Chocolate Caramel Protein Brownies with Whipped Cream and Toffee Bits

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t entirely sure to call these protein brownies. Titling recipes has to be one of the most difficult parts of food blogging. Layer brownies, caramel poke brownies, Heath bar brownies, and about ten other titles crossed my mind. Though I inevitably decided the title should match my recipe style—simple.

So, I present chocolate caramel protein brownies. You’ll poke holes for caramel, add a layer of whipped cream, and top with milk chocolate toffee bits. But underneath it all lies chocolate protein brownies with 80 grams of protein, 97 grams of carbs, and 13 grams of fat.

Like most of my recipes, there’s plenty of room to modify things and make it your own. Speaking of, let’s get into the ingredient and modification notes.

Ingredients for Protein Brownies

I’ll briefly tackle a few common questions about ingredients in this recipe.

Coconut Flour

A common question on my recipes that call for coconut flour is whether or not it’s possible to substitute all purpose flour or almond flour for coconut flour.

It really depends on the recipe, but a recipe like this that uses a larger amount of coconut flour may be challenging. Not to mention, the calorie difference in substitutes since you’ll need more. Coconut flour is super-duper absorbent, and something like all purpose flour might require 2-3x as much to have the same effects. In this case, that could be an extra cup of flour (roughly 440 calories).

All that said, if you want to give it a go, a recipe that’s baked like these protein brownies would be the one to try it on. Since you don’t need to form them, start with equal amounts and add as needed until you reach the desired consistency.

Protein Powder

I always use a whey concentrate or some type of whey-based blend like Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey or Dymatize 100% Whey. If you wanted to use a plant-based protein powder, that’s fine, but you may want to add an extra tablespoon or two of apple sauce to help with the granular texture. Between the coconut flour and a plant-based protein powder, you run the risk of dry or gritty protein brownies.

Update 3/2019: I’ve added a note to the recipe card for my Bowmar Nutrition readers.

And in case you’re wondering why the recipe calls for vanilla, it’s because I find adding cocoa powder to vanilla protein powder to be far superior for flavor. Not to mention, buying vanilla protein gives you the ability to make vanilla recipes like my birthday cake protein pancakes AND chocolate recipes by simply adding cocoa powder.

Pudding Mix

I typically recommend adding more protein powder, sweetener, and possibly a bit of corn starch in place of pudding mix. The recipe calls for a 1.5 oz box which is more than most recipes on my blog. So, if you’re going to leave it out, I’d try adding 2/3-1 scoop of protein and an additional 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. I would also add 1-2 tablespoons of a sweetener like stevia or Swerve.

What to Top Your Protein Brownies With

The recipe calls for Cool Whip Lite (or a generic alternative). I find this is the easiest and possibly the tastiest way to add another layer to these protein brownies.

If you’d like to add a bit of protein and a different twist, you could try the white chocolate topping from my white chocolate strawberry cheesecake protein cake bars recipe.

As for the toffee bits on top, I originally wanted to use the Snickers bits but my Instacart shopper decided to give me the Heath bits. You can’t go wrong either way, if we’re being honest. Since you’re only using two tablespoons, that’s only twenty additional calories per brownie. Nothing crazy so enjoy and have fun with this part of the recipe!

I think that’s everything you need to know. If you have any recipe questions, feel free to drop a comment on this recipe or send me a DM on Instagram.

When you try these protein brownies and love ’em, I would love to hear about it. Take a picture of your re-creation and tag me on Instagram. I’ll be sure to share it with the world!