Caramel Mocha Protein Brownie Bites

My husband is running a marathon tomorrow and the girls are so excited to go watch. They had to make him glittery signs and of course it has to be a surprise so we had to do it before school on Monday morning and I got to come home after dropping them off to clean up the glittery mess so he wouldn’t notice. Getting them in the car and hidden when he is the one that packs the car usually, should be interesting! They also wanted to make him a cake. As we are traveling for the race I thought cupcakes or something else might work better. I also know that he might not want to eat a lot, or maybe he does, right after depending on how he feels. I thought about it and knew this was the time to finally tweak my protein brownie bites. Shh but I already have a protein brownie cookie recipe coming but have to wait to share that as it is part or something bigger. So back to the brownie bites, I wanted to make protein brownie bites with Vega Recovery Protein as it has been part of his race prep training and it would be perfect to help aid in his recovery after the race instead of a nutritionless cake (which also has it’s place in any celebration). As my husband loves his coffee I went with a Mocha Brownie Bites for the “main event” and I am so happy I did, they are delicious!! The girls walked in the house just after I had made them and my oldest, “Oh I smell cake, no brownies!” and came running into the kitchen. My youngest walks in and “Oh something smells SOOO good!” and she runs into the kitchen. Then of course my husband commented and soon my kitchen was filled with hands grabbing them while I tried to save some to photograph. Of course I needed taste testers so they tried them with and without the frosting, the different nut butters, and the chocolate peanut butter ones I made with chocolate protein (for the girls). They liked them all but the winner was the ones made with mocha protein and Wild Friends Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter, yep even the girls picked the ones with the mocha and the espresso almond butter! When it came to toppings the Caramel Frosting won but my oldest wasn’t a fan of it. That is fine we have options! You can top them with the Caramel Frosting, CocoNutter, your favorite nut butter, whipped cream, chocolate, other caramel sauce (search the blog there are a few others, my oldest does like the one made with agave and Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter), or they are delicious without any toppings! These Caramel Mocha Protein Brownie Bites are pretty darn good, when the timer goes off on the oven they will be gone as quick as racers at the starting line!

Caramel Mocha Protein Brownie Bites
Makes 24 mini muffin bites, serving size 2-3 bites
1c almond butter, or nut butter of choice (used Wild Friends Espresso Almond Butter, Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams, and Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter for the batches we made)
1/2c maple syrup
2 TBSP coconut oil, melted
1 egg, or chia egg*
1 tsp pure vanilla
1/2c chocolate or mocha protein powder (used Vega Sport Mocha Protein and Vega Sport Chocolate Protein)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt

Optional Caramel Frosting
1/3-1/2c full fat coconut milk (used So Delicious Original Culinary Coconut Milk)
1/4c coconut butter (used Sweet Spreads Cinnamon Roll CocoNutter)
1c pitted dates

To make Caramel Frosting soak dates for about 10 minutes in hot water. Drain dates and blend with coconut milk and coconut butter in a Vitamix, or high speed blender, until smooth. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

*Ones made with egg are the ones with CocoNutter drizzle and have rounder tops and inside just like “traditional” brownies. The chia egg ones  in the photos are shown with the Caramel Frosting and didn’t rise as much. The one showing the insides was made with whole chia seeds for eggs (1 TBSP chia with 3 TBSP water). Making multiple test batches we personally prefer using ground chia if making the chia egg ones (1 TBSP ground chia) but wanted to test with whole chia seeds and both came out just fine, for texture you just may prefer the ground chia.

Preheat oven to 325F. In a medium bowl mix together almond butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla until smooth. In a small bowl mix protein powder, salt, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combine. Spray a mini muffin tin with coconut oil or non stick spray. Spoon batter into 24 mini muffin tins. Bake for 15-25 minutes (bites made with egg are ready in about 15-18 minutes, bites made with chia egg take slightly longer about 20-25 minutes). Let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan and cooling on a cooling rack. Top with Caramel Frosting, drizzle with coconutter, or topping of choice. They are also delicious without any toppings. Enjoy!

While I do receive some Vega products from time to time, which I listed as an option in this recipe, I do purchase much of it on my own. It has been my plant-based protein of choice since before I started blogging. Even though most Vega products used are purchased by myself I do add this disclaimer. I do not make any money off any Vega sales or posts. I only write about foods I love, my blog is an extension of my hobby to make fun healthy food creations for me and my family.