What’s better than an ooey-gooey chocolate brownie fresh out of the oven? I’m thinking an ooey-gooey chocolate protein mug brownie with 100 calories and 13 grams of protein that’s ready in one minute!
Since I first published this recipe, it’s gone on to be one of my most popular recipes. And for good reason. It tastes amazing, has the texture of a real brownie, and is unbelievably easy to make.
Microwavable Protein Brownie Ingredients
Most readers love this protein brownie straight out of the box, but I’ll tackle some common ingredient questions below.
What can I use instead of pumpkin?
Another great thing about this protein brownie is that it’s highly customizable. If you don’t love pumpkin, there are lots of potential swaps:
- Unsweetened Apple Sauce
- Mashed Banana
- Light Butter (lower carb option)
- Avocado (lower carb option)
- Cooked and Mashed Sweet Potato (or any starchy carb puree)
I’ve included notes on using half pumpkin and half apple sauce in the recipe card’s notes section, as well as a peanut butter banana protein brownie variation.
Additional Sweeteners and Toppings
Depending on how sweet your sweet tooth is, you can add stevia or zero-calorie sweetener to either recipe, but I find it’s sweet enough without it.
As for toppings, fat-free whipped topping is a great way to trick your mind into thinking brownie with ice cream since the whipped topping melts a bit. Placing a few chocolate chips on top right out of the microwave will give a melted chocolate, extra gooey consistency without adding many calories. Just be sure not to go chocolate chip crazy here!
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend using a half cup of a lower calorie ice cream like Edy’s Slow Churned Vanilla. Yum.
My Choice of Protein Powder
Nearly all my protein powder recipes use PEScience Select Whey and Casein. You can use my affiliate discount code ‘mason’ to save 15% on PEScience products.
How to Avoid A Tough or Dry Protein Brownie
Since there are a lot of moving parts in recipes with protein powder (different types of protein, volume differences in scoops, scooping vs weighing accuracy, etc.), there’s always a chance you’ll end up with a tough or dry finished product. I’ll include a few ideas to combat this below:
- Use whey concentrate or a blend of proteins that’s not super lean like whey isolate (the extra carbs/fat goes a long way)
- Slightly reduce the amount of protein powder used
- Increase fat sources or faux fat sources (i.e. pumpkin, mashed bananas, sweet potato, avocado, unsweetened apple sauce, coconut oil or processed coconut flakes, etc.)
- 14 grams of light butter only has 50 calories and changes lives
- Slightly increase liquid ingredients
- Reduce cook time
- Add moisture after cooking via whipped topping, ice cream, or fruit reductions
Life’s too short for dry protein treats. I hope this helps!
If you do like this breakdown, I recently did an even deeper dive to find the internet’s best healthy brownies.
Okay, that’s pretty much all ya need to know. As always, if you make this microwave protein brownie, tag me in your creation on Instagram. Enjoy!
One-Minute, 100-Calorie Protein Brownie
Ingredients
- 1/4 C 60g Canned Pumpkin*
- 1/2 scoop, 16g Vanilla Protein Powder
- 1 Tbsp 5g Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder
- 1-2 tsp Granulated Sugar Substitute, optional
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl or mug. If you'd like to easily remove the brownie from the mug after cooking, transfer the protein brownie batter to a second mug or bowl sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
- Microwave for 1-1.5 minutes for a single recipe or 2-2.5 minutes for a double recipe. Depending on the size of your bowl, watch for overflow.
Notes
Peanut Butter Banana Brownie Version
Mix the following in a small bowl or mug and microwave for 1.5-2 minutes:- 1 large (150g) Mashed Ripe Banana
- 1 scoop (31g) Vanilla Protein Powder
- 2 Tbsp (12g) PB2 or Powdered Peanut Butter
- 1 Tbsp (5g) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1-2 Tbsp Water or Milk, as needed
Nutrition
For Make Ahead Brownies
You can fill 4-ounce microwave safe jars with the brownie batter and refrigerate for 4-5 days. When you’re ready for a brownie, pop the jar in the microwave. You’ll likely need to play around with cook time as it will vary on the size of jar and amount of brownie batter you put inside the jar. (The 45-75 second range would be my guess.) I’ve not tried freezing them, but you could probably freeze and thaw overnight.
If you’re using smaller jars, you could use a piping bag or Ziploc bag with a corner cut off the get the batter in the jars.
Another one of my favorites! I love making this with a blob of Peanut butter in the middle and I ALWAYS double it so it’s a 200 calorie protein brownie! I’ve tried this with Apple sauce (same amount as pumpkin) but it’s to sweet and tends to pop in the microwave.
This might be the perfect Marco friendly desert ever. I make it at least a couple times a week and too with anything and everything. If I have more calories left , pile on the ice cream! If I don’t have many macros left, rainbow sprinkles it is! So good, and nothing is better then a macro friendly warm brownie!
Was craving something sweet for a while but didn’t want to have something too sugary. Once I came across this I immediately starting making it. I didn’t have pumpkin so I used apple sauce instead. It was super tasty and hit that craving.
For some reason there’s nothing written under the peanut butter banana option on my end and I’m dying to know what it is!
Whoopsie! Thanks for the heads up. It’s fixed now.
If I were to use to oven instead of microwave, how would I bake them?
I’d use a small oven-safe dish on a baking sheet and start with a few minutes at maybe 350ºF. I like to keep mine pretty gooey, but you could extend the bake time to get the center to your liking.
Can you put this in the air fryer to cook? I don’t own a microwave so I was just wondering if there were alternatives to cook it
If you have an air fryer safe dish, I’d start with maybe 350ºF for 2-3 minutes and extend as needed. Let me know if you try it out!
I’m obsessed with this recipe and have made it almost every night since finding it. If anyone is having issues with dryness, I’ve found 12-15 ml of almond milk go a long way and it turns out fluffier and more moist! Some chocolate chips thrown in there also help 🙂
This is a super good, quick brownie. It’s extra good if you add some halo top and chocolate chips 😌😌😌
Seriously, I have made this every night since trying the recipe for the first time. Such a quick and easy dessert for when you’re feeling a little chocolate! I had some initial issues with it turning out dry, but have had good luck adding 12-15 ml of almond milk into the batter, which changes the macros just minimally. Can’t recommend this enough!
I made a few changes to this recipe based on what o had available to me – so I can not comment on the original directions. I used chocolate vegan protein powder, raw cacao powder, and I did add a few chocolate chips. I would definitely make this mug brownie again! It was a great way to use up some leftover canned pumpkin and it was yummy. I cooked it for only one minute in the microwave, so mine was more gooey than cakey. Either way, this recipe is a keeper.
I’m so happy I just happened to have a ton of canned pumpkin left over to use and found this recipe today- it was fate! This was delicious. Added some raspberries on top and used chocolate protein powder instead, because that’s what I had. I do think I used a little too much protein powder as it was a tad dry but I like that you included tips on avoiding this- I’ll be trying this again tomorrow! (And the next day too, probably!)