Chocolate Banana Protein Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting

I've been trying to test out some new recipes lately, and I'm happy to say that I have another one for you guys to try! I got inspired by a post for protein pumpkin bars that I saw, and I know it doesn't sound that similar to chocolate banana ones but the basis of the recipe is similar. I played around with some of the ingredients because the first round I made them with applesauce and I wasn't that big of a fan of the texture. I decided to swap out the applesauce and try a banana, and I think it worked out much better! 

So let's get to it. What you'll need: 

1 medium banana

1 cup oats

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk 

2 scoops chocolate protein powder

1 egg

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4-1/2 cup baking stevia

pinch of sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray 

3. Combine all the ingredients in to a blender and blend until smooth. It will be pretty similar to a regular brownie batter so don't worry if it seems on the thinner side. 

4. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until the middle seems done. My oven was not cooperating (again) so I hope that temperature and time is accurate for you guys! Just keep an eye on the brownies as they're baking to make sure it's going alright. 

*Recipe adapted from Katiesfitscript*

Just a quick note: I added stevia to my batch because my protein powder has very little added sweeteners. There is some stevia but not a whole lot so I added in some extra stevia to the batter. If you have a sweeter protein powder then you might not need to add as much or if you have a much riper banana that could add sweetness. Just taste the batter once everything is combined and check for your sweetness level! I don't always have the biggest sweet tooth so for me, 1/4 cup baking stevia was the perfect amount. 

While the brownies are baking you can throw together the peanut butter frosting if you like! It's super simple and only two ingredients: homemade honey roasted peanut butter and cool whip! This is totally optional but for me whenever I make a recipe there are pretty much two questions-- 1) did this work out okay? and 2) can I put peanut butter on this?? 

This was happily a recipe with a yes to each of those questions! 

So I decided to make a little frosting with the peanut butter and cool whip that I had laying around. I didn't need to add any sweeteners since the honey roasted peanuts took care of that but if you're using plain peanut butter you could always add some if you want! 

For the frosting you'll need: 

2 tbsp honey roasted peanut butter 

~1/2 cup cool whip 

I used very rough measurements for the frosting, I just mixed it until it got to a consistency that I liked! I'm trying to get better at actually measuring things so that I can accurately pass it on to you guys, but this was one of those times where you just sort of eyeball it. So you might end up using more or less than a 1/2 cup of cool whip but like I said that was a rough estimate. 

The finished product!

The other best part? Check out those macros! This recipe made 9 good-sized brownies and each one only 79 calories. Just an fyi but this is without the icing. If you add in the peanut butter frosting then it's another 30 calories per brownie. Still, an entire brownie with frosting for only 110 calories? I'll take it!