Mocha Protein Brownies

Mocha!

Mocha combines the flavour of coffee and chocolate. My Mocha Protein Brownies have a crispy outer crust and a gooey moist chocolate center.

Brownie Points:

These brownies are Low Net Carb, Low Calorie, Virtually Sugar Free, High Protein, High Fibre, Low Fat, Low Sodium, Flourless, Moist & Delicious, Quick & Easy.

Recipe:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the following ingredients into a food processor and blend:

• 1 can (1.5 cups) of no salt added black beans. But make sure you rinse them under water in a strainer first! Then puree them in a food processor before proceeding with the next ingredients. Because we are using black beans, we don't have to add flour.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 tsp coffee extract (or use 1 TBSP coffee).
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup Egg Whites
• 1 TBSP extra virgin coconut oil
• 1 scoop of BSN Syntha-6 Mochaccino Whey (or chocolate whey).
• 2 TBSP unsweetened cacao powder
• 4 TBSP Walden Farms Calorie Free Pancake Syrup (Another option: sweeten the brownie batter with your favourite sweetener, such as stevia, xylitol, erythritol, lo han guo or even unsweetened apple sauce.)
• Add last: 1/2 tsp baking powder. Puree everything in the food processor.
• note: if you want to add flour, then consider adding almond flour (which will keep the recipe low carb and gluten free). It's up to you. I wanted to rely on the black beans to replace the flour. It makes for a very moist brownie, almost like a cheesecake consistency. If you want more of a cake-like consistency, then add some almond flour (but you will probably need to add more moisture to the batter, so experiment with adding small amounts of almond flour and unsweetened almond milk to the mixture).

Place this mixture (which may seem runny, but that’s ok because you don’t want a dry brownies) into a small greased aluminum baking pan (I used PAM). Feel free to use a glass pan. Instead of PAM, you can use a parchment paper liner or grease the pan with extra virgin coconut oil.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for ~30 minutes (use a toothpick to verify the brownies are cooked).

Cool before cutting & serving. I cut mine into 24 brownies.

Nutritional Information:

This recipe yields 24 brownies (I cut smaller sizes)

So 1 brownie (1/24th of the recipe) is:

• calories: 31, fat: 1.1g, saturated fat: 0.7g, cholesterol: 10.4g, sodium: 43.8mg, carb: 2.9g, fiber: 1.4g, Net Carbs: 1.75, sugars: 0.1g, protein: 2.2g

Everything in Moderation:

I do believe healthy habits (diet and exercise) are necessary for longevity. But this is not the only secret to longevity. I also believe that optimism, engagement (a hobby), an ability to cope with loss, and social connectedness are equally important. So if you're spending your time reheating all your food on a stove top (but not with a non-stick pan because that might cause osteoarthritis - and not with PAM because that might give you cancer - and not with coconut oil because that might give you heart disease) instead of using the microwave because the microwave might give you cancer.... well, it's great that you are being proactive about your health, but the reality is that you cannot control every variable that decides your fate.

Your genetics load the gun. Your lifestyle pulls the trigger.

For those of you who have a genetic predisposition to a condition, then YES, you must be proactive. Avoid the things that could cause you problems (ask your doctor for help). After all, genetics is your tendency, it's not your destiny.

For everyone else, here's my advice: everything in moderation. Even moderation in moderation. What do I mean by that? Well, sometimes I use PAM. Sometimes I use coconut oil. Sometimes I use the microwave. Sometimes I use glass bakeware. Sometime I use my digital steamer. Sometimes I use my non-stick skillet. Sometimes I use parchment paper. Sometimes I use a silpat mat. Sometimes I eat the whole egg including the yolk, other times I only eat egg whites. Sometimes I use splenda. Sometimes I use stevia. You get the point.

"Don't Think Too Much. You'll create a problem that wasn't even there in the first place".

For more information on my flexible approach to dieting, check out my Fat Loss Fast System.