to help this current batch firm up more!) or add more oats and/or protein powder next time. I really hope you at least enjoyed their flavor!
Thank you for your quick response. For the next batch I will try to increase the amount of Protein Powder. I was also wondering why you suggest not using Whey Protein Powder, is it due to a constancy issues, or more a flavour profile?
It’s my pleasure! I’ve actually covered why whey protein powder won’t work in place of plant-based protein powders on my Protein Powder FAQ Page, and there’s a link to that FAQ Page in the Notes section of the recipe. I know it can be easy to miss — but I promise that FAQ Page answers your question! 😉
Hi Amy,
The bars look fantastic and I’m really excited to try a bar without nut butter, I was wondering if you have a similar recipe for Whey protein, of if there is anyway I can tweak this one since I don’t have plant-based protein? Like maybe add less liquid?
Thank you!
I’m honored that you’d like to try making these protein bars, Shima! I haven’t found a way to make these as no-baked bars with whey protein; the mixture is much too sticky. However, I think other readers have had success baking the mixture when they substituted whey protein. (I can’t personally vouch for that though!) So if you’d like to try that, I’d recommend just ¼ cup of coffee to start and then baking the mixture in the loaf pan at 300°F until it seems firm. Otherwise, you can find my recipes that call for whey protein here!
I’d love to hear how that goes if you decide to try it — or what you think if you decide to try any of my recipes that call for whey protein instead! 🙂
Hi Amy!
Thank you so much for the quick reply! I tried them with whey protein and just a little coffee like you suggested, I refrigerated them overnight and in the morning, they’d turned almost into chocolate bars. I quite liked them and I’ll definitely make them again. (My protein powder is really sweet so any time I’d tried mixing them with mashed bananad or applesauce the reuslt turned too sweet for me, but with coffee they were perfect! Thank you for the great idea.) I might try baking them some time too, but they turned out pretty good even without that. 🙂
It’s my pleasure, Shima! And thank YOU for taking the time to share your experience!! I’m absolutely thrilled that the small amount of coffee and refrigerating them overnight worked. Now I’m incredibly tempted to try doing that, just to see what their taste and texture is like too! 😉 I truly appreciate you letting me know how they turned out — it really means a lot! 🙂
Hi Amy, every time I try to use larger amounts of cocoa it turns out way too bitter, could you share what cocoa powder you use?
This is the cocoa powder that I use, Marsha! 🙂
Hi there! If I’m using chocolate pea protein powder, do I still need the cocoa powder? Thanks in advance!
Yes, I still recommend using the cocoa powder! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these protein bars if you make them, Zo!
Hi, Amy! I know this is a much older recipe, but I’m hoping you’re still checking comments!
I don’t have access to oats right now, at all. I DO, however, have access to oat fiber. I know it’s a totally different product to oat flour and oats themselves, but it’s all I have! We’re on lockdown where I am, so my ability to go out to shop is literally inaccessible right now.
SO! Would you think I could substitute, and if so, what weight would I need to go with, since oat fiber absorbs liquid differently to a bulk product like oats? Thank you so much!
UPDATE! So, I made these using Oat Fiber. Folks new to alternative baking flours: Oat Fiber and Oat Flour ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. Just fyi.
Anyway. So, here’s what I did, with what I had on hand:
1. Used vegan mocha/coffee flavoured protein powder
2. Used 1/2 cup oat FIBER instead of the 50g of oats
3. Used monkfruit powder instead of Truvia
4. Used water instead of coffee
All in all, it was about what I expected, and pretty okay. It tastes raw/uncooked – so you’d better REALLY like the taste of your protein powder [or coffee], or be okay with the taste of Oat Fiber, because those two will be the dominating flavours no matter what. There was no way I could turn this mixture into bars the way it’s photographed – partly because Oat Fiber absorbs liquid differently, and partly because there literally just isn’t enough in this actual recipe to make multiple bars as thick and stacked as shown. That said, I mixed it all up into a bowl and left it in the fridge overnight, and I’ve just been eating it with a tablespoon, which seems to be the best approach. The taste was okay at first, but do yourself a favour and LEAVE IT AT LEAST OVERNIGHT. Seriously. Cocoa powder blooms its flavinoids when left to rest, especially when baked or chilled, so after two days, the mixture actually tasted much less raw and much more like a raw food bliss ball, if that makes any sense.
So, to answer my own question – yes, you can use oat fiber, yes, it’ll function the same way, but for anyone wanting to make this with the original ingredients OR a substitution, I’d strongly suggest doubling the recipe, and moreover, doing something like either melting & mixing some coconut oil and cocoa powder together and pouring over the “batter” to form a solid topping to hold it all together in bar form, or making a base with some ground oats, coconut oil [or butter, if you prefer it], cinnamon and maybe some instant coffee powder, THEN smoothing the batter over the top.
Thanks, Amy! Appreciate this one. I’ll see if I can experiment with it again in future.
I’m so sorry I’m just now responding Max! I had some family things I needed to take care of that kept me away from my blog for more time than I anticipated.
Thanks for sharing your experience in such great detail. It’s very true; the ingredients play a big role in how these no-bake protein bars turn out, so substituting different ones will often impact the taste, texture, or both. (This is especially true for the protein powder and oats!)
I’m glad to hear that chilling it overnight helped! In the future, if the mixture with your protein powder and oat fiber is still too wet to hold its shape as bars, then you can try baking it until it’s firmer. I’d recommend 300°F and to start checking on it after about 10-12 minutes.
If you end up experimenting more, I’d love to hear how it goes. I was a chemist before I became a baking blogger, so I always love hearing about nerdy kitchen experiments like this! 🙂
Hey no need to apologise! I’m an improviser AND I’m my own worst enemy – I wait for not post! Thank you for responding to all this, I really appreciate it!
First off – I hope things with family are alright. 🙂
Forgive my last two comments, they look a little petulant reading back on them! I hope that wasn’t what you took from them.
Second – I was “gifted” about a metric volcano’s worth of vegan pea protein powder that I really don’t like, but hate food waste, so I’m going to give this another bash with your suggestion about baking. I think when I do, I’ll also splodge in some applesauce to help with the chalky-pasty-sadness that is 94% of vegan protein powders [sigh] and maybe some cinnamon and salt to boost the umami in the coffee. If it goes down in flames, well…at least I’ll be rid of that protein powder. If it goes well, HUZZAH! You’re a wizard. 😀
No apologies needed, Max!! Your comments didn’t sound petulant at all; I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your insights and experiences. Like I mentioned, I was a chemist, so I LOVE hearing about people’s recipe experiments — details and all! 🙂
A metric volcano’s worth?? That sounds like the gift that keeps on giving… 😉 I think your idea of adding in some applesauce could be useful — and definitely the cinnamon and salt! If you’re adding applesauce (basically a liquid), you could also get away with adding a bit more cocoa powder, which could also mask some of the chalkiness and create a richer chocolate flavor. From my experience, regular unsweetened cocoa powder has a MUCH better chocolate flavor than most chocolate protein powders (whether plant-based or whey-based!). Another thing to try could be increasing the monkfruit sweetener a bit (sometimes that added sweetness also helps mask the chalkiness) or use double-strength coffee, if you enjoy that coffee flavor.
I’m really excited to hear how this next round turns out!
OKAY! So, take two of these bars was much more successful!
I ended up adapting the overall approach + recipe, so I don’t really think it counts as the same no-bake bars anymore. I’d say they’re just regular coffee protein bars- but hey, I start from your base recipe, so it’s still solid! 😀
I ended up using the same ingredients as your base, but added about 1/3 cup applesauce and a little bit of almond milk to add a little lightness – any protein powder, vegan or otherwise, is hugely liquid-absorbent so it started getting a little stodgy as I was mixing. I baked ’em at about 175 [about 350 of your crazy Freedom Eagle Degrees].
First off, I either over-baked, or over-heated. They are definitely very…er…structurally-strong 😀 My feeling is both. I always struggle with baking oats, because they don’t ever really “cook” and therefore still have that quite raw, hard-to-chew texture. Second, cinnamon + mocha = amaaaaaaaaazing. It’s something I somehow forgot! Lastly, oat fiber works in the baked version AND the raw version, but definitely needs extra liquid – applesauce or coffee work. It’ll always taste as chalky as the vegan protein powder [which I used here, and was marginally better – probably because of the extra vanilla, cinnamon + salt I added], unless you up the liquid ratio.
So, very-long-and-not-very-useful-story short, thank you for bearing with me!
Thank YOU for taking the time to share, Max! I loved hearing about round two — especially that there was a happier and tastier ending!
What kind of oats are you using? If you used traditional old-fashioned rolled oats, like I called for in the original recipe, and still found them to be stiff and harder to chew, then there are a couple of ways to get around that texture.
The first option would be to use quick cooking oats (also called instant oats or one-minute oats). They’re smaller and thinner than traditional old-fashioned oats, so they usually soften faster and have a softer, less hard-to-chew texture.
The second option would be to pulse your traditional old-fashioned oats a few times in a food processor or blender to make them smaller. I usually aim for about ⅛ of their original size. This is a hack for DIY quick cooking oats! Since they’re smaller, they should also soften more.
The third option would be to let the mixture rest for 30-ish minutes before baking to let the oats start soaking up some of the moisture from the dough — and therefore get a “head start” on softening.
The fourth non-oat related thing to do would be bake them at 300°F (instead of 350°F) and for less time. I know 350°F is basically the most common baking temperature, but I’ve found it’s too high for some things, like my brownie recipes. (My brownie recipes were actually what I had in mind when I recommended 300°F!) When I’ve baked pans of brownies at 350°F, the edges overbaked and turned out too firm (and borderline dry), while the centers were a bit too raw and gooey. Yet when I reduced the temperature to 300°F and baked them a bit longer (the “low and slow” method!), the brownies turned out perfect. Super fudgy, super soft, and the perfect texture. Since that’s basically what we’re after for your protein bars, I have a feeling that “low and slow” baking method would work better here too — if you still have lots more protein powder and are up for a third round of recipe testing! 😉